The main shrine room at the Samye Ling Tibetan Centre in Dumfriesshire
Eskdale from the Borland road. In the pine trees, near the centre of the picture, the golden roof of the Samye Ling Temple can just be seen
When a small group of Tibetan monks came to the UK in the 1960s they looked for a place where they could continue their traditions without being considered a nuisance by their neighbours. They chose Eskdalemuir which at the time was one of the more isolated valleys of Scotland, although actually within easy reach of transportation, and already well known for the geological and meteorological stations that had been established in the valley earlier in the century.
The
Samye Ling
website has further details of the centre.
Small stupas at the north entrance, with the butter lamp house in the background
Somewhat poetically what the Buddhist teachers found was a shooting lodge belonging to the old Dumfriesshire family the Johnstones. On this site they built the temple which can be seen here. It was named in 1967 by its co-founders, the Rinpoches Chogyam Trungpa and Akong Tulku, in memory of one of the oldest Buddhist centres in Tibet.
The gate at the south entrance
The Nagarjuna Monument with the Stupa beyond
Butter lamps in the 'Butter Lamp House' are lit daily to promote world peace
This statue of Nagarjuna honours an Indian teacher and philosopher who lived between the years 150 to 250. He is credited with being the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism
Rinpoche Pool and Stupa
Since the beginning the site has been in a continuous state of development. The temple was inaugurated in the 1988. In 2000 the large Victory Stupa near the north entrance was completed, in 2007 the Prayer Wheel House was added beside the Stupa. The dinning room and guest rooms beside the temple were joined by the reception area, library, meeting rooms and more guest rooms this whole coutyard complex being opened in 2014.
The Victory Stupa with the Prayer Wheel House behind
A dragon acts as fount for the Rinpoche Pool
An older view of the temple, taken before it was incorporated into the courtyard
The Temple roof
Statue of Chenrezi inside the Stupa
Statue of the Buddha Sakyamuni in the Stupa
Statue of the Buddha Sakyamuni in the main shrine room
Courtyard Door
Spirit Screen
Window
The new Courtyard entrance,
the Spirit Screen faces the visitor at the end of the corridor The great merit of Samye Ling, to interested visitors, is the juxtaposition of the high art of Tibet, so foreign to our norms, with the peace of the Scottish valley in which it is housed.
The Samye Ling site is bordered to the east by the White Esk. Across the water sheep graze at dawn
Samye Ling is now almost submerged by forest, but the temple roof, catching the dawn light, can just be seen peeping out of the trees
The Temple and Stupa sit in the valley below Lamb Knowe with its ancient earthworks
The Samy Ling Tibetan Centre in Eskdalemuir with Ettrick Pen as background
The next page
takes you from the countryside of Southern Scotland to the Royal Botanic Gardens in central Edinburgh.
To a page on the Đền Cờn temple in Vietnam
A page on the mosques of Isfahan
