A Journey to Enlightenment
By Vicki Burns
A long inviting driveway to the mansion is a journey in itself, winding up to the home of the many spiritual learners, monks and nuns.
Originally built in 1160 as an Augustinian Hospital, Conishead Priory was demolished a number of years later by Henry VIII during the Reformation. The land was then passed on to the Braddyll family who rebuilt the gothic mansion over a period of twelve years. Built for miners, it was turned into a spa hotel, later used by royalty and nobility of the time.
It was used in this way for around forty-five years, until in 1976 it was converted to the Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre for spiritual learning. Some years later, in 1991, a beautiful temple was built, a sanctuary where people flocked to from all over the world in order to meditate and find themselves. The current teacher has been teaching at Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre for 30 years and is a well known and respected leader.
Geoff Rowe, a practising Buddhist, told us his story: “I was brought up as a Christian, but I was having a hard time. When I was in my 20’s I started practising yoga and meditation. I continued in this way until I moved from Sunderland to York with my wife. Here, there was not the same form of meditation. Because of this, I got involved with a Buddhist group, where I learned how to meditate. I became very interested in this.
However, I was still stressed. I just wasn’t achieving. I trained as a town planner but still felt unsatisfied with my life. Fortunately, I met the leader from Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre and found myself moving up here, to listen to his teachings, and continue with my spiritual journey. I am involved in a lot of charity work and am now tourist manager for the centre. The teacher here has been a great inspiration for me.”
The Story of Buddha
The most famous story throughout the whole of Buddhism is, of course, the life story of Prince Siddhartha. He was born into a very wealthy family, where he was the first-born son and heir to the throne. Because of this, he was treated as any future King should be. He lived in luxury. However, he was very sheltered as his parents insisted on protecting him from the outside world.
One day, his parents let him go into the nearby town, where he saw four people who would change his life forever: a sick man, an old man, a dead man and a holy man with a begging bowl. Back at the palace, he pondered what he had seen as he had never encountered these aspects of life before. He knew he was human, as were they, and no doubt one day those things would happen to him. But he wanted to know why.
He wanted to meditate and discover what the holy man had. He seemed peaceful and happy within himself even though he was a beggar and therefore had no money. He found it difficult to leave the palace again and eventually said, “I’ll stay if I don’t die or get sick. If I do though, I will have to leave to find out why. Can you promise me that?”
Of course, his parents couldn’t promise him this, and so he left the palace to go and live in the forest. He stayed there for six years, where he meditated to try and find enlightenment. He discovered that in order to overcome pain, you have to go through it, something people today still discover for themselves.
And here he discovers he is Buddha. He was always Buddha. He just needed to find himself for it to shine through.
LINKS
There are religious and spiritual journeys throughout this anthology, from The Pilgrim’s Way in the Kent section, to The Divine Revelation of George Fox in this one.