The most correct way to describe this previous weekend would be to call it a time for firsts, a first time attempting certain activities, a first time being confronted with particular concepts. But before I go any further I recommend going to this link to read a little about the Chenrezig Buddhist Institute that Tanzih, Grisha & I stayed at Jan 10 - Jan 11.
I just wrote a few paragraphs which turned into an essay on religion in the modern world, one cut and paste later and I've got a new article for my On Earth site, brilliant! So I'll keep this a review solely based on the Institute itself and not Buddhism as a whole. All good? Okay!
Shortly following dawn's rise to power Saturday morning I started thinking about what I'd be doing later that day with Tanzih & Grisha. We'd be hopping aboard the Nambour line train, towards the small town of Eudlo a.k.a the city of lost dogs. So small was the town that their train station was only one carriage long, fortunately we'd read that beforehand and were in the only carriage where you could step off on to solid ground where it is expected to be. Downtown Eudlo was all a hustle and bustle, I assumed it was anyway, there was an average sized queue at the general store/newsagent/cafe. The only other stores, a post office, hair dresser and real estate agency - all shut for the weekend. It wasn't a difficult leap of the imagination to begin humming the banjo part from Deliverance.
To me it felt like that tiny town which is always nestled at the bottom of a mountain where you can buy your final supplies before you make your ascent. In a way that's exactly what it was. Our mule arrived 15 minutes later, complete with a very helpful driver who booked our return taxi for the next day. We drove in a northerly direction, jaw occasionally in the vicinity of our knees at the view. It's easy to forget what a mind fuck nature is when you stay in the city for so long. Between two trees in front of us a string of prayer flags symbolising out arrival into the zone of positivity.
Borrowed from Chenrezig.comUpon dismounting we made the final ascent to the reception area, where we were greeted by a number of smiles and I'm not talking about the sort of creepy, blank smile you get from the absolutely brainwashed, but the nice, kind, intelligent smile from people who were genuinely happy enough to give such a smile. So we checked in, made small talk and were given the plaques we had to attach to our tents when we reached the camp site. Oh I hadn't mentioned that part of the trip yet, we opted not to stay in one of the luxurious cabins available so that we could all rough it in the wilderness shielded from the perils of nature by a thin layer of polyester.
One of the best part of the trip is the DIY nature of everything. It isn't really a tourist site, it's a pilgrimage really. You come, you stay, you learn. The residents aren't there to serve you as waiters, concierge and cleaners. You're responsible for yourself. We were given directions to the campsite, but both the vagueness of the directions and our ability to understand vague directions sent us off to a completely different area of the retreat. It was of no matter though as it gave us an opportunity for brisk exercise and to explore the camp. See how it easy it is to turn a possibly frustrating situation into a positive!
The strap broke from my bag. All I could I could think was that because I'd entered a highly positised area where bad karma is rarely seen, all the bad karma I'd had forthcoming was able to lock onto my position like an arsehole seeking missile. But being a penitent kind of guy, I took this punishment with only mild displeasure. Besides I always keep a sewing needle and thread in my bag, easy! The camp site was a barren wastela...I mean outback paradise! The site was the front yard to the volunteer's housing estate and it seemed to be just us and them, no other tents pitched. For Tanzih and I this was the first time we'd ever camped using tents
It looked easy enough though, only major issues; the heat and the insects. The material of the tent seemed to absorb the heat of the sun, perhaps even magnify it. So we moved further into the shade to escape it. Regarding the insects we were obviously not as alone as we thought we were, mosquitoes were and issue at first, but we'd come prepared for that. But there were ants that certainly introduce a level of anxiety as I lay in the tent and watched their shadows walking around on the outside. Here it is up close.
Yet all we could was add the repellent and hope for the best, because at the institute there was a strict 'no killing' policy if you wanted to stay there. In fact there were five main rules which are part of the
Ten Precepts. Those are:
1. Refrain from killing living things.
2. Refrain from stealing.
3. Refrain from un-chastity (sensuality, sexuality, lust).
4. Refrain from lying.
5. Refrain from taking intoxicants.The other five which Chenrezig does not ask of its visitors (but would probably appreciate) are:
6. Refrain from taking food at inappropriate times (after noon).
7. Refrain from singing, dancing, playing music or attending entertainment programs (performances).
8. Refrain from wearing perfume, cosmetics and garland (decorative accessories).
9. Refrain from sitting on high chairs and sleeping on luxurious, soft beds.
10. Refrain from accepting money.I remember there being one about idle talk as well, so maybe they substitute precepts between the different Buddhist institutions. They're not designed to be fascist, but if you intend to take Buddhism seriously these are things you must do to reach enlightenment. I am curious though as to whether it is possible to attain the highest level of enlightenment whilst understanding that some of the precepts would make it impossible for civilisation to continue. Other precepts I'm only too happy to follow.
