Everyone is welcome to attend an event where Welsh playwright Aled Jones-Williams and Tibetan Buddhist teacher Lama Shenpen Hookham are to host an evening of storytelling at the Hermitage, Ynys Graianog, Criccieth, on Friday 17 September.
They will tell Welsh and Buddhist stories and explore how both traditions use storytelling and imagery to open us to mysterious truths and dimensions to reality.
Lama Shenpen, a British woman who spent many years in India in the 1970’s receiving teachings from Tibetan Buddhist lamas before returning to complete a doctoral thesis at Oxford University, is now Spiritual Director of the Awakened Heart Sangha.
She said “Some places act as a strong focus to connect us to deeper levels of spiritual reality. Since I moved here in 1999, on the direction of His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, I have found that northwest Wales is such a place. I find strong parallels with the Tibetan tradition in some of the stories told about local places.”
Aled Jones-Williams is a poet, playwright and novelist who won the Crown at the St David’s Eisteddfod in 2002. He was ordained as a priest with the Church in Wales in 1980 and was until recently vicar of Porthmadog.
Aled said: “The stories of the Mabinogion conjure up a fantastical world and still have the power to inspire us today. They have a universal quality and it’s perhaps not surprising that we find echoes of them in other traditions. “
On the next day, Saturday 18 September, the Hermitage is holding a Meditation Day with silent meditation, teachings and discussions. It is suitable for both beginners and experienced meditators.
Anyone who is interested in attending either event should contact the Hermitage on 01766 530839 to reserve a place. Tickets cost £5 for the storytelling evening and £20 for the meditation day.
