Report of the Retreat 22.07.2015
On
the invitation of His Eminence Khamtrul Rinpochhe 51 students and two teachers
of Lungtenzampa Middle Secondary School got the opportunity to attend a five
days retreat (10-14 July) at Druk Ralung Shedrupcholing monastery in Thimphu.
When
we hear the word ‘retreat’ or ‘tsam’ in dzongkha, the first thing that comes to
our mind is the images of rituals, prostrations, meditation, prayers, monks and
the nuns. We often tend to give a rigid definition or stereotype it, having the
notion that religion and anything associated with it is meant only for the
monk, the nuns or the older people. We feel that it is strict, tedious, boring
or that it has fixed restrictions, but these five days retreat has made us
realize that our concept was totally wrong.
Buddhism
and spirituality is not about doing things or performing deeds that are
expected from a person. It is more about rediscovering one’s true inner self
and realizing the ultimate truth. Therefore, many spiritual leaders say that
they would rather call Buddhism a philosophy rather than a religion.
During
this 5 days retreat, we learned about the process of meditation and its
benefits. We also learned about the origin of Buddhism and the different sects
of Buddhism. His eminence also explained to us the meanings and the reasons for
chanting different prayers. If we take a
simple example of the Morning Prayer that we do every day in the school, all
these years we were merely chanting it, without understanding the meaning of
these lines, simply because we were supposed to do so. From this retreat we
understood the essence of these prayers and its benefit. We also had a refuge
taking ceremony which was when we actually began to understand the Dharma
teachings. This ceremony was a moment of realization of our unconditional devotion
and respect to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Apart
from the religious activities, we also got the opportunity to take part in the various
talk shows on enthralling topics by eminent guest speakers, which were an
eye-opening experience. Every night we were also shown documentaries and also
an educative block buster Bhutanese movie which were all about taming our wild
mind, about determination, spreading the happiness and selflessness.
Though
we had a very tight schedule (7 am to 8 pm) this retreat has given us a lot to
learn and understand. All the Dharma talks about ‘Karma’ (cause and effect and
the root of all our sufferings) explained to us by His Eminence and other
learned Lamas in very simple language with examples and stories from the
religious texts were so convincing that we could relate to them. This renewed
our faith and devotion to Buddhism.
We
were lucky to have been given this opportunity to participate in this retreat
for even if we can’t practice all the knowledge that we got from attending this
retreat, we will definitely be remembering the essence of being a true human
and be mindful of our thoughts and action. We will also take it as our
responsibility to share this newfound knowledge with our friends so that they
can also find the purpose of being a rational human.
We,
the Lungtenzampa family, would like to thank Your Eminence for bestowing your
love and affection on us, for always remembering us and for your unwavering support
through all times. We pray for Your Eminence’s longevity, so that you continue
to bless and inspire many more souls. Kadrin Che La.