We mosied on up to Lama Yeshe's Big Love Cafe, a cornucopia of vegetarian cuisine, another prerequisite to life at Chenrezig. At first I thought I might like to fast for the weekend, completely detox my body, but once there I decided to sample another idea of mine, which is whether or not I'd like to go the way of the vegetarian. That's something I've been considering for a while now and if anything Chenrezig took that idea back a step. Our first lunch was delicious, a nice salad with potato rissoles. Dinner, a soup of chickpea and something lemony, too much lemon for my tastes. Lunch the next day steamed white rice with mixed vegetables, very filling but not very satisfying. My ideal way of vegetarianism will probably be with more pasta and less steamed vegetables.
Borrowed from Chenrezig.comWe returned to the camp site for a quick nap, but didn't really get any sleep. Realising the camp would provide a great opportunity for therapy we decided to complete the CBT material I got from Centrelink and discussed it for a while. The tools we've learnt in that book have really made a lot of changes. With that we walked to the Garden of Enlightenment and instantly noted the powerful wave of positivity that seemed to punch for the face, it was an amazing feeling. The Garden is a construction project that was first visualised back in 1994 by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The idea was to create a garden of
stupas, including one 10 meters tall dedicated to the Venerable Geshe Thinley. Beneath the stupas, a genuine Aussie-Buddhist shrine, a mix of ancient Asian architecture with modern Australian simplicity. You couldn't help notice the absence of the atypical roofing tiles you'd normally see at these sites, in its place corrugated iron roofing, I shit you not.
Here are a few images from the Chenrezig website:
We just had to stay a while in awe and lay on the ground for a little meditation. I tried my way through one session trying to ignore the army of mosquitoes and when Tanzih instructed Grisha and I to sit up we immediately began scratching like mad. After an under appreciated meal we returned to the camp site for sleep preparations. I'd felt nervous about leaving my possession unguarded in a very easily accessible tent. But eventually decided to take faith that we would not be the only ones following the 'no stealing' precept of the retreat. Seeing everything was still there I relaxed a little more over the issue. But it was harder to relax about other things, there were so many rules and we were unsure as to what we could and couldn't do. We borrowed the badminton equipment nervously but that seemed to go without any response from the volunteers.
Thus began our crash course in camp slumming, by 11pm the chatting subsided and we resolved ourselves to slumber and to slumber well if possible. Not knowing a lot about camping we didn't bring a mattress or something that could be used to cushion our bodies from the solid ground, what a mistake'ah to make'ah. Around 1 a.m I woke with many aches, there were many lumps beneath me, but there was one large one in particular that I could escape from where ever I lay. I tossed and turned for hours before being driven momentarily insane, I started punching the ground out of frustration, whimpering like 'little sissy boy'. I noted that where my fists had landed the ground was now flattened, free of lumps. So I began pressing down other areas of the ground and eventually did a pretty good job of it. But there were still roots, sticks and small rocks left which didn't make sleep impossible, but improbable.
I gave up on sleep around 4 a.m. and instead opened the tent door ever so slightly to gaze with hate at the other tent containing Tanzih & Grisha, who sounded like they were sleeping blissfully. During this time I kept breaking the first precept, because whenever I felt a mosquito land on my arm I followed my natural instinct of 'SMASH! DESTROY!', but for the first time I actually felt guilty about it and I looked around worried that someone may have seen me do it. I felt like one of the criminals in a forensics based television show. I've killed many mosquitoes in my life, so karma suggests I should be attacked by insects as many times as I've killed them. That certainly proved true later that morning.
Those times when you sit there awake, bored, waiting for SOMEONE else to wake always seems like an eternity. I'm just so grateful when someone does finally shake away the shackles of unconsciousness. So when the other two awoke I must have seemed pretty needy, especially since I'd spent the last 7 hours hating everything and everyone by myself, in the dark. We chose to pack our tents there and then before going up for lunch, that way we wouldn't have to walk back and forth all day. It was when I was taking out the pegs that I realised I must have placed my tent on an ants nest (see pictured above) because there were hundreds of them! I was immediately bitten on my finger, intense pain followed by cursing, I managed to control my urge to stomp them into oblivion. I went back for the tent peg being more careful this time and I was bitten again, right in the middle of my palm. It's one of the itchiest bites I've ever had.
