Kopan monastery, Nepal

A short while ago I spent ten days in retreat at the Kopan Buddhist monastery. The main purpose was to practice mindfulness and meditation as well as enjoy some peace and quiet.

As far as peace and quiet goes, a monastery is the place for it. The only sounds I could here were those of the monks chanting, bells ringing, birds singing and water falling in a feature.

Kopan is about 10klm from Thamel and perched high on a hill overlooking the Katmandu valley.

The monastery itself is larger and more modern than I expected. The amount of accommodation on site is especially surprising and the grounds and buildings are very well maintained.

There were rules of course.

Obviously we needed to dress appropriately. Basically meaning you need to be covered. Not a hard thing to do during winter in Nepal.

From 10pm until after lunch the next day, there was to be no talking.

We couldn't leave the monastery for the duration.

In the dinning hall, there had to be silence at all times.

There was to be no exercise. With the exception of yoga.

We were forbidden to play any music and there was to be no sexual activity, lying, stealing, drugs or alcohol. And no killing, not even an ant.

In addition, on the day of total silence we couldn't read, write, talk at all times or do anything that we may have done on a typical day that would create any distraction. We could basically only breathe and eat and think.

The group was a lot larger than I imagined. I think there might have been about maybe 80 of us. More females than males.

Typically it was the little things that entertained and amused me the most.

For example; despite the fact the rules were quite simple, people still found It difficult to obey them and this includes the monks.

It was especially crispy in the mornings and everyone's noses would be running which created a symphony of sniffles in the dinning hall at breakfast.

The people watching was fantastic. Particularly on the day of total silence. It was great to watch them try to do something by doing nothing.

I was fortunate to meet some great and interesting people. I guess when you spend 10 days with a group of like minded people that's not so surprising.

Our course leader was an Australian ordained Buddhist nun from Queensland. I'd have to say she's holding onto her Aussie roots pretty well too.

Kopan is a member of FPMT (Federation for Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) which is pretty popular in western cultures.

The group was largely made up of Australians, Europeans and folks from the Americas.

My day pretty much went like this...

breakfast at 7:30am followed by two morning sessions finishing at 11:30am for lunch.

The afternoon sessions started at 1:30pm and would go through to about 5:30pm.

Dinner would be served at 6:30pm and the final session, usually meditation, would go from 7:30pm to 8:30pm.

The food was always tasty and rarely changed...

Porridge, flakes and bread for breakfast.

Rice, potatoes with some vegetables and bread for lunch.

Noodle soup and bread for dinner.

By the end I was tired of eating so many carbs. Especially considering I couldn't exercise.

As I reflect on the course aspect while in retreat I'd say it was good yet dragged on a bit and probably could have been a bit shorter.

I have to say though that ten days in a monastery is good for the mind and soul.

Im so happy I went and will definitely do it again.