Kopan Monastery
Kopan Monastery exists due to an accident--an American-Russian princess seeking out a guru in the early 70's mistakenly went to the wrong guy to ask for teachings, but he and another Lama agreed anyway. Thus began one of the largest outreach programs for spreading Tibetan Buddhism to the west. Today there are hundreds of centers in the west, as well as monasteries in India , Nepal and other parts of Asia , with large populations of western as well as eastern monks and nuns.
(Read about the monastery at www.kopanmonastery.com, and the organization that has created numerous centers around the world at www.fpmt.org.)
We had heard about the Kopan monastery from a number of people while we were in McLeod Ganj in India . But the 30-day retreat for westerners was at an awkward time --it started in the middle of our planned trek, so we would need to skip the trek, since a month later the mountain pass would be closed for the winter. So we regrettably decided to skip the retreat and went trekking. But when we returned to Kathmandu after the trek we headed for Kopan to see if we could join in part way through. Since worldwide travel is down so low, there were openings (usually the retreat is booked out months in advance). Just over an hour after arriving, we were checked in and attending our first session!
We felt the need for attending Kopan because our meditation practice was of one variety (Theravada Buddhism, with Vipassana meditation focused on the breathing and body, and insight meditation) but our readings and hearts matched another (Mahayana Buddhism, which emphasizes a life of serving others). And then, there is the more esoteric Tibetan form (Vajrayana Buddhism, with elaborate visualizations and chanting) that has been most successfully migrating to the west. Kopan seemed like a good place to integrate these components together and make some sense of our future direction.
These are quite exciting times for the Buddhist world. These separate traditions within Buddhism have co-existed for millennia with essentially no mixing. If you were born in Japan , you practiced Zen, in Thailand it was Theravada, in Tibet it was Vajrayana, etc. In fact these all derive from the original teachings, since the Buddha emphasized that different people will need different paths, and outlined reputedly thousands of different paths. Over time, different geographical areas adopted just a subset of these teachings, and neglected (or even rejected) the others.
A funny story: the essence of all Buddhism is understanding the nature of reality. Each tradition has different ways to understand it. In Zen, practitioners contemplate reality by asking "what is it?" of everything, and pondering seemingly simple questions like what a tree really is. Anyway, as part of bringing the various traditions together a conference brought together masters of all traditions. Out in the garden, one Zen master lifted an orange and said "what is it?” Through a translator the Tibetan monk replied "an orange". The Zen master again asked "what is it?” expecting a more profound answer. Instead, the Tibetan monk turned to the translator and asked, "what, don't they have oranges in Japan ?”
Re-integration of these traditions is now driven by three major factors. One is the shrinking world, with communication between these previously isolated geographies. The second is the migration of Tibetan lamas to other parts of the world, spreading and adapting their practices to the local cultures. The other is the role of the west, which has become the melting-pot for integration of a fresh new form of Buddhism.
While some western people feel an attraction to the eastern religions, the religions of the east really are not really directly suitable for the western culture. Some eastern concepts are just too difficult for us to understand and our language does not support the concepts. On the other hand, other concepts, such as the mind and ego, and service to others, are much more developed in the typical western mind while the eastern approach is insufficient. Lastly some aspects are well developed in both areas, but have different meanings and practice, such as devotion and faith.
Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet (1959), high Tibetan lamas have been migrating to the west and a few curious westerners have attempted to learn from them. After the early years (hippies, drugs and sex), the serious students began lifelong study (one of our teachers at Kopan is a western women who has became a Buddhist nun over thirty years ago). The fruits of that are now paying off, and a new spirituality is emerging, based in Buddhism but definitely for the western mind. It will likely be many more decades before this really takes form, but these are exciting times. In fact, the high Tibetan lamas add another interesting wrinkle --they believe in reincarnation, and have identified several recently deceased high lamas as being reincarnated not in Chinese-occupied Tibet, but in the west, even as women! When they mature, it is believed, they will have a definite western mind, but benefit from the lifetimes of training in Tibet . With the migration of knowledge through the living (or the reincarnations if you believe that), there is a major flow to the west and transformation of the teachings.
At Kopan we were able to follow upon decades of assimilation in our search for a more accessible form of Buddhism. We still did not find what we will consider our school or guru, but we are learning and growing as we seek. In fact, we expect that when we arrive back in the US (or Australia ) we will find the beginnings of a Buddhism that will be most comprehensible to us.
Kopan monastery was founded around two high lamas, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Lama Yeshe died about twenty years ago, and a Spanish boy is his recognized reincarnation, Lama Osel (that story drew big headlines about a decade ago). Lama Zopa is a high lama, having developed to the stage that he has inexhaustible energy. He has not slept for several decades, reputedly has highly developed yogi powers, and dedicates every moment to serving others. He has an impossible schedule of travel and attendance at hundreds of affiliated centers and monasteries, and continually spawns new projects, such as restoring the demolished monasteries in Mongolia (post USSR , these are now being rebuilt). He is a modest, unassuming man of great compassion and energy, and a great inspiration.
The monastery is thriving. Started just a few decades ago, it now supports a large population of resident monks, training them for the geshe degree (analogous to a Ph.D. in theology), a nearby nunnery, and a large outreach program to the westerners including a retreat center. It will soon support a resident colony of Tibetan artisans. The facilities have grown from just a few tents thirty years ago to a large complex of five story buildings, two dining halls, a library, clinic, and two gompas (temples). The grounds are also wonderfully manicured and peaceful. With intense faith and perseverance, Lama Zopa has seemingly just willed this all into existence. (Although those around him report they surely get exhausted implementing all of his ideas!)
The program was quite different from our other retreat experiences. While the other attendees considered it intense, it seemed like a vacation after our Vipassana experience. Prostrations started at 5:00 AM , followed by prayer and meditation. But most of the day was spent in teachings, with many hours of free time. Talking was allowed, so the environment was less conducive to deep meditation. We both chose to isolate ourselves a bit from the noise, add some additional meditation time, and take advantage of the wealth of books in the library.
Tibetan Buddhism includes much stronger elements of serving others, love, compassion, devotion and faith than other forms of Buddhism, which can be quite ascetic and focused just on one's own salvation. That makes it much closer to western traditions. On the other hand, it co-evolved with the tantric yoga practices of India and the ancient Bon mysticism of Nepal , and incorporated many seemingly bizarre deities and rituals. I suppose they are no more bizarre than a Mass at Vatican City, but they are certainly less familiar to us (they both chant in strange dead languages, wave incense around, purify holy water, have ornate holy objects such as bells, wear robes, ...). By studying the practices, we eventually were less put off by them and began to understand their function. For example, prostrations are intended to purify the mind of pride and other negativities. And, strangely, it seems that spending 30 minutes thinking about your misdeeds while repeatedly prostrating does leave you feeling somehow with less of a burden. I guess it is like reciting Hail Mary for penance, which I didn't really believe in much either, but maybe it does have a role. Likewise there are practices to help increase generosity, generate compassion, increase devotion and faith, and so on.
