Kopan Monastery: Meditation and Mantras.

The monastery is located on a hill top, about 30 minutes drive northeast of Kathmandu. It is peaceful, and has a beautiful 360 degree view of the Kathmandu Valley and Kathmandu.

It was established in 1970, and is home to 390 nuns and 380 monks mainly from Tibet, Nepal and India. Andy was joking, that the only reason we checked into the monastery, was because we are not allowed to kill (each other), and after having spent 3,5 months 24/7 together it might have been the case!!!

Buddhism has been called the science of the mind, as it deals with the human mind and emotions, and strives to create happier human beings and a better society. The term 'mind' refers to the experimental, cognitive, intellectual, perceptual, and feeling part of us. It is not a physical part of our body, as it is not made of atoms like our body. There are many types of minds, e.g. sense consciousnesses, which perceive external objects such as sights, sounds, smells, taste, and touches, and out mental consciousness, which thinks, dreams, sleeps, and can experience spiritual realizations. Love, patience, compassion, anger and joy are mental factors, which can be enhanced or diminished by our mind, and therefore the Buddha emphasized that our mind is the source of our suffering and happiness. For example, we can be angry at a person who isn't in the same room as us. At that time, we are not perceiving the person with our eyes, but we are thinking about him/her in a mental image in our mind. 

The monastery also has a public school. It is customary for families to send their second son to a monastery school, as this is they only way they can afford his education. He does not have to become a monk, and can leave when he has finished his education. These kids are playing soccer in their break at school.

We were around 120 people from all over the world, the average age being around 30. In order to avoid temptation, as per the sign above, we were not allowed to sleep in the same room, so we had a single room with bathroom next to each other. We stuck to the rules!

We had a full day program starting at 5:45am and finishing at 9:00pm every day.

We had to be silent from 10:00pm till after lunch the following day, to help us focus our attention and to develop outer and inner awareness. We both liked that, but it was not easy! We old folks sat on chairs in the background due to various aches and pains, but everybody else sat on cushions on the floor through all sessions and meditations. As time went by, we were fighting for our chairs with those gung-ho youngsters!

The food was 100% vegetarian and basic, but tasty, fulfilling and plentiful. Despite various precautions, Dorte got diarrhea and a cold, and had to spend 4 days in bed. Dorte was the one really wanting to attend this retreat, and now Andy was the one having to attend the sessions! He and a bunch of guys eventually found their own way of meditating, drinking beer in the shop outside the monastery! So don't feel sorry for him! As Andy's brother John says, "How can you mediate without beer?"! 

Andy enjoyed the early morning silent mediations, and the afternoon discussion group.

Some of the questions asked were very thought provoking, and a lively discussion ensued. For example; What do you think about the idea that the faults or mistakes we see in others, and get angry at, are things that we have in ourselves? Do you have any experience of this that you would like to share with the rest of the group?.... And what do you think can be done to solve this problem?

The last 2.5 days were to be kept in 100% silence, and the teachings got more and more religious, so we decided we had had enough of the monastery life. Dorte's sister and brother-in-law, Tine and Lars, were arriving Thursday morning, so we took a taxi to their hotel to surprise them (we were supposed to meet in Pokhara on Saturday). But our surprise backfired, because when we asked for them at the hotel, we were told their room had been cancelled! It turned out that there was a crack in the plane's windshield, and they were still in Copenhagen. In fact, they ended up spending two nights at a hotel next to Copenhagen airport, before getting away!! What a bummer!

Anyway, we enjoyed our stay at Hotel Vajra, which has a beautiful garden.

We walked to the Swatambhunah Stupa, also called the Monkey Stupa, due to all the monkeys hanging around.

There are prayer wheels all the way around the stupa

and the view was great.

There are thousands of prayer flags with mantras, which is said to be carried to heaven by the winds.

Want to buy a bull? There were plenty to chose from....

Or do you need your clothes mended.....?

We both got blessed by a holy man giving us a red dot in the forehead and flowers in the hair.

There is a lot of psychology in Buddhism, and some of the concepts are thought provoking, e.g. getting rid of negative thoughts in order to have a better life. We both felt we got a wider perspective on how the mind works, and will implement some of the new knowledge in our daily life.