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Dzogchen i mBéarra

Tá teach sa tuaithe i mBeara. (Is "Dzogchen" cleachtadh ard Bhúdaoicht Thíbead.) Tá sé ina gContae gCorcaigh. Níor chuir mé cuairt ar an ceantar sin na hEireann fós. Mar sin féin, thiomaint mé ar trasna ag imeall na gContae Cheinnearcach mór nuair tháinig mé triu na Sleibhte Bhailehoura. Ach, níl fhíos agam an ciall na lhogainm seo. Ní bhfuil eolas agam. Lhorg me ina mo leabhair agus ar an idirlíon seo, ach níor fuair mé na sanasaíocht shainmhíniú seo. Gheobhaidh me a thuilleadh.

Bhuel, foghlaimíonn mé teacs le Sogyal Rinpoche, "Na Leabhar Thíbeadach Bheo agus Bhás." Léigh mé seo deich mbliana go ham seo. Bhí sé riamh go raibh fuair mo máthair bás. Tosaigh mé aríst anois. Chríochnaigh mé gluais le Proinseascha Fremantle faoi "Saoradh Mór trí bhithin Chloisteáil ina hIdirthréimhse." Áistraigh mé ina leagan Gaeilge an teideal leis cruinneas níos mionne.

Is cuimhne liom inniu an ionad "Rigpa." Chonaic mé ina sanas le obair Shogyal go raibh an áit ina gCorcaigh Thiar. Is bunaitheoir é féin. Bhí iontas agam air. Chúardaigh mé ar an ghreásan faoi an dúiche timpeall. Is an tír máguaird go halainn.

Cruinníonn duine ansin. Déanann siad cúrsa spioradáilte. Scríobh Bean Ghreagoir-- agus le déanaí Kuno Mayer-- rann shean-Gaeilge i mBéarla le "Cailleach Bheara" chomh fada siar le céad bliain. Is "Aithne damsa bés mora" as Gaeilge ina shaol atá inné ann. Is ceathrú d'amhrán go laidir. Chaoineadh sean-bhean i bpian an ghrá. Tá granna uirthi. Chaill sí go leor. Measaionn fír léinn uirthi go mbeidh sí dealbh na Chruinne.

B'fhéidir, tá duine níos fearr ansiud an t-am i láthair. Téann oilithreach ar turas freisin chomh anallód go mBéarra. Tá duine ina "Dzogchen" i gcónaí i bhfad í láthair. Tá sé céad míle go an cathair na gCorcaigh. Tá sé seacht míle go dtí na hAillichí. Tá fhíos agam an ciall shráidbhaile ar scor ar bith. Tá aillte bheaga. Ach, tá áille leis fada. Tá sí "áilleacht" seo. Tá sé beagán dhá chiall leis fuaim seo go tráthuil.

"Dzogchen Beara"

There's a country house in Beara. ("Dzogchen" is an advanced practice of Tibetan Buddhism.) It's in County Cork. I have not paid a visit to that district in Ireland yet. All the same, I drove across over the border into the big Rebel County when I drove through the Ballyhoura Mountains. But, I don't know the meaning of that place. I don't have information. I looked in my books and online, but I did not find the etymology of this placename. I will seek further.

Well, I am studying a text from Sogyal Rinpoche, "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying." I read this ten years ago. It was after my mother had died [="found death"]. I started it again now. I finished the gloss by Francesca Fremantle about "The Great Liberation by means of Hearing in the Transitional Period." I translated into the Irish version the title with closer exactness.

I remember today the center "Rigpa." I saw in the glossary of Sogyal's work that the place was in West Cork. He's the founder. I was surprised at this locality. I searched on the web about the surrounding country. It's beautiful land around the region.

People gather there. They make spiritual retreats. Lady Gregory-- and later Kuno Meyer-- wrote from old Irish a poem into English as "The Hag [Old Woman in our PC age] of Beare" as far back as a hundred years ago. It is "Aithne damsa bés mora" in Irish style as it was in former times. It is a strong verse from song. An old woman lamented her loss of love. She is ugly. She lost a lot. Scholars think about her that she may be an earth-figure.

Perhaps, happier people are over there at the present. Pilgrims go on journey still as in ancient times to Beara. The people at "Dzogchen" are living far away. They are a hundred miles from the city of Cork and it's seven miles until Allihies. I know the meaning of this village, however. It is a "little cliffs." But, there's "áille" with a long accent. This is "beauty." It's almost a double meaning, fittingly, with this sound.

Photo by/Grianghraf le Dzogchen Beara
Alt faoi/ article about Cailleach Bheara: Julian Cope Presents the Modern Antiquarian