Yesterday afternoon I left Kopan Monastery after a 10 day course on Mahayana Buddhism. My knowledge of buddhism prior to checking into the monastery was very very limited and as I have found out very much incorrect in many aspects. I had always heard that buddhism was more of a philosophy or science of the mind than a religion, but never understood why this was said. After all, everytime I would look for a book on buddhism in a book store or library it would always be in the religious section. My ignorance of many things came up during the course, and I am truly thankful for the experience I had.
Kopan Monastery has become quite famous for its efforts to introduce Tibetan Buddhism into Western Culture. The 10 day course which I took is held 8 times a year and attracts westerners from all over the globe. In my class were Germans, Dutch, Danish, Australians, Belgians, British, Brazilians, and some Americans. In all there were about 40 people.
I really didn't know what to expect going into such a course. During our introduction, Ani Karen, the western buddhist nun who was going to be teaching us during the 10 day course, told us that we weren't just there to learn about buddhism. We were there to learn about ourselves. This proved to be quite true, but in my case I learned just how little I know about myself. The whole experience was quite personal, and therefore I'm not going to write much about what exactly went on inside the monastery walls during those 10 days. I'm not about to become a buddhist, there are too many things I have trouble understanding about the practice and philosophy. I do however plan on dedicating much more of my time to "spirituality" and putting an end to many of my mundane concerns.
Here is an example of my daily routine for the past 10 days... 6:00 am Tea, 6:30 meditation, 7:30 breakfast, 9:00 teachings, 11:30 lunch, 2:00 pm group discussions, 3:30 teachings, 5:00 Tea, 6:00 meditation, 6:45 dinner, 8:00 Q&A and meditation, around 9:30 bedtime. It was made mandatory for all students to keep silent until after eating lunch and if you still felt like keeping silent you could put on a yellow ribbon and stay silent for the whole day, except for the group discussion period. The silence was great to keep a constant mind of contemplation throughout the day. I chose to keep silent for most of the days. I really can't overstate the usefulness of keeping silent.
The food was good, but like much of Nepali food quite bland.
I really don't have much else to say, at least not now. My experience is still too recent to really understand. It wasn't life changing, but definitely eye-opening. If what I have written has sounded at all melancholy, especially to those that care for me, this is only due to my inability to write properly. I am in such an optimistic and happy state of mind, so please no worries. Just be happy for me and how I'm able to spend my free time.
Thanks for reading.
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