Humble Porch of Buddhism in Almora

One of the most attractive religions—inviting enthusiasts to pay a visit and leave without a hint of conversion—in the world is Buddhism. An enormous literature notwithstanding, it remains an enigmatic sect largely because of the patronized language—the remote Tibetan. The scripts on walls and boards of monasteries promise an artistic mysticism inside. And many people enter the gates with sheer curiosity rather than any religious fervour.
Among other Buddhist gomphas or monasteries in Kumaon, one at Almora is as candid and quiet in a corner as anywhere else. The serpentine bumpy road to Binsar, at a 6 odd KM distance from Almora town, turns at a beaten path that leads one to the same spot where Lama Anagarika Govinda decided to settle for good almost eight decades ago in 1933. The monastery then was a tranquil stone structure managed at quite a small level by Kungang Rigjan (pronounced as Rigzing). Rigjan was a Tibetan Buddhist monk who had a jewel of an offering for Lama Govinda—the Tibetan word. Instructed thoroughly in Pali in Sri Lanka, Lama Govinda found an almost independent school of Buddhism in Tibetan literature. And everything learnt prior to the Almora experience glided back to pose as an important backdrop. What was to follow was as magnanimous as the order of ‘Arya Maitreya Mandala’.
Today the monastery is made to look stronger and even somewhat modern on the outside with cement plasters and glass, but the insides have the same echo of thousands of years of Jatakas and ancient wisdom. As one leaves the asphalt concrete for the afore-mentioned beaten path, the upward trek comes to a halt pretty soon at the gate with symbols from Buddha’s first teaching in the Deer Park, Sarnath also called the Dharmachakra Parivartan (two deer sitting on either sides of a wheel, looking up to it in reverence). A closely cropped grass field, inside, leads one to the monastery, that is being looked after by monk Konchok Dhenphel these days.
Standing enviably tall at the young age of 33, Dhenphel is already a punctilious monk. He is the eldest son of the family and was sent to study Buddhist theology in Bangalore about 22 years back. Having completed his basic education there, he left for Dehradun after 7 years, where he studied under the ‘Drkung’ tradition and began to practice as a junior monk. The monastery at Almora follows the same ‘Drkung’ tradition with their holy Guru Drkung Kugun Rypund residing at Dehradun. It has been a year since his return; he is young and has an interesting, fresh outlook of Buddhism.
According to Denphel, Kungung Rigjan’s wife Sonam Chodon was adopted by Lama Govinda after the former’s death. She was looked up to by the entire Tibetan clan in Almora, and was venerated as Holy Mother after his demise in 1985. At the backyard of the monastery stands a stupa with the last earthly remains of Kungang Rigjan buried under. Close by is also a bigger stupa dedicated to Lama Govinda (beside that of Sonam Chodom), who’s ashes albeit are contained in the Nirvana Stupa in the district of Darjeeling.
Also in the neighbourhood is a meditation centre with a unique curriculum. The course is not just another one for rejuvenating wandering souls, it spans to a somber 3 years, 3 months and 3 weeks time, adding to a total of about 1206 days. Three groups have already passed out and a fourth one is in the middle of its term. The students are not allowed to walk out of the meditation centre. Only in exceptional cases like yajnas and other poojas which they are allowed to attend, can they come out to the monastery, otherwise even that is prohibited. The present batch has a motley crowd of 16 students, none of whom are from India. Dhenphel says, “Most people interested in attending the meditation course are from outside India. Most of them come from South Asian countries like Taiwan, Singapore and Bangkok. Many from the west are queued to enroll in the next session.”
The trainer in the meditation centre is not same as the priest in the monastery, although he is the only one who’s allowed inside. There are special trainers with immense experience and excellence in delivering the technical and spiritual nuances of vipasana meditation.
Being very time consuming the locals can not attend the meditation sessions, but some often go to the monastery and spend hours in the quiet atmosphere. It is the most low-profile places in Almora, but if tumbled to, is probably one of the most attractive. No wonder foreign visitors go there and recommend the same to their friends back at home. It is time that Kumaonis themselves start exploring it.