I want to dedicate this article to Late Rinpoche Nawang Kochha who died nearly two years ago due to cancer. See I am on your path…the path of Dharma
With late Rinpochhe Nawang Kochha
This day is a special day,
It is yours.
Yesterday slipped away
It cannot be filled with more meaning.
About tomorrow nothing is known.
But this day, today is yours.
Make use of it.
Today you can make someone happy.
Today you can help another.
This day is a special day,
It is yours.
Indian Poem from Lam Rim Book
Kopan Monastery is a paradise with a beautiful garden, greenery, and a spectacular view of Kathmandu valley. We can see incredible views from any angle of the monastery.
view from Kopan
Monastery
The peaceful garden with beautiful flowers and splendid stupas adds more serenity. There is a small hill nearby the garden from where you can see sunrise and sunset too. Likewise, you can begin your day with yoga with fresh air and birds chirping around. We all are there to stay focused and concentrated so using mobile phones, and laptops and playing music are prohibited. They believe that it will disturb our practice.
garden
stupa in garden
serene water flow
I recently joined the 10 days (April 19-19) Buddhist beginners course. Altogether there are 115 participants from all over the world. I am the only one from Nepal a Hindu woman searching for the meaning of my existence on this earth. I love Buddhist philosophy, practices, and prayers.
better to refrain from these things every day in our life
On April 19 our check-in time was till 4pm. At 5pm we gather for an introduction and short meditation. Ani Caron, a nun from Sweden welcomed us. She is an amazing nun with a soft-spoken voice, charming face, and caring too.
Aani Caron, the best teacher I have ever met
The next day I woke up at 5a.m. before the wake-up bell, which used to ring at 5:45am during the course. I did yoga for 45minutes and go for tea at 6am. We had breakfast at 7:30am. After that meditation was guided by a lovely monk and teaching till 11.30am followed by lunch at 11:45am. Every day our class starts with three prostrations before teaching starts. Prostration is done to decrease false pride and the sense of ego and it is not a compulsion at all. While sitting inside the monastery we need to sit upright, facing the teacher, and not lean. We can change posture during class and stretch the legs but it still had to be done very mindfully. The legs could not be stretched over the dharma books and the soles of the feet could not be pointed toward the altar, the teacher, or the Buddha.
inside monastery
deity inside monastery
After lunch, we sit for discussion divided into different groups. The discussion mostly focused on the teaching we had in the morning on that particular day. From 3pm-5pm, we had teachings on Buddhism which focused on different topics like ego, attachment, suffering, etc. Ghese Sherub charming face, sense of humor, and remarkable teaching charmed everybody. At 5pm we had a tea break, a 7:45 dinner, and meditation till 8:45. We need to maintain silence all day and night. The vegetarian food at the monastery is awesome. The most fun thing to do is dishwashing after meal.
dining hall
The retreat building is well-built with a clean room. Early morning our days started with the monks chanting. There are nearly 400 monks aged 5 to oldies. They chant, recite mantras, debate, perform pujas with playing drums, etc. The debate is the most amazing act in which they used to debate for an hour with shouting and different mudras.
retreat building
Green Tara
Deities
Buddhist teaching is worth listening to. It is more useful in our day-to-day life. Compassion, suffering life, death, rebirth, disturbing emotions, emptiness, ego, attachment, and liberation. Nonvirtuous of body, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying and non-virtues of speech, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, and idle gossip are what it teaches mostly focused on. It explains the teachings of Buddha and Samsara.
Avaloketshvara, Compassion Buddha
Deity
Avalokiteshvara
On the 6th day, puja was held at gompa. It lasts for 2hours with heart-soothing mantras and chartings. I must say Ghese Sherb voice is unbelievable. He chants mantras and sings in an incredible way. The chanting was so heart-touching that I burst into tears.
monks doing prayers
8 and 9th days are completely noble silent for 48hours not even looking at each other. We did a meditation walk, which was calming and new experience for me. On the 9th day, we had a light offering ceremony. We offer light in complete silence remembering all sentient beings. I love noble silence, which helps you in knowing your inner self.
light offering
walk meditation
deities bath in water flow
Kathmandu covered with dust
seven steps Buddha walked after his birth
Our silent ends after taking breakfast on the 10th day. Everybody start to chatter since it was the last day.
Nuns after puja
Lesson learned:
To live a virtuous life
Generate compassion toward all sentient beings
Abide in equanimity
Stay free from hatred and attachment,
Generate Bodhichitta,
Try to overcome your ego and seek liberation,
Create good karma for the next rebirth and much more.
It’s not a matter of religion whether to be Hindu, Christian, or Muslim. It teaches us how to become good human beings and benefits all sentient beings. My spiritual journey continues. I need to find the answer to my existence and there is a long way to go.
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Every morning, when I wake up the first thing I do, is thank god for keeping me alive to experience another beautiful day. After that, I slowly pull my curtains to see the sunrise. I watch how peacefully, steadily, warmly, and in a beautiful color, the sun comes up. I learn a lot from the sun and moon. They are my teachers, my guru. Have you ever imagined if there is no sun for a single day or a single moment? . What will happen? . Neither we survive nor a single creature.
Colors of Life like colors of rainbow 