Casa Virupa, located in Tavertet, Barcelona, is a leading meditation and retreat center characterized by its inclusive and non-sectarian approach. Created with the blessing of His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trichen, it is deeply rooted in the Sakya lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, but adopts a Rimé orientation, which means that it integrates various Buddhist traditions. It aims to provide a space that promotes introspection and well-being, based on values such as compassion and mindfulness.
Since 2020, Lama Norbu leads the educational activities, enriching the learning experience with the support of national and international teachers. The community, composed mainly of young people from diverse backgrounds, finds in Casa Virupa a space to explore and develop their personal and collective consciousness.
Casa Virupa is consolidated as an inclusive space where people at different stages of their spiritual development can work towards their own well-being and that of others, standing out for its integrative approach and its openness to diverse traditions.
The following is an interview with Gloria Cagigal, co-founder of the Buddhist community Casa Virupa. Gloria is part of the pedagogical team, a meditation instructor and responsible for the communication area of the center. With a degree in philosophy from the University of Barcelona, she has dedicated her career mainly to teaching and communication. She is also a curator of thought and literature at the LAC (Laboratory of Contemplative Arts), a residency center for artists and thinkers. Gloria is currently pursuing a PhD, reflecting her ongoing commitment to learning and critical reflection.
BUDDHISTDOOR EN ESPAÑOL: Could you tell me a little about the history of Casa Virupa and its mission?
CASA VIRUPA: Casa Virupa was born out of the friendship of teenagers who, at a young age, discovered the Dharma. At the age of 16, the now Lama Norbu started to investigate Buddhism and shared it with his high school friends. He picked up more steam and focused on the Dharma since then, both in studies and in vocation, but from that high school group, some of us accompanied him closely so that, finally, together with two good friends from high school and university, we ended up founding Casa Virupa at the end of 2015.
All this is important for several reasons: firstly, because the atmosphere that we breathe -and that we want- in Casa Virupa is one of fraternity and fellowship. Here the role of Lama Norbu is key. In addition to ensuring that we apply Buddhist values to our daily lives, it is a priority for him that we cultivate a respectful and gentle atmosphere, in which care is central. This is essential in a project that is mainly based on volunteer work. So one of Casa Virupa's missions is to carry out a life of service, guided by the Dharma, based on kindness, towards all beings, of course, but also among ourselves.
And secondly, one of our motivations was to create a Dharma center that could appeal to young people, because it was difficult to find young practitioners in dharma centers. Obviously, youth is not a determining factor for practicing at Casa Virupa - basically because it is impermanent - but it is true that some themes, angles, concerns..., resonate more or less depending on the moment of life. So when we founded Casa Virupa we wanted young women to find the center that we imagined or that we were missing: a more analytical Buddhism, far from the folkloric and the new-age, and more committed to the social, political and ecological problems of the contemporary world. That is to say, a transfeminist, ecologist, anti-speciesist and anti-fascist Buddhism. And yes, we are aware of how shocking it is in the spiritual world all these "anti" associated with a Buddhist center, but one of the missions of Casa Virupa has to do with expressing ourselves in a non-complex political way. Because we agree with Audre Lorde that the personal - and therefore also the spiritual - is political.
In this line, another of Casa Virupa's missions is to spread the Dharma with a contemporary, current and fresh language and forms. We do not believe that new is necessarily better, but we think that the Dharma is a precious commodity and that it should reach all corners of the world. The way things work in our society, it would be naive to think that the Dharma can live outside of social networks, of aesthetics, of the codes of our times. We agree with Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche that Buddhism is not very good at marketing and advertising, so if we want many people to connect with the Dharma, we have to transmit it in a skillful, attractive and rooted way, always from common sense.
Finally, another mission is to transmit the Dharma in a rigorous way. Although we are young and we understand that we have to use new codes, we have a very deep respect for the Buddha Dharma as well as for Tibetan Buddhism, so we try to be very clear about the line between what can be adapted from Buddhism to a given historical and cultural context and what can't. That's why we don't avoid talking about reincarnation and doing rituals according to the Sakya tradition, for example, we don't avoid talking about reincarnation and doing rituals according to the Sakya tradition. That is why we do not avoid talking about reincarnation and doing rituals according to the Sakya tradition, for example. We believe that it is dangerous to sugarcoat or adapt the Dharma to the Western mentality to make it comfortable and digestible. The purpose of the Dharma has little to do with comfort: getting rid of our neuroses, prejudices and veils is never a comfortable exercise.
