Get off your arse and sit!

In the centre of KIBI, physically, and for want of a better word, spiritually, is the meditation hall. In Tibetan this is called ‘gompa’ (or ‘lhakang’, depending where you come from), which is much less of a mouthful.

This is what it looks like from outside..

Inside the space is impressively large.

Right at the far wall, facing you as you come in, is a large golden buddha statue, surrounded by what is probably an auspicious number, but which to me is just 'a lot', of little Buddha statues in little cases.

The gompa is both a hall for public events and a space for personal practice. The students have a communal meditation every day at 8pm, and you can come in pretty much any time and meditate on your own. Especially first thing in the morning and at weekends there are quite a few Western students (more committed or less studious than your intrepid reporter) doing their own practice.

Every day in class we can hear the unearthly sounds of trumpets and percussion instruments as a group of monks perform noisy rituals. Apart from this, which occurs a few times a day, I've never seen a monk sitting in the gompa meditating. They must sit in their rooms or somewhere else I don't know about.
Although the gompa is for the serious business of meditating, Buddhists, especially Kagyus, are not overly solemn, and around 8.45pm the gompa echoes with post-meditative conversation, laughter, the occasional playfight, and amateur attempts at playing the Big Green Drum.


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