I must have jinxed myself when earlier I noted that 'it's amazing none of us have been bitten yet.' But I followed that immediately with a 'knock on wood', my knuckles and wood connected which should mean instant haven from the remark of surprise beforehand, that's how it works. Karma works differently it seems, it is likely that because my tent was on the nest that I may have committed near genocide on the not-so-gentle jumper ant with all my moving about during the night. But that should count as unintentional death, so I should receive bad karma for it. But all the times I've leaped about various rooms screaming bloody murder at those miniature vampire bugs before going for the jugular may explain the pain caused by the ants.
Anyway that's entirely enough about those bastard ants, it'll be a while before I darken their door again. We'd unfortunately missed breakfast so we settled instead for a piece of cake and tea, so they're obviously not vegan out there. After brekkie we went to explore another area of the retreat, first of which the
Prayer Wheels.
Prayer wheels at Samye Monastery.When encountered with a prayer wheel or prayer chakra you must follow your natural urge and spin it as much as you can or wish. Prayer wheels are filled with rolls of paper with the mantra "
Om mani padme hum" printed as many times as can fit. The prayer wheel at Chenrezig contained something like a 10 million copies of the mantra and in the spaces where paper couldn't fit microfilm with the mantra was used instead. It is said that every time you spin the wheel it is as if you had said as many prayers equivalent to the amount of prayers within the wheel. 10 million copies, 10 million prayers! I could be wrong about that number though, 10 million is the number I remember for some reason. Either way it was a very large number.
Behind the prayer wheels lay waiting the
Gompa or meditation hall. This is the primary learning area of the institute, with both the learning/meditation room and the library containing something like 2,500 books, whether they were all about Buddhism I couldn't tell you. When we arrived there was already a group beginning the ninth day of their ten day course so we left as we didn't wish to cause any distractions. We returned to the garden before lunch time, this time taking a closer look at the construction site. After lunch we settled the bill and went to wait for our taxi.
This gave us a perfect opportunity to give our thoughts on the weekend. We all agreed that we weren't leaving with more knowledge about the philosophies of Buddhism, but we were leaving with many unanswered questions. Though I see this as a positive as it's pretty difficult to find answers in the absence of questions, so it's given me a lot to try and find out. Of course the main reason we didn't find anything out is because we didn't ask anyone anything, nor sought them out for that reason. This was primarily to see if it was worth coming to Chenrezig in the pursuit to understand Buddhism more. Not only would respond in the affirmative, but I'd print it out a billion times and fit it inside a prayer wheel for full effect.
As a place to stay it was pretty good if you don't mind vegetarian food and going for a while without booze. Before the next camping trip we will definitely be buying air mattresses or something, we'd also make sure to organise our visit to coincide with one of the courses constantly on offer. Most astonishing, the whole thing cost $30 per person which included accommodation and three meals. That's amazingly cost affective if want to go on holiday on a budget. So in the end we got to experience camping, see what it's like to live momentarily at a Buddhist retreat, see what it's like to go completely vegetarian and escape intoxicants. All in all a highly positive trip and it has caused amongst us a taste for the outdoors. Next time we're going to find a camp site that adjoins a decent length bush walk track.
Also Tanzih gave me a great idea thanks to Vitor who apparently raised the question paraphrased as "would you go to other religious retreats?" apparently in an attempt to show the favorable attention Buddhism receives over other religions. Tamara would you thank him for me and let him know I like a challenge. he he. I've already found the following retreats in South-East Queensland:
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Marian Valley (Christian teachings - Gold Coast)
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Springbrook Theosophical Education and Retreat Centre (Various religous teaching - Springbrook)
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Presentation Spirituality Centre (Catholic teachings - Manly)
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Faber Centre of Ignatian Study (Ignatian teachings - Toowong)
That's not bad for a first search, I'll try and find some more later down the track. It's a personal ethos of mine that to change the world you need to understand the world. Religion plays an integral part in the way the world is currently run and you should never underestimate it or treat it like an enemy. Instead it's wise to try to understand as much about it as you need to, study it, respect it, after all there's no pressure to join it. There are a lot of photos that were taken at Chenrezig, I'll be getting copies of them soon enough. I'll do a quick 'best of' post with passing commentaries as soon as I get them. I hope this post entertained on some level and a quick thank you to both Grisha & Tanzih who were excellent travelling companions, I had a great time thanks to you guys! Later all and keep that mind open.
Andy Scott
