DOCUMENT DE TRAVAIL – CHERPA - 2013 Spirituality in France - through Festival d'Avallon (Festival of Avallon) Tamiyo SHIROYA, Doctorante CHERPA Theme The declining influence of traditional religions on thoughts and behaviors is observable in many industrially advanced societies since the second half of the last century. There has been an obvious decrease in the total number of people who attend church or who consider themselves to be religious. Could it signify the beginning of the “death” of religion? We believe these phenomena point to a transformation of religiosity. You may probably know some people around you who practice Yoga or meditation on a regular basis, occasionally go on retreats to Buddhist temples or monasteries, preferring using alternative medicine to conventional medicines, use essential oils or go to see a chiropractor, eat organic food, believe in reincarnation, or who place an emphasis on emotions or feelings rather than the rational mind, etc. Many of these practices or philosophies can be of a religious nature, but they take place outside the institutionalized religious frameworks, on an individual basis. The starting point for choosing this topic for my dissertation were my personal experiences in the Netherlands. I lived there a couple of years and have maintained close contact with that society since then. Initially I had believed what many people, especially of younger generations, were saying: I'm non-religious. But after some period of time, I figured out that there is a religious flavor in the behavior or the perspective on life of these people who consider themselves to be skeptics or atheists. “I’m not religious but rather spiritual” is the phrase often heard from “believers” of this new “religion”. The term “spiritual” or “spirituality” has been gaining more and more legitimacy for describing this phenomenon in the last twenty years. With the belief that a comparative study of attitudes toward religions should help us attain a better understanding of this global tide, I decided to compare three different societies: France, the Netherlands, and Japan. The choice is based on one of our hypotheses. The recent development of this new religiosity is related to traditionally influential religions of the concerned societies: Catholic for France, Protestant for the Netherlands, Buddhism and Shinto for Japan. Festival d'Avallon (Festival of Avallon) The “Festival d'Avallon” (Festival of Avallon), a spiritually-oriented festival is one of my research fields in France. It's organized by a Tibetan Buddhist temple, L’Institut Karma Ling (the Karma Ling Institute), one of the important retreat and teaching centres of Buddhism in France and also in Europe. Dalai Lama XIV made visits there a couple of times (in 1993, 1997). This temple belongs to Kagyu, one of four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the most popular branch in France. Before talking about the festival, it seems useful to mention some aspects about the adaptation of Buddhism in France. Buddhist has been drawing attention of occidental th intellectuals since as early as the 19 century. Around the 1960s and 1970s linked to the countercultural movement, there were quite a few young western people, often highly educated and keen on cultivating themselves, who headed for the East in quest for the meaning of life or authentic wisdom. Lama Denys, now the superior of the Karma Ling Institute, was one of them. Around the same period, Buddhist masters started teaching Buddhism in Occident. Masters of Tibetan Buddhism, pushed by the political situation in Tibet, also began spreading their teachings in the West. Quite a few great Tibetan masters also settled down in France. There seems to be different sensibilities about the adaptation of Buddhism among occidental societies. Tibetan Buddhism has had facility to be received in France (in Spain, Italy, as well) as catholic- based society thanks to some affinity with catholic culture. Zen Buddhism has touched culturally protestant societies like the United States and the United Kingdom, sharing personal-based religion, sober and ethical.[1] Kagyu, Gelug, Nyingma, Sakya are four major schools in France. The number of Tibetan Buddhist associations (centres) seems to have been tremendously on the rise since the 1990s. The recent proportion of these schools is the following base: Kagyu (60%), Gelug (19%), Nyingma (17%), Sakya (4%)(2005).[2] It’s Kagyu, the most powerful lineage, which the Kalma Ling Institute belongs to. Some resemblances between Tibetan Buddhism and Catholicism (especially with the school Kagyu) are pointed out by some researchers: the importance of the institution, the respect for hierarchy of lamas / priests, the accent on rituals, the importance of the monastic life, etc.[3] This has probably facilitated the successful assimilation of Tibetan Buddhism in France. Let’s go back to the festival. The Karma Ling, the site of the festival, is located in remote natural surroundings in the heart of the Alps (in Savoie) and covers a huge area of land of 55 hectares. It has been maintained with ecological consciousness, with Pierre Rabhi (who is primarily an ecological activist in France) as advisor since 2004. Besides habitual religious activities like retreats and teaching of Buddhism, inter-religious, humanitarian, ecological events like conferences, forums, are actively and constantly being proposed. This must in large part be due to the stance of Lama Denys Rinpoché, the superior of the institute (entrusted by the founder Lama Kalou Rinpoché), also the president of the European Buddhist Union. He was born in Paris and completed his studies in medicine and philosophy there. He made a trip in India where he met the grand Tibetan Buddhist master Kalu Rinpoché. Denys Rinpoché became his disciple and ended up by becoming his spiritual successor in Europe. The Festival of Avallon started in 2010 in this kind of context, and as one of the memorial events for their thirtieth anniversary of the foundation of the Karma Ling Institute. The festival is supposed to take place every two years. The one which I participated in doing interviews and observation last summer (in August 2012) was the second festival to be held. The festival lasted around 10 days this time. The duration of the second festival was longer than the first festival which was only 3 official days with 3 days for the preparation and 2 days for the closing. Programmes The programme of the festival can be roughly divided into two dimensions: “to work on oneself” (discovery and cultivation of well-being) and “to work for the world” (reflection on and practice with social and economic structures). These two goals clearly show the festival’s intention to unite spirituality with ecology and solidarity. Various workshops, forums, concerts, etc. are proposed during the festival. Their matters are pretty open-minded and sophisticated. The first dimension, “to work on oneself” concerns one’s well-being, understanding of oneself or personal development. Meditation, mind/body exercises (e.g. Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong), relaxation / healing (e.g. massage, therapy) sessions are readily available to participants. Artistic and cultural activities, with some inclination to Asian traditions are also offered. Participants can choose to partake in a variety of activities such as Mongolian throat singing, calligraphy (Chinese, Tibetan), Ikebana (Japanese floral art), Tibetan Astrology, and Land Art (Earthwork, Environmental Art, which is an artistic movement emerged in the U.S.A. in the 1960s, looking for fusion between Art and nature). The second dimension is about social and political interests. Different forums, panel discussions, or workshops are organized with social activists invited as guest panelists beginning with Pierre Rabhi, one of the leading figures of the environmental monument in France. Workshops include topics like associative or cooperative activities, Fair Trade, local currency, etc. Besides theses activities there are concerts or performances held throughout the course of the festival. For concerts, participants can enjoy various genres of music : electro, jazz, bossa nova, classical music, oriental, folk, rock, gospel, etc. Events like story telling, sketching, and outdoor performances are also held, bringing diverse cultural influences from regions such as Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa. Inclination Let's take a look at some characteristics of this festival. The presence of men is remarkable for a spiritually-oriented event such as this, the great majority of participants being middle-aged women. A huge diversity in age range is also noticeable, spanning from children to the elderly. Cool and hippyish young people are everywhere, and quite a few teenagers owing to the fact that a Buddhist Scout, one of the first in France, has been invited to the event. There are couples and families with children. Middle-aged and the elderly, including students of the Buddhist institute attend, too. The atmosphere is very friendly and festive like other summer festivals. What differentiates this festival from others is the official prohibition of alcohol, smoking and drugs, reminding us that the festival is organized by a Buddhist institute. Apart from the daily presence of temples and monks, or the sounds of sutra recitation, we can hardly feel religious flavors throughout the atmosphere and the programme of festival. Ecological consciousness which is also emphasized by other festivals, is also clearly observable: the emphasis is on recycling,