1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:04,200 Britain is home 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,000 to many of the most beautiful holy places in the world. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,600 Our religious heritage and architecture is more varied 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:14,160 than virtually anywhere else on Earth. 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,200 My name is Ifor ap Glyn, 6 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:21,640 and I'm on a journey to explore the best of Britain's holy sites 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,800 and to uncover the rich and diverse history of our spiritual landscape. 8 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,400 I want to know how these places came to be, 9 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,480 discover what they reveal about the people who worshipped at them 10 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:40,400 and explore why they continue to fascinate us today. 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,600 This place is incredible. 12 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,040 'My journey will take me to towering mountain hideaways...' 13 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:50,480 It was here that St Turog took on the pagan forces of evil. 14 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:52,600 '..Icy healing pools...' 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,200 I'm not sure what effect 16 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:58,000 this is having on me, but it's certainly having an effect. 17 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,120 '..And the graves of long departed saints.' 18 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,680 There's something quite unsettling about this relic. 19 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,200 'I'll search out islands where the faithful 20 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,360 'seek refuge from the world. 21 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,360 'I'll wander ruins steeped in history.' 22 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,400 His congregation were roused to come here 23 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,360 and rip down the rich trappings of this cathedral. 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:23,240 'And descend into caves which have been sacred for thousands of years.' 25 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:25,760 Oh, wow. 26 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,720 From the divine to the unexpected, 27 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:30,960 join me on a journey 28 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:33,920 to the unforgettable corners of our country, 29 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,520 the landscapes that make the soul soar. 30 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,400 I'm in the Lake District. This is Derwentwater 31 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,080 and I've picked a very wet day to go rowing. 32 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,080 This is the first leg of my journey 33 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,440 to explore some of the holy islands dotted around Britain. 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,720 I'd like to understand what it is about an island 35 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,400 that has drawn the devout throughout history. 36 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,320 It turns out this may not be as simple a question 37 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:27,640 as it first appears. 38 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,200 We tend to think of islands as a place to get away from it all, 39 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,800 and that's an idea that's deep-rooted in our psyche. 40 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,080 In many spiritual traditions, man would go into the wilderness 41 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:46,960 in order to be nearer to God, 42 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,880 in order to escape from the normal realm of human beings, 43 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:57,400 in order to contemplate, in order, perhaps, to gain personal insight. 44 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,920 And where better to seek out that kind of spiritual haven 45 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:03,480 than on an island? 46 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:11,920 This is St Herbert's Isle. 47 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:16,200 St Herbert came here to live as a hermit in the 7th century. 48 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,680 Since the earliest years of Christianity, 49 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,720 there had been a tradition for monks to remove themselves from society 50 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,800 in search of solitude in the deserts of the Middle East. 51 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,960 As there were no deserts in 7th century Britain, 52 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,680 many of our would-be hermits instead chose 53 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:34,520 one of the 1,000 or so islands 54 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,280 around the coastline and lakes of Britain. 55 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,840 And this is the one where St Herbert chose to make his home. 56 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:49,040 It would be nice to think 57 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,400 that this wall is part of St Herbert's original cell, 58 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,160 but it's actually part of a later building, 59 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,720 in all probability a chapel that would have been erected 60 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,120 to accommodate the pilgrims who came here to honour his name. 61 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:03,760 St Herbert would have lived a simple life here, 62 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:08,200 getting all his daily needs from the lake - water to drink, fish to eat, 63 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:10,200 thus leaving him free 64 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:12,640 to spend the rest of his time in contemplation and prayer. 65 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,400 St Herbert only left the island once a year 66 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:21,920 in order to visit his great friend, 67 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,440 St Cuthbert, the abbot of Lindisfarne, to make his confession. 68 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,600 St Herbert valued their friendship so highly, 69 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,360 he prayed that he might be allowed to die 70 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,600 on the same day as his confessor, 71 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,440 fearing that otherwise, his grief would be unbearable. 72 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,600 His wish was granted, as, extraordinarily, 73 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:48,920 both men died on their respective islands on 20th March 687. 74 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,360 It's a touching story, but it hints at something much deeper 75 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,080 than just two men with a yearning for solitude. 76 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:02,720 Here we have two devout and learned people who chose to live 77 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,680 a very specific kind of life in a very specific kind of place. 