On my first morning, I slept through the 6 am pooja and the ensuing breakfast with monks. I must confess that my curiosity about breakfast coaxed me into waking up early the next day. I was not disappointed. The pooja lasted about an hour, with monks chanting soulfully in the monastery’s grand 36-pillared temple hall. Gongs and trumpet-like musical additions ensured even drowsy ones, like me, remained awake. After that, all of us—monks and visitors—went to the dining room. Breakfast was simple and delicious vegetarian fare: steaming, freshly made buns from the monastery kitchen, protein-rich bean stew, and salty milk tea.

　　After a week of intense exploration in Kathmandu, I was at the Namo Buddha monastery, situated 40 km from the capital city of Nepal. It took me about 2 hours to get there in a private taxi. Perched on a hilltop amidst the rural countryside, the monastery offers stunning scenic views and a serene ambience.

　　A Place from Buddha’s Past Life

　　This hill has deep significance in Buddhism. Gautam Buddha has spoken about it in his sermons. A sutra called ‘The Tigress’ talks about Buddha's past life when he was a prince called Mahasattva. In a moment of deep compassion on this hill, he gave up his body to save a starving tigress and her five cubs. This act of great generosity is considered a significant step in his journey of many lifetimes to finally attain enlightenment.

　　The remains of Prince Mahasattva, found in the tigress’s cave, were placed in a stupa at the bottom of this hill. This stupa is one of the three most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists in the Kathmandu Valley. The other two are Boudhnath and Swayambhunath, which are in Kathmandu city and more popular with tourists.

　　A 15-minute stony trail leads us from the monastery to this sacred stupa. On the hilltop, there is a shrine to the Tigress cave where devotees can offer lamps and other items. A little way ahead from this shrine, pilgrims offer Buddhist flags in large numbers.

　　The sight of these colourful prayer flags fluttering in the wind has always uplifted my heart and made me smile. I enjoyed my time here and bought a roll of flags from the nearby shop to add to the lot. A friendly monk quickly mentioned, “You can write your and your family’s names on the flags and ask a monk, ideally someone who has done the 4-year retreat, to do a little prayer before putting it up."

　　Travellers From Different Walks of Life

　　The monastery houses about 250 monks, including 150 child monks. In addition to the many monk stay areas, temples, kitchens, and teaching rooms, there are two guest house blocks for visitors like me.

　　There is a constant flow of travellers visiting this monastery for different purposes. Some come as part of their group tours to experience a day in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Some are Buddhist practitioners visiting for specific rituals and pilgrimages. Some are slow travellers like me looking for a serene place to deepen their spiritual experience.

　　I met a French woman working on her book, which aims to bring about ecological change in the world. Another older lady from Auroville had been visiting for decades, and she spoke about the many developments that have happened in the past few years: " The smooth, tarred road you see now has come up only in the last five years. Earlier, it used to be a very bumpy ride!” Another Dutch traveller planned to be there for a month as a volunteer teaching English to the monk students.

　　Located in rural countryside with villages and farms all around, there is much to do for the traveller who likes to slow down and spend some contemplative time. There are long stretches of dirt lanes meandering through the hills and passing through quaint villages which would make for wonderful long walks. You can sit in many spots absorbing the scenic view of the Terai hill range. One of these spots is the monastery-run rooftop cafe which serves delicious lattes and milkshakes.

　　You can also spend time chatting with monks and participating in poojas, debate sessions, teachings, and other activities at the monastery.

　　A Relaxed Schedule

　　The day at Namo Buddha is relaxed, and there is ample time to explore various activities. Here’s the typical schedule provided to visitors:

　　6:00 am: Morning Pooja at the Main Temple

　　7:00 am: Breakfast

　　11:00 am: Midday Pooja at Main Temple

　　12:00 pm: Lunch

　　7:00 pm: Dinner

　　8:00 pm: On some days, there may be a monk debate session. While we may not know the language they debate in, it is an interesting spectacle with debaters using dramatic gestures and loud claps to make their point.

　　Vegetarian meals are eaten by the monks. They start and end the meal with a chant. As there are a lot of children monks, there is a fair bit of hustle and bustle amongst them all throughout, which makes it a very lively and interesting meal experience. Sometimes, it felt a little too Spartan for my taste, so I would head to the nearby monastery cafe to supplement with snacks like momos, sashiko, or simply some herbal tea.

　　A Slow, Contemplative Experience

　　I planned this 4-day monastery stay as a break from my intense Kathmandu exploration and to spend time in these verdant hills away from the city hubbub. As it happened, my visit in early June coincided with unprecedented heat in the Himalayan capital city. Thankfully, at Namo Buddha, I was able to experience the coolness of the mountain for a few days.

　　During my stay, I had a long conversation with one of the monk teachers, Lama Karma Purbhu, on myriad topics ranging from different meditation types in Buddhism, the story of Namo Buddha to Buddhist education, reincarnation of Buddhist leaders and lots more. It added great value to my life, and I appreciate his kindness in spending time assuaging my curiosity about Buddhist wisdom! You can watch this conversation on my youtube channel.

　　There was a lovely library in the guest house, which armed me with a book on the intriguing life story of one of the great Buddhist leaders, Marpa. I sat in the hills, reading this book, while my camera shot time lapses of the beautiful view, with shafts of light dancing through the moving clouds. The proximity from Kathmandu makes it an easy addition into your Nepal itinerary.

　　If you want to plan a visit to Namo Buddha monastery, contact the office at +977-9828492208 or [email protected]