BDE: Could you explain to our readers the main characteristics of the Sakya lineage and what differentiates it from other schools of Tibetan Buddhism?
CV: Our heart is sakyapa but we have a Rimé, "non-sectarian" orientation. By this we mean that some of Lama Norbu's main teachers are sakya: the one who gave his blessing to Casa Virupa and subsequently appointed Lama Norbu as lama is H.H. Gongma Trichen Rinpoche and some of the teachers who advise and visit Casa Virupa most frequently are H.H. Sakya Trizin Rinpoche 43 and H.E. Asanga Vajra Rinpoche. Likewise, the vast majority of practices and texts we work with are sakyapa.
Now, we have invited masters from many traditions (Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Ven. Dhammadipa, Ven. Robina Courtin, Lama Sherab...) and we have a very clear inclination for the Khyentse lineage, with whom we feel very connected, from Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche to Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche -from both of them we have received teachings on multiple occasions- and who are main teachers of Lama Norbu.
But if our heart is sakyapa, it is because we are inspired by the lineage of masters and masters that make it up, scholars with spiritual realizations recognized by masters of other schools. It is amazing that a master like H.H. Gongma Trichen Rinpoche is even today walking the earth and practicing. We also marvel at the theoretical and practical corpus of the sakyas. One of the greatest jewels of the Sakya school is the Lamdré, a very complete system of teachings that integrates sutra and tantra practices and comes from the mahasiddha Virupa. The Hevajra tantra is also a reference in the tradition and highly valued by other schools, as well as the practices and rituals of Vajrakilaya, unique in their depth and complexity.
BDE: What kind of teachings and practices are offered at Casa Virupa (meditation, retreats, courses, etc.)? Do you have a structured program of study and practice?
CV: At Casa Virupa we offer proposals for beginners and for more advanced people. To begin with, you can do a weekend introductory retreat to Buddhist meditation, which provides basic tools to practice on a daily basis, but we always advise that, for those who really want to ingrain the habit of meditation and maintain a certain adherence, it is better to do the meditation course.
Our meditation course consists of weekly meetings during the school year and lasts approximately three years. We provide theoretical and practical content on meditation from the Buddhist perspective, from the usefulness of breathing as a tool for emotional regulation, to the four fundamentals of mindfulness, the four immeasurable thoughts, the four marks of existence...
Lama Norbu also runs a bi-weekly Buddhist philosophy course, oriented to people who already have a base of Buddhist philosophy and which is articulated from the study and commentary of texts. We have worked on texts such as Separation from the Four Attachments, The Triple Vision, Bodhisattvacharyavatara or The Myth of Freedom.
We also organize teaching cycles of a weekend, five days or up to two weeks, with Lama Norbu or other teachers whom we invite. They can be on a specific topic "impermanence" or "patience", but also on texts, especially those that are part of the lojong corpus.
BDE: What are Casa Virupa's aspirations and future projects?
CV: We have many things in mind. One of the main motivations of Lama Norbu is to bridge the gap between qualified teachers and a wide and young audience, so we will continue to encourage this kind of meetings. In particular, we would very much like to organize an event with Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in the near future. We know that young people connect a lot with him and we have the way to make the link.
Another aspiration is to expand and publicize a monthly working group that Lama Norbu has with professionals in the health sector: psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses... The truth is that in our sangha there are many people in this professional field and we think it is essential that they have Dharma tools to face the challenges of their work, which is so necessary. Lama Norbu accompanies them in this process of revision and application of the Dharma to their work and it is being very nice.
We would also like to continue to reach out to a non-Buddhist audience to bring the Dharma into their lives. One of the skillful methods that have made this possible, and which Lama Norbu devised in 2022, is the creation of the Contemplative Arts Lab, a residency project for artists, thinkers and creatives - not necessarily Buddhists, rather the vast majority are not - and a launching pad for cultural events that, in form or substance, have contemplative values. It has been a very enriching experience, in which we have entered into a very fertile dialogue with artists and thinkers and, at the same time, it is allowing many people to get to know Casa Virupa through this project.
In the medium and long term, we would like to develop an end-of-life outreach and support project that will eventually become a hospice.
There are more things we are thinking about, but it would be too much if we had to talk about all of them. We are very grateful for this speaker, because it is the first time that a Buddhist media is interested in us since we founded Casa Virupa in 2015. So thank you very much for giving us the opportunity!
Relevant links:
Podcast: GAME-BOYS with the Buddhists of Casa Virupa
Article (in catalan): Buddhism, the millenarian philosophy that is also practiced in Catalonia
