Travel Day 640-45 – Kopan Monastery, NEPAL
After all the excitement of the first day, things started to become a little bit more of a routine after the second one. Also since every single day was planned out with classes from beginning to end, one day after the other just seemed to pass by more and more quickly…
Stupa in the Kopan Monastery Garden
On the other hand we started to enjoy the whole atmosphere, the life at the monastery and the Buddhist class more every day. Especially after travelling for a long time, it became quite an interesting experience to be at Kopan Monastery and in such a sheltered environment. All of a sudden there were no questions of what to do during the whole day or where to go and we didn’t have to touch money the entire day. This was especially a great relief in a country where one normally always had to bargain and discuss every single price…
We also didn’t have to look for restaurants or other safe places to eat and in fact we didn’t even have to decide what to eat since there was only one meal served at a time. Every meal was of course strictly vegetarian and was served in big pots on a table in the dining hall. All one had to do was scoup some rice and vegetables onto ones own plate and eat. Life could be so simple…
Buddhist Monk Debates at Kopan
The food was actually really good and so was everything else. Without any worldly, outside distractions, I felt like I was arriving more here in the present and was able to focus better on the teachings. On top of that all the people here came for the same, or at least similar reasons. Since there was no killing allowed, everyone was very cautious about where they walked, trying to save a bug here and there or point them out to others so they wouldn’t harm them. Only the fact that mosquitoes could also not be killed became a little bit of a challenge in the evenings…
Besides that we learned a lot about the mind, impermanence, suffering, death, karma: the law of cause and effect, the four noble truths, the wheel of life, equanimity, samsara, the Buddha himself and many other things. The evening silence on the other hand wore off and I mostly met with a few other people on the hill behind the Gompa in order to discuss the daily teachings of the class. The hill seemed to be the perfect spot, because the troubles of the city down below seemed so very far away. Only the distant noise of barking dogs and airplanes taking-off or landing was only a little reminder that the city was still alive…
Also watching the monk debates on the outdoor plaza, listening to the insects in the back garden and brushing teeth under a sky of millions of stars, made the life in the monastery a really special experience… : )
Find all Kopan Monastery 2011 Photos here.
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