Sunyata Centre up for sale

mickmacdublin

Sad news in that one Ireland's newer Centres - Sunyata in Clare is up for sale. It's owners Stan and Clare DeFreitas who built a Thai style meditation hall and who regularly hosted retreats in the Theravadin traditions led by monks/nuns from Amaravati Monastery in England I think have just found it impossible to make it break even.

It's a pity that place where so much work was put in and through which people could come into contact with pure tradition of the Buddha's teachings is to close.

Maybe another group will take it over - check it out on www.sunyatacentre.com if you have €735,000 to spare and feel like owning your own retreat centre.

Mick

UbahOne

Ye ill buy it...ive a lot of dogs who could use a kennel.

hipchick

Its a really nice place, had a look on its site...thinking of going for the meditation & work for 6 days 10th October sounds like it could be excately what i need!!!

Its a real shame that its to be sold, need to keep these places running....what ever next.....

mickmacdublin

In the years I've bee involved with the Dharma in Ireland I've seen a few places go under and heard of many others before my time which just "disappeared".

It takes a lot of time and commitment from a core group of people - if that is not there then closure is inevitable. You need people who will turn up week in week out no matter what and who are dedicated to the tradition they represent. I

I think the problem with Sunyata was that the people who started it depended on it for their livelihood - not easy. Most centres are run by volunteers and only a few can afford to pay staff (and then usually not very much). Perhaps Sunyata since it had "owners" had a more difficult time creating a feeling of "sangha" who supported the place.

There are a few groups now who have lasted more than 10 years (the centre I attend Kagyu Samye Dzong in Dublin has been going 26 years!) and probably will remain established although one never knows.

It's a pity that owners of Sunyata have not been able to make a go of it - hopefully the next owners will a group who will not depend on the place for their income.


Mick

Yoda

Perhaps we just need more Buddhists. There are plenty of Catholics, and the Church seems to be doing all right.

Seriously though, it is sad to see a centre like that closing. It's been a long time since I participated in communal work with the Dharma (one reason I wanted to see this forum on the Boards). But doing so can be quite productive.

mickmacdublin

Perhaps we just need more Buddhists.

Well we do have a lot more than we used to. What we need are committed Buddhists. I think you also need a good population base locally. Sunyata set up in east Clare where there were no other Buddhists really locally. The people who set up where from England and were not connected with a group in Ireland or able to bring in large amounts of visitors from the UK.

The two other main rural centers in Ireland have special circumstances which ensure their survival. Dzogchen Beara is a main retreat centre for the Rigpa organisation and has people come from all over the world. Jampa Ling is very fortunate to have Panchen Otrul Rinpoche in residence a high lama and very experienced teacher - if you ever get the chance to go there do do - he's a remarkable man. They have lots of people living locally or who have moved into the vicinity who attend Jampa Ling.

The other main centres in Ireland are all urban and mostly Dublin-based: KSD in Kilmainham, FWBO in Leeson St and the NKT in Churchtown. The main Irish Zen group I think is based in Galway city. They all have a good core of committed people and all own property I think.

I don't think we'll too many new groups really taking root in the next few years in Ireland. The incredible increase of the 1990s I don't think will continue at the same rate. What we need now is more solid development if the Dharma is going to really take root in this country.

Mick

UbahOne

If you want more Buddhists, get out there and promote it. I dont even know what a buddhist is and neither do many other people. If you go to universities and colleges around and promote it, you will have better luck.

Yoda

UbahOne, I tried to describe what Buddhism is here. I gave links to some very good books about Buddhism here. Buddhism is simple.

(And we are promoting it. You're here asking questions, aren't you? )

UbahOne

yes yes i was just generalising...but if you want more buddhist go out and promote it.

mickmacdublin

We got plenty of Buddhists for a country so small and the numbers are still growing. What we need are not week-end, occasionally read a book by the Dalai Lama or Thich Nhat Hanh Buddhists but people who actually meditate and take refuge in the 3 Jewels and try to live by the Buddha's teaching.

As for proseltyzing the Buddha expressly forbid - although there are some groups who choose to ignore this injunction.

My Dharma center has had arrticles done on it in the Irish Times etc and we would get a flurry of interest if the phone number is published but actually the people who take the time to actually contact us through the web site or look us up in the phone book who actually come a long.

Shoving religion under people's noses like the Jehovah's Witnesses is more likely to put people off.

Mick

UbahOne

Well they make a better effort than you guys do anyway. They get some luck sometimes. I have never had a buddhist call to my door. I have had Jehova witnesses(who were pretty nice people) and opus dei people.

Yoda

We don't "call to doors". We live the Dharma, and people, like you, ask about it.

UbahOne

How can you promote something people dont even know about? If you want people to join your "community" then go out and get them.

Yoda

An ocean is made one drop at a time.

You see, the thing about Buddhism is, that it isn't an organization. Buddhism's message spreads from person to person, at least here in the West. (In the East it's just part of the culture, having already spread.)

Relevant to this thread, some Buddhist Centres might do better if there were more participation. But Buddhism isn't about building Buddhist Centres. It's about the Dharma. If you learn about the Dharma, and practice it, you may find that you feel that your life has improved. People may ask you, and then you can share your experience with Buddhism with them.

UbahOne

Educate people at least. What you do sounds like a lazy option. Think about it.

Yoda

Well, UbahOne, if you saw me in the New York Times last week you would know that I am a person who is busy doing all sorts of things which are pretty good for the world. I'm not a Buddhist priest or anything.

What I do is what I do. One of the things I've been doing is encouraging you to get hold of some books, dive in, and talk about what you find on this forum.

Think about it.

UbahOne

When i say you...im not singling out you. Im talking you as a buddhist and the rest of them.

mickmacdublin

I think there are several good reasons why Buddhists don't proselytise. First the Buddha expressly said it was a waste of time - he advised monks to wait to be asked 3 times before giving teachings.

Secondly, and I can verify this from my own experience, if people take their time to learn a little bit first before taking the plunge then they are more likely to come along and learn meditation in Dharma centres.

The Hare Krishnas were in Dublin for years - singing and dancing up and own Grafton St., giving out cookies and trying to get people to take books. Proselytising like mad... Where are they now? And this is the third reason - it doesn't work.

Buddhism is not a faith-based religion. The Hares or the Born Agains can tell people - just believe what we believe and everything will be fine. Buddhism doesn't say that - even if you believe whole-heartedly everything that the Buddha and all the great Buddhist teachers have said, it will do you no good whatsoever unless you put the teachings into practice.

Most people who come to be Buddhism are interested in overcoming their own and other's suffering - that's a realisation you have to make for yourself and the decision to do something about it is also a decision you have to make for yourself.

Mick