Spirituality

Forty years ago the Swiss writer and traveller Christian Spahni wrote that ” the Alpujarra is where man finds his reasons for living”. But these reasons don’t last forever. Agriculture is in decline; hardly anyone looks after the erstwhile large flocks of sheep and goats, mining is no more, phylloxera destroyed many of the vines. As a result the indigenous population is decreasing annually. For those that have stayed it is tourism that, in the main, drives the economy of today.

Recently ‘hippies’ have come to the Alpujarra – although the majority do not stay long: farm and field work are hard and it’s not always easy to integrate socially. More successfully, other newcomers have started small businesses; handicrafts, antique shops, bars and restaurants.

What has lasted, however, is the Sierra Nevada as a place of reflection and meditation. Its beauty is unchanged, indeed there are places that remind travellers of the Himalayas – steep sided glacial valleys, high pastures, high terraces cut into the hillsides, stone built, flat roofed dwellings – it could be Nepal. Up in the southern heights of the sierra at some 1,500 mts there are a number of centres specialising in personal development and spiritual retreats. 

The Lama Yeshe founded the first Tibetan Buddist centre in Spain, between Soportujar and Pampaneira.The Dalai Lama made a visit in 1982 and officially named the centre ‘O Sel Sing’, which means Place of Clear Light. 

The Chinese priest ‘Father Peter’ created the Tai Chi centre in the Cortijo de Cortes in the hills above Mecina Bombaron. From Berchules you can see the buildings and the old threshing floor where they used to do exercises on the hillside opposite the village.

After many years giving courses all over Spain, the Japanese Buddist monk Hogen Yamahata chose the Alpujarra to make his home and found his mediatation centre, JIKO AN. The centre is an hour and half’s walk from the village of Yegen.

Lower down, on the valley floor is the agricultural tourist centre Alqueria de Morayma. The owner welcomes teachers and participants in courses of personal and spiritual development to use the specially constructed hall and gardens, and to take advantage of the outstanding views, pure air and tremendous energy of the mountains

The Sierra Nevada has traditionally been a place to ‘find oneself’, where ‘time stands still’ for reflexion, relaxation and contemplation. Fidel Fernandez, one of the first mountaineers to climb the Spanish peaks, wrote in 1931 in his book ‘Sierra Nevada’, ” here one finds a miraculous balm that heals the wounds of the soul that one thought incurable”.