Monk to hold 2-day retreat for meditation in Carefree

by Srianthi Perera - Nov. 27, 2011 08:52 PM
The Arizona Republic

When he was a teenager, Venerable Yogavacara Rahula used a Buddha statue he picked up in Tijuana as a hat rack in his Riverside, Calif., bedroom.

Now, the American Buddhist monk has developed a deep respect for the creator of Buddhism through decades of studying the philosophy and especially Vipassana Meditation, which means insight into the nature of reality.

Venerable Rahula will be in the Valley next week to conduct a two-day Vipassana Meditation retreat in Carefree. He will also speak on the topic Dec. 9 in Mesa.

A Theravada Buddhist Monk, which is the orthodox form of Buddhism, he is being sponsored by the Arizona International Buddhist Meditation Center in Mesa.

"Buddhism embraced me; (it's) not me that embraced Buddhism," he said. "It's the only philosophy/religion that makes any sense of this crazy world and our mind."

It has been a long journey, both physical and mental, since Venerable Rahula, born Scott Joseph DuPrez in 1948, chanced upon Tibetan lamas in Nepal. After a month-long meditation course, he began seeking a spiritually-fulfilling life, a path characterized by intense introspection.

He had experimented with various drugs even during his three-year stint in the Army, wore his hair long and love beads completed his hippie lifestyle. Throughout his travels through Europe, he experienced drug highs from a stash he carried in his rucksack. But, as he wrote in his autobiography, "One Night Shelter," he was growing disenchanted with seeking such thrills. "I thought meditation might perhaps be a way to make the mind clear and high naturally," he wrote.

The hunch was right.

Venerable Rahula, who was ordained in Sri Lanka in 1975, is now a respected meditation teacher without a fixed abode who travels internationally to conduct retreats. He also teaches Buddhists in Sri Lanka and India, the birthplace of Buddhism. He integrates yoga breathing and exercise with Vipassana meditation.

At the retreat in Carefree, beginners to meditation can expect to learn a simple technique of body-based mindfulness meditation and some yoga exercises they can practice at home. If participants are already meditating, the retreat can be a "mindfulness battery charge," he said.

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