Buddhist monks complete a four-year retreat on a Scottish island

A Tibetan centre in southern Scotland has welcomed a group of monks emerging after a four-year Buddhist retreat. The 20 men have been cut off from the outside world since June 2005 when they entered a special sealed-off study centre on the Isle of Arran.

They emerged at the weekend to be taken to the Samye Ling Centre at Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway. One of the monks described it as "the most difficult thing I have done in my life, without question".

The format of the retreat was designed to achieve the deepest possible understanding of Buddhism and of their own minds.



Their days began at 3.45am and finished at about 11pm and were filled with rounds of prayer, meditation and study - every day for four years. A warden delivered essential supplies to the threshold of the former farm buildings where they were based, off the west coast of Scotland.

Apart from occasional family letters and visits from outside teachers they had no contact with - or knowledge of - the wider world.

The men on retreat were completely unaware of most of the major events of the past four years and have just started "catching up".

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