Loch Ness is the perfect setting for launch of mindfulness book by Tibetan Buddhist monk
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A WORLD-renowned monk chose the banks of Loch Ness for the official launch of his new book.
Gelong Thubten (47), a Tibetan Buddhist monk and internationally praised teacher of mindfulness, unveiled A Monk’s Guide to Happiness to a specially invited audience of Highland business figures at the Loch Ness Clansman Hotel on Friday.
He said: “I really want to get people excited about meditation, let them know that they don’t have to be frightened by it and that happiness is a trainable skill.”
A mindfulness teacher for technology giants such as Google and Facebook and other big businesses including HSBC and Lufthansa, Oxford-born Thubten has also taught in hospitals, schools, universities, prisons and drug rehabilitation centres as well as giving keynote speeches at major events and the UN.
He embraced Buddhism after he suffered a severe burnout while he was working as an actor in New York at the age of 21.
He went on to enter the Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, which is located in the Scottish Borders, in 1993.
His book – already a number one hit on Amazon – was mostly written on the shores of Loch Ness, a place he often visits while helping to develop the local branch of the monastery, the Kagyu Samye Dzong Centre for World Peace and Health located near Drumnadrochit.
The centre provides a base for mindfulness and meditation lessons and was visited by the Dalai Lama in 2012.
“I think this kind of environment fosters creativity,” Gelong Thubten said of the Loch Ness area.
“It allows more space for ideas to arrive and just expand.
“We want to bring that sense of peace, tranquillity and meditation in this area, to help people deal with their stress and bring that peace into society.”
Director of business development with the Cobbs Group which owns the Clansman Hotel, Willie Cameron, has been involved with the Buddhist centre since its early days and was delighted to provide the venue for the book launch.
He said: “We want people to come here to feel the joy.”
