Placing Buddhist meditation in spiritual tourism

Vipula WANIGASEKERA

Chairman of Ayurveda 2009 Asoka Hettigoda said that the Government has fired the first bullet in the economic war with the launch of Ayurveda 2009, which was the first International Symposium and Exhibition being held after the LTTE was crushed.

Hettigoda is a strong believer of the need to differentiate Sri Lanka's Ayurveda from that of other countries, for obvious reasons. That is the notion which this write up is based on, when it comes to Meditation in Spiritual Tourism.

Pilgrim and spiritual travel were identified together until the true definition of spiritual travel surfaced in the Tourism arena. Sri Lanka has made some gains through pilgrim tourism e.g. visits to the Temple of Sacred Tooth Relic and Sri Pada. Hindus from South India worship the Temple of Kataragama and lately Hindus from Gujarat and Andra Pradesh are taking tours to Ramayana sites in Sri Lanka.

Spiritual tourism on the other hand involves people who are desirous of seeking inner peace during their vacation and gaining spiritual development within. This is the segment that is said to be growing fast worldwide which needs to be viewed in relation to its potential for Sri Lanka, that should be worth studying further.

Spiritual tourism is directly linked to Yoga in some countries. Yoga is already blooming in Bali and more and more hotels are offering yoga classes attracting the tourists to Bali who want to intensify their level of spirituality. To develop this segment, an international yoga festival is also held in Bali annually. This unique location has thereby positioned yoga as a primary aspect of Spiritual Tourism in the minds of the potential visitors from all over the US, Europe and Australia.

The West, a primary market for Sri Lanka Tourism, are generally keen to learn Eastern philosophy, yoga etc. Records show that there are over 16.5 million adults in the United States practicing some kind of Yoga. Bali targets only 1 percent of this number so that they could easily get 160,000 yoga tourists from US alone. Similar trend has emerged in Europe too.

Taking Bali and Indian practices into consideration, Sri Lanka needs to distinguish the product offering. Meditation is a vital aspect in spiritual tourism either as an independent component or as a part of a program. The issue here is again, meditation is widely known to be a technique offered in many countries to those who travel seeking spiritual development.

What is then left for Sri Lanka is the Buddhist meditation which would narrow this whole question of spiritual tourism down to a few places like Thailand, Cambodia and Nepal which Sri Lanka could compete with. (However this should not be construed as a suggestion to pay less attention to forms of yoga but merely to emphasise the necessity to capitalize on the gift of uniqueness in Buddhist meditation among other forms of Yoga).

Monasteries such as Amarawathi in the UK and Wat Pah Nanachat in Thailand offer Buddhist meditation practices. While they have become famed for teaching of Buddhist meditation, the extent to which their doors are open for 'tourists' who would like to try out the practices for a few days, is yet to be ascertained. Most of the meditation centres in Sri Lanka are also viewed in similar perception that should be corrected.

The opportunity in the development of spiritual tourism in Sri Lanka will further translate into two way benefits, only with the fulfillment of two prerequisites. Firstly, the improvement of infrastructure in places where such Buddhist meditation programs are offered particularly the locations outside the city. The version that practitioners should be prepared to go through a tough and rough life during the program drives the potential visitors to other destinations.

The other attribute is that, between the two types of Meditation techniques spelt out by the Buddha viz Samatha and Vipassana, the techniques in both categories are wide ranging, giving the freedom for the practitioner to pick what is most suited to him or her, depending of the temperament of the person.

The word freedom is a key phrase in Buddhism and Buddhist meditation techniques that has to be adequately communicated to these 'inner peace seekers' to experience ' a difference' from their previous practices.

There are about 18 meditation centres identified by Sri Lanka Tourism, situated outside Colombo which can provide opportunity for the travellers who are on an expedition to see the reality in life.

Once the basic facilities are assured and the program offering is differentiated from just Yoga, Spiritual Development or even the general use of the term meditation, we would well see the increase of arrivals of so called 'up market tourists' not only in terms of money they carry, but also the value they hold.