Samsara, Bodhicitta, Buddha Nature.
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche has taught at Dzogchen Beara every year since 1990, so it was fitting that he was invited to present the inaugural teachings on the 12-14th July 2024, launching the Temple into its new role as the first purpose-built Tibetan Temple in Ireland.
With 280 people in attendance, many of whom had travelled from the US and different parts of Europe, Rinpoche began by teaching on The Four Noble Truths. Then over the following days, he taught on the foundation and meaning of Buddhist practice based on three words Samsara, Bodhicitta and Buddha Nature, one theme building upon the next at each session across the weekend.*
The Naga Vases
In the Tibetan tradition, Nagas are protective spirits who can manifest in serpent form and live under water; the Vases contain medicinal herbs and other precious substances beneficial to the Nagas, who can be disturbed and ill as a result of pollution and other negative human activities. The Vases are offered to the Nagas with a request that they bring peace and harmony to the earth.
Karma Baoguan, a young Chinese woman now resident in Dublin was instrumental in bringing two sets of the Vases to Ireland; one was intended for the River Liffey, and the other for West Cork. She explained that a descendent of the King of Derge made a commitment to sponsor the cost of making 108 sets of seven vases which are being placed in seas and rivers around the world. Rinpoche had already placed some in the Spree River, Berlin in 2023, and as he was unable to come to Dublin this year, it was decided he would place both sets in the Atlantic Ocean in view of Dzogchen Beara.
Ringu Tulku recited the Naga Sutras early on the morning of July 14th, and Bob Whiteside organised two small boats to carry Rinpoche and the Naga Vases, setting out with a small group that afternoon from Cahermore Harbour. As the boats came into view around the headland, mantras were chanted outside the new temple while Rinpoche placed the fourteen vases into the ocean.
The New Temple at Dzogchen Beara
The completion of the new Temple at Dzogchen Beara fulfils the extraordinary vision of Peter and Harriet Cornish and marks the beginning of a new era at Dzogchen Beara.
In 1973, Peter and Harriet bought one hundred and fifty acres of rocky land high above the sea on the Beara Peninsula with the aim of setting up a retreat centre. The holiday cottages they built and rented on the site helped raise funds to build a meditation hall, and soon people came from all over the world to learn to meditate.
In 1992, the land and buildings were offered to a charitable trust under the guidance of Sogyal Rinpoche, who was the founder of Rigpa and the author of 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.'
Designed according to the Tibetan science of geomancy, the placement and orientation is intended to have a positive influence on its surroundings, as well as being a source of healing and harmony for the people who visit it.
There is a meditation room above the main shrine room, along with facilities for torma making and tsok preparation. The temple faces directly out to sea, protected to the north by a vertical wall of granite; the area round about has been beautifully landscaped with plants and a waterfall. Nearby, a cut stone incense burner for Riwö Sangchö practice echoes the structure of the retreat huts on Skellig Michael.
Unusually for a traditional temple, the walls of the main shrine room are made of glass allowing a view of the ocean, which gives a sense it has magically materialised from some realm of air and light. Yet, rounding the headland by boat, the temple appears settled into the cliff as if it was always there, standing high above the Atlantic, its copper roofs reflecting sunlight to passing sailors, dolphins and whales.
Throughout the eight years that it took to build, Leon Rossiter and his team of craftsmen used local labour and materials, and oversaw every last detail of the construction. As a result, there is a real sense of local pride and investment in what is truly an amazing achievement.
Peter Cornish spent his last years in private retreat at Dzogchen Beara, passing away only a few months before the temple was finished. His last rites were observed in the shrine room, where his body, in a sky blue coffin, was placed in front of the statues of Buddha, Green Tara, and Guru Rinpoche. He died knowing that his and Harriet's vision of bringing great benefit to the world was finally realised.
To read more about the temple, visit www.dzogchenbeara.org
*The talks are all available to Archive members to watch in the Bodhicharya Archive.
Thanks to the Dzogchen Beara trustees, Malcom McClancy, Katherine O’Flaherty, Anne Sheehan, and Leon Rossiter; attendant Bob Whiteside, and all staff and volunteers for organising and hosting Rinpoche at such an auspicious moment in time. May all beings, across time and space, benefit from this significant project.
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