A Beacon of Wisdom and Compassion for the Modern World
Dzogchen Beara
After many years of meticulous designing, planning, constructing and decorating… this July we will witness the fruition of Sogyal Rinpoche’s vision to open a temple in Dzogchen Beara, Ireland!
This accomplishment would not have been possible without the immense support, prayers and generosity of the Rigpa sangha and supporters of Dzogchen Beara.
This Temple is the first Tibetan Buddhist temple in Ireland, and will be a place for the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism and in particular for followers of the Longchen Nyingtik cycle of the Nyingma ‘ancient’ lineage. We will also host teachers from other wisdom traditions and extend an open-hearted welcome to all through a programme of public retreats and seminars.
Perched high on the cliffs overlooking the ocean on the Beara Peninsula in County Cork, in south-west Ireland, many Tibetan masters, and almost everyone who visits Dzogchen Beara, comment on the extraordinary qualities of this location – its beautiful natural environment and an atmosphere of profound peace which comes from deep spiritual practice.
The Dzogchen Beara community is looking forward to welcoming many people to experience the Temple. Starting this July everyone can experience this new temple through a rich programme of events (both free and paid), including daily guided meditation, mini-retreats, guided temple tours and dharma talks.
A Power Place
The Temple site and building has been blessed by many great Tibetan Buddhist Masters including Dodrupchen Rinpoche IV, Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, Alak Zenkar Rinpoche, Neten Chokling Rinpoche, Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche and 9th Khamtrul Rinpoche, Garchen Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Khandro Tsering Chodron, Mayum Pema Tsering Wangmo and others.
Sogyal Rinpoche (Dzogchen Beara’s former Spiritual Director) invited Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche, a uniquely qualified Tibetan Buddhist master, to advise on the temple design, location and orientation and the design was undertaken by architect Giles Oliver, a student of Tibetan Buddhism since the 1970’s.
In 2015, when at Dzogchen Beara to bless the site of the Temple, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche said that, according to the ancient science of geomancy, this location at the south-western tip of Europe is a “power place” and building a temple here, at this specific time, will bring renewal and healing to Ireland as well as benefiting the whole world.
“If you build this temple here in Dzogchen Beara, and inside erect representations of the enlightened body, speech and mind, and have practitioners practise there, then this will be the cause for the teachings of the Buddha to remain for long and will have enormous benefit for the world at large; protecting against famine, against war and epidemics and so on.”
Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche
The Dzogchen Beara Temple has been built in the style of a traditional Tibetan monastery with innovative features such as floor-to-ceiling windows that make the most of expansive ocean views.
It has been a great pleasure to engage many skilled craftsmen from the local area as well as expert tradespeople from afar to help us make the Temple a reality. We also acknowledge the immense support from the Rigpa sangha and many other donors who have given so generously.
The first events in the Temple
Auspiciously the first practices will take place in the Temple on Chökhor Düchen, the ‘Festival of the first Turning of the Wheel of Dharma’ on 9 July 2024. The Rigpa sangha around the world will have the opportunity to participate by streaming, focusing our aspiration and intention for the Temple to be a precious vessel for our lineage to thrive long into the future and serve as a place of refuge, hope and peace for the world.
After 3 days of practices, Rigpa’s esteemed spiritual friend Ringu Tulku Rinpoche will bestow the first public teaching in the Dzogchen Beara Temple on the weekend of the 12th -14th July. Book here to join this special weekend retreat!
What a beautiful and significant moment this will be!
Help us open the temple!
We still need support to open the temple this July.
If you would like to make a donation find out more here. The names of all donors will be inscribed on a scroll to be placed in a gilded copper tube and enshrined in the temple when it is complete. You can donate in your name, the name of a loved one, or of somebody who has passed away.
You can also sponsor specific sacred ornaments and architecture of the Temple. Find out more here.
More info:
Join the first teaching event in the Dzogchen Beara Temple here
Check out lots of images and videos of the Dzogchen Beara Temple on their Facebook page.
Donate to support the completion on the Dzogchen Beara Temple here