Samye Ling

There is a Buddhist monastery in Scotland called Samye Ling, a quiet, tranquil place where people of all beliefs are made welcome.
I first visited it in the 1980's. At that time all building and maintenance was done by volunteers who lived on the premises in tents, old caravans and even wooden sheds, very much a hippie community. I was interested in Buddhism at the time, as I was quite deeply into meditation and wanted to experience new idea's and explore different beliefs.
Amber began visiting the Centre with me and we became very friendly with one of the lay people who was in charge of the gardens and greenhouses, swapping plants and buying our vegetables ( organically grown ) from him. For my blog post I thought a little tour of the Centre would be of interest and maybe you would like to join me.



This is the Samye Liberation gate, it was built to promote world peace and also to bring peace of mind to people walking through it.





These four photographs are of part of the gardens, the residents at the Centre have constructed a wooden framed building where it is intended to dry the herbs that are grown in the garden.

An avenue of Prayer flags leading up to the Stupa, these are inscribed with prayers for Peace, Compassion, Strength and Wisdom. The colours of the flags represent the five natural elements and the wind carries the prayers in all directions. The Stupa is a symbol of the enlightened mind of Buddha and helps to transform negative energy's for self and the planet.

Views of the interior and exterior of the Temple, building work on this was finished in 1988.
The Naga house was built as an offering to the Naga's or Water Spirits, placing it at the junction of two rivers helps bring natural forces into balance.
A lovely crop of Calendula flowers.
The Clutie Tree is a Scottish and Tibetan custom, the idea is to tie a rag or cloth to a branch and make a wish, as the rag disintegrates the wish is carried to the winds.
Part view of a wonderful lake full of golden fish.
Guru Rimpoche, founder of Buddhism in Tibet sitting on a lotus flower, ( beauty rising from the mud.)
Naga Juna in the pond, he was the forefather of Madyamika school of philosophy which forms the basis of the Karma Kagyu view of emptiness. Hope this has been of interest.