Wintering at O Sel Ling Buddhist retreat and meditation centre
After a tough climb of over 1100m, I arrived at Thursday 24 November at O Sel Ling. It was already starting to dusk and I felt empty and exhausted. How glad I was that I had made it to the top with my bike!
Maude, the spiritual coordinator, came to pick me up at the reception because the farmhouse (cortijo) is still 300 metres away. She assigned me a cosy little room with a Tibetan altar and a meditation area with cushion and gave me sheets and some warm blankets. These are needed here, because in clear skies there is already night frost and the little bedrooms are only heated when the fireplace in the kitchen/dining area is burning. That is connected to a central heating circuit that starts working as soon as the water tank reaches the temperature of 60 degrees.
O Sel Ling is at an altitude of 1.5OO metres in 'the middle of nowhere'. It does not even have an address and there are no utilities such as water or electricity networks. The old farmhouse (cortijo) and all the outbuildings around it, such as the two (unheated) toilets with shower and a work studio, are connected to solar panels. There are as few electrical appliances as possible: only a fridge, but no freezer, microwave oven or kettle. For cooking, we only use gas. There is a washing machine, but it can only be used between noon and 2pm when the weather is sunny. If not, we do hand washing.
When it is cloudy for several days in a row, we have to be very frugal with electricity: we switch on as few lights as possible, switch to candlelight if necessary, and charge phones and laptops in the reception building 300m away, which has its own solar panel. The shower buildings also have separate solar panels to heat up the water, but we also lack a really hot shower on low-sun days. The water then becomes half lukewarm at best. During the day we keep warm with all kinds of maintenance tasks and in the evening we enjoy ourselves by the fireplace in the dining area.
Our drinking water comes from a closed reservoir that collects spring water from the mountains. A relief after the heavily chlorinated and sometimes salty tap water on the coastal route I followed. I normally always drink tap water on the road, but highly exceptionally I have had to switch to bottled water a few times here in Spain because Spanish tap water made me feel uncomfortable.
In short, there is in O Sel Ling slightly less comfort than at home, but for me that lack of luxury is more than compensated by the silence that prevails here and the breathtaking nature and landscapes. It also reminds us how spoilt we are to live in a rich and prosperous country where we only need to press or turn a button to have light, electricity and hot water. And it shows that a life without utilities is possible, at least in isolated places with a predominantly sunny climate.
Monday 12 December
Yesterday we had rain in the morning and sunshine in the afternoon with lots of wind. Today started out sunny and calm, but after lunch the wind picked up again, resulting in a magnificent cloud spectacle around 5pm, with the clouds passing through the valley of O Sel Ling blown in.
When I started filming, clouds were piling up in the valley and forming a thick fog. By the end of the 25-minute timelapse- recording, all the clouds had disappeared and the valley was open and clear again. This is a good example of how quickly weather conditions change in the mountains.
Sitting still for 25 minutes and watching the ballet of clouds was delightful. It is the metaphor par excellence to symbolise the transience of all that exists. Impermanence or 'anicca' is one of the three characteristics of existence in Buddhism, along with 'dukkha' (suffering) and anatta (without lasting essence).
Thursday 16 December - A walk above the clouds.
It has been very foggy and rainy for the past four days in O Sel Ling, which made it quite difficult for us because the solar panels were no longer charging the battery and we couldn't see how much power was left in them. Knowing that it would be dark and cloudy for several days in a row, we switched to electricity saving from day one: minimal lighting in the kitchen and in our bedrooms, candles when we could, and no internet because the router was also consuming too much energy.
From day two, there was no hot water to shower and we had to make do with a bucket with a little hot water from the kettle.
Finally in the afternoon, it looked like the sun would break through the fog. I could see from the cortijo (farmhouse) that this would produce beautiful hazy light effects and left for a hike to the Tara statue, some 100 metres up. My expectations were right: it was a magical walk with misty scenes and a beautiful sunset over the clouds still hovering over the valley.
If the sun sweeps away all those low-hanging clouds tomorrow, we will have a beautiful and sunny Saturday. At least, that is what the weather forecast promises for tomorrow and the days after. Yihaaa! Back to 'normal' life without mackintoshes.
That evening, I was lucky enough to witness a beautiful sunset over low-hanging clouds. Luckily, I had a small tripod with me and was able to take a short timelapse video. For this 27-second video, I had to hold the tripod for about 20 minutes because it was quite windy on that slope. I stayed there until I got too cold and stiff from holding the tripod. Unfortunately, this was not long enough to film the full sunset. That will be for another time.
Friday 17 December: farewell party
This Tuesday, Jenny, a German volunteer from Munich, is leaving back home. She arrived here a good week before me and had planned to stay for a total of two weeks and then travel through southern Spain for another 10 days or so. But she loved being here so much that she kept postponing her departure. In the end, she leaves from Malaga on Tuesday and thankfully only at four in the afternoon.
