ANYONE ARRIVING at Dzogchen Beara Buddhist retreat centre by night could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. It is not until morning arrives that the sheer beauty of the views and scenery which it offers becomes apparent to the visitor.
Located in this most peaceful part of West Cork, not far from Castletownbere, the centre was founded by Peter and Harriet Cornish after they moved to Ireland in 1974 to take over what was a ruined farm. In 1992, the centre became a registered charity under the spiritual care of the Tibetan lama, or master, Sogyal Rinpoche.
Shortly afterwards, in June 1993, Harriet Cornish died of cancer at the age of 44 in the nearby Marymount hospice.
Inspired by her memory, those behind the retreat centre hope to officially open an innovative new spiritual care centre based on the teachings of Sogyal Rinpoche by the start of next year. The renowned author of the multimillion selling Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Rinpoche advocates a "quiet revolution" in the way we care for the dying and the living, based on both wisdom and compassion, which sometimes can be lost in our busy lives.
Once fully open, the centre will accommodate up to 15 people in 10 rooms, all of which will have a view of the Atlantic ocean below. The plan is to allow individuals to stay for periods of between a week or a month, depending on their circumstances, according to the director of Dzogchen Beara, Matt Padwick. It is hoped that it will become a blueprint for others around the world.
He stresses that the centre is not a hospice, and will not be suitable for individuals who require hospitalisation.
"It's a respite centre within the palliative care network. So it is not a hospice or a nursing home. It is for people who are ill or who have had a recent diagnosis, to allow them to reflect, to contemplate and to prepare. But it is not a place to come to die," he explains.
"It is open to everybody, whether they are of a particular faith or of none. But they would need to be well enough to be at home."
The approach advocated by Dzogchen Beara is the highest cycle of teachings in the Tibetan tradition, while Beara reflects the centre's location on the Beara Peninsula.
But it also has a more general resonance with developments in the hospice and palliative care movement in Ireland, which, over the years,has sought to promote patient autonomy and dignity, coupled with an improvement in the overall design of the physical environment in which individuals can find themselves.
Last May, President Mary McAleese launched the Hospice Friendly Hospitals programme, the first national end-of-life care initiative in Europe, which is aimed at improving the culture and care regarding dying, death and bereavement in hospitals.
Research published in 2004 showed more than two-thirds of people wished to die at home, with just 10 per cent expressing a preference to die in hospital.
The reality, however, is that two-thirds of the almost 30,000 people who die in Ireland every year die in hospitals.
Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) chief executive Eugene Murray explains that the Dzogchen Beara centre is "very consistent with the hospice approach", which focuses on meeting the total needs of the patient. The IHF has assisted in its development, and the establishment of the centre perhaps reflects a society which is open to a broader view of the spiritual needs of people who are at the end of their lives, Murray says.
"Having said that, hospices around the country would all have a spiritual care approach. But they would also cater for all denominations, and none," he says.
Perhaps the most telling testimony to the official recognition of the Buddhist approach to both living and dying is provided by the fact that President Mary McAleese visited Dzogchen Beara herself last September, where she unveiled a plaque to Harriet Cornish.
To date, more than €3 million of the total €4.5 million costs associated with building the centre has been raised, mainly through private donations and fundraising.
Approximately €106,000 was provided by a grant from Sustainable Energy Ireland in recognition of the "green" nature of the building, which has been designed by the award winning ecological architects Solearth. Any discussion of the planned spiritual care centre almost inevitably returns to its spectacular location. The views from its shrine room alone are nothing short of breathtaking.
By creating a purpose-built "home from home" where the ill or the dying can relax with friends and family - or alone - in an "extraordinary natural environment", Padwick believes it will provide a much needed break from the "busyness" of their lives.
The visit of President McAleese was very important, he says, both in demonstrating an openness to the Buddhist approach, and the fact that "this place is open to people of all faiths or none".
The centre will seek to allow visitors to unwind, reflect and contemplate, to take time either on their own, with friends or families or others from the Dzogchen Beara community.
"We all have innate goodness, peace and contentment within us, but often that gets obscured by the busyness of our lives. So it is stripping away some of the confusion and busyness, so that we can just be with ourselves," Padwick says.
"If people come here it means they have a certain openness and that would be respected. We want to create an environment and space where people can fill it how they want to. We're not imposing anything on anyone."
Despite his understandable desire to stress the non-denominational nature of the centre's offering, it is difficult to get away from the Buddhist emphasis of Dzogchen Beara, whose retreat centre lies adjacent to the site of the main building.
Indeed, Padwick is clear that one of the strengths of the planned spiritual centre is the existence of the retreat in such close proximity, allowing those who attend the care centre to join the public meditation sessions, sit in the shrine room, or go for walks.
Interestingly, the new centre also hopes to have an increasing impact on the training of healthcare staff in the future. Padwick says some 1,000 healthcare givers have visited Dzogchen Beara for training seminars during the last 10 years. These include doctors, consultants, nurses, counsellors, therapists, and those working with individuals who have special needs.
"It is a very important complement to their medical training. They need to be nourished themselves due to their demanding work," he says.
But on an emotional level, arguably the greatest testimony to the new centre, and the teachings of Rinpoche, is in the way it challenges traditional fears among those who may well end up dying, not at home as they may wish, but on a hospital bed.
"These practices give us a new perspective, allow us to open up an inner space and come to terms with a difficult situation," Padwick says.
"If you are able to resolve things both in your relationship with yourself and others in advance of your death, then the whole process, wherever it may be, may be made easier. From our experience, this has been the case."