A FULLY-FLEDGED Buddhist nun from County Tyrone will be leading the meditation session in The Vestry, St Conals, Letterkenny on Tuesday, March 19, at 7 pm.
Kelsang Chitta is a resident Buddhist nun and teacher at The Potala Kadampa Buddhist Centre in Belfast.
The classes are open to anyone who would like to find out what meditation involves, anyone who maybe interested in beginning a meditation practice or to anyone who would simply like to try one night and so get an idea of what happens at a meditation session.
The regular teacher for the classes is Sean O Tuathalain who is better known as the yoga teacher at the Letterkenny Community Centre.
He has been teaching yoga at the centre for the last thirteen years.
Because yoga and meditation are synonymous, he has always been keenly interested in meditation.
“Although I had heard of the Buddha and Buddhism, I never really paid much attention to it,” he explains.
“Then, when I discovered that the Buddha was a man who lived 2,500 years ago and that because of the benefits he gained from studying and meditation, he developed a philosophy that helped people to be happy and peaceful, at the same time bringing an end to their suffering.
“This really inspired me to find out more about the Buddha and his teachings.”
Many scholars would hesitate to class Buddhism as a religion, seeing it more as a philosophical approach to daily life.
Contrary to the common belief, practitioner’s do not worship Buddha and also he is not a god.
For 31 year-old Kelsang Chitta, her spiritual awakening came in 2003 after attending a Kadampa event in Dublin.
“I had seen the improvements meditation brought for me, later I decided I wanted to make a lifetime commitment to work towards helping others.
“I consider it the most beneficial thing to be helping all living beings achieve real peace and happiness.”
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