Alma, the Mexican cook, Jessie itself and Adrian, a young Spanish volunteer, spent hours in the kitchen preparing the snacks for the farewell party. The result was a creamy pumpkin soup, vide with goat cheese or mushroom stuffing, a warm mixed vegetable dish, veggie mini hamburgers, fresh humus, olive tapenade, spiced jacket potatoes, garlic sauce and homemade focaccia with onion. As a sweet ending, a creamy cheesecake with sugar-free fruit coulis.
There were fortunately many of us to tackle all these delicacies, but despite the diligent help of the red-and-white tomcat Karuna, who was especially keen on the cheesecake, there was still enough left over for lunch the next day. Three new volunteers joined us over the last three days: Tin-tin (China) arrived today, Adrian Friday and Miguel, a handy Harry from Valencia, has been there since Wednesday. Jirka from the Czech Republic joined a few days after me and the Norwegian director Anne Wenaas is, of course, permanent. Including me, seven different nationalities, a veritable Tower of Babel. But we understand each other well.
Friday, December 23: evening walk
A day before Christmas Eve, it was lovely summer weather at the Buddhist retreat centre O Sel Ling.
After doing my laundry - which was dry after only a few hours - I rolled up my pant legs to expose more of my skin to the sun and replenish my vitamin D reserves and went for a walk in the Alpujarras mountains. How quiet and beautiful these mountains are!
On the way back, I met the director of O Sel Ling, Anna. She went uphill to check whether the irrigation ditches (cequías) were still open. Water is vital in this area, and very often neighbours block the ditch and divert water destined for O Sel Ling to their land. This reminded me of the story of the 'Water Tribunal' in Valencia, a farmers' court that meets every Thursday at noon and discusses and resolves such water and land disputes.
I turned around and joined Anna's walk uphill along the irrigation ditch via a nice GR path. It was already starting to get quite dark when we met two young cyclists with packed bikes. They had been delayed because this single-track path was more difficult than they had expected and asked for directions to Capileira, one of the three 'white villages' on the opposite mountain. Fortunately, at a junction just a few hundred metres from where we met, I had spotted a signpost to Capileira. They were almost there, six kilometres to go.
By the time we got back to O Sel Ling, it was pitch black and time for dinner.
When I came from the cortijo walking back to my room, I saw a shooting star. Is that a good or a bad omen?
December 24-25: Christmas at O Sel Ling
On Saturday, the day before Christmas, had Anna of the Buddhist retreat centre O Sel Ling invited all volunteers to a lunch in Pampaneira, a picturesque village 12 km from O Sel Ling.
She had reserved a table at El Castaño, a restaurant quite high up in the village.
We parked in a car park next to the church at the entrance to the village and had to walk up through small alleys and some stone steps. Pampaneira is a fairly touristy village with many boutiques and restaurants.
It was a warm, sunny day and we were able to eat outside on the terrace. This was my very first Christmas meal in a T-shirt on a sunny terrace!
The food at El Castaño was delicious and the desserts - cheesecake, tiramisu and grandma's pudding - heavenly.
Thank you, O Sel Ling, for this treat!
When we entered the dining room on Christmas Day, we were surprised to find that 'papa noël' had paid a nightly visit to the cortijo. One half of the table was set with presents, at least one for everyone. How kind and generous of Miguel!
For lunch, Ting-Ting and some helpers made delicious Chinese momos for the whole team, the three nuns from the nunnery and two German friends. For dessert, we had a huge chocolate cake that Nieves had brought from Malaga. Too many goodies for one day!
Thank you everyone for your kindness and generosity!
The December 31: Oseling sounds at 11pm on the new year
We hesitated for a long time: should we descend to Pampaneiras on New Year's Eve to consume 'the 12 grapes' with the villagers, or stay safe and sound in Oseling?
In Andalusia, the tradition is to devour a grape on each stroke of the midnight bell: one for each month of the following year. This brings good luck, and if you neglect this you may expect the worst calamity. Miguel was in favour of going down, the others preferred to keep it quiet with a few bites and snacks at O Sel Ling. So we decided not to eat until 9pm, later than usual, because otherwise we would have to wait a very long time until midnight.
In the end, this waiting did not work out after all... Everyone was tired from working during the day and actually preferred to go to bed. So as not to bring the doom of forgotten grapes upon us, we performed this ceremony an hour earlier. Only Miguel, a Valencian at heart, did not want to cheat. He would wait until midnight and could then recreate for the others the 12 chimes to eat the grapes at 11pm. He took a pan and a big spoon, practised a few times to find the right interval, and at the stroke of 11pm we ate the 12 grapes. Hilarious. Thanks Miguel.
Below is a link to the full O Sel Ling photo album, to which I add the best photos daily
16 September: Opening the door at Diamondway Buddhist Centre in Tallinn The centre's meditation sessions are open