78 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:12,520 It seems to me that this is perhaps the real pulling power of islands. 79 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:13,840 Even on a day like today, 80 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:17,240 this island is still one of the most beautiful places in Britain, 81 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:18,440 and it's easy to see 82 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,440 how being surrounded by the glories of creation 83 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,040 might be conducive to a greater spiritual awareness, 84 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,280 but what I'd like to know is this - is there more to islands 85 00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:30,040 than natural beauty alone? 86 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:43,360 My next location is some 250 miles south of the Lake District, 87 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,040 so I'm back on the motorway, somewhere I've spent 88 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,160 a lot of time during my journey around our holy places. 89 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,360 But for once, this feels quite fitting. 90 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,760 I've come to see motorway driving as a modern form of hermitage, 91 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,120 one of the few opportunities life provides us to be alone. 92 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,800 On the motorway, we enter an intermediate world, 93 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:13,520 halfway between where we've been and where we're heading, 94 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,800 and it transpires that that was very much part 95 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,520 of the ancient allure of islands. 96 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,760 This is Hereford Cathedral. It's 50 miles from the sea 97 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,280 and not an island in sight, 98 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:34,160 but what it does have is something that gives us an intriguing insight 99 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,120 into the way our ancestors thought about islands. 100 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,920 I'm here to see the largest surviving medieval map in Britain, 101 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:43,000 the Mappa Mundi. 102 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,200 My guide is Canon Chris Pullin. 103 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,480 The map itself is not something 104 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,840 that the modern eye could readily recognise. 105 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:54,760 Can you interpret it for us? 106 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,720 Yes, well, one thing, of course, is that it faces east. 107 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:00,920 East is at the top, not north. 108 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,520 So imagining the thing on its side, as it were, 109 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,200 where would we find Britain? 110 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,600 Well, Britain is just there, in the bottom left hand quarter. 111 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:13,560 I see! Sort of scrunched up. 112 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,240 Yes, well, one of the things about the map is, 113 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:21,280 it's been presented within a circle because that was a perfect shape, 114 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:25,000 so things have been distorted to fit within the circle, 115 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,480 and not just to fit within the circle 116 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,120 but to have Jerusalem placed at the very centre of the map. 117 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:35,760 And that's another distortion because the Holy Land is presented 118 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,440 out of all proportion to its actual size in the world. 119 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:41,640 It's very large in the map there, 120 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,520 but then it's very significant, and that's the reason why. 121 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,920 It's geography governed by divine principles, rather than... 122 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,440 It certainly is. This isn't a map to tell you 123 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:53,520 how to get from one place to another. 124 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,920 It's really a map to tell you about what's important 125 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,960 for a human journey through life. That's what it's about. 126 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:04,240 The map was created by 13th century scholars 127 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,400 and what strikes you immediately is just how many islands there are. 128 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,960 The ones in the centre are real islands 129 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,440 like the Balearics in the Mediterranean, 130 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,400 but it's the other ones on the map which are drawing my attention. 131 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,960 Around the edges of the map, we tend to have islands 132 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,640 and lands that are known about through legend 133 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:26,480 and through ancient writings, 134 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:31,960 so down here we have the Happy Islands, the Fortunate Islands, 135 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,720 where fruit just fell into your hand... 136 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,680 - A kind of earthly paradise? - Yes, that's right. 137 00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:39,800 And of these mythical islands, 138 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,120 there's one which all of us have probably heard of 139 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:45,600 but never before seen on a map - Eden. 140 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:51,720 They believed it was somewhere, but quite where, no-one could say. 141 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:56,120 But it was somewhere that was thought to be unapproachable, 142 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:00,400 either because of terrible seas and currents and things 143 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:01,680 that would prevent you, 144 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:04,600 but also because of this wall of fire 145 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:08,240 that surrounded it, which would mean you couldn't get there. 146 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,480 And of course, you see directly above it 147 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:14,360 that we have Christ sitting in majesty 148 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:16,800 and judging the souls of the living and the dead, 149 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,360 those on his left going into the jaws of hell, 150 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,240 and those on his right being received by angels into heaven. 151 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:29,320 And so worldly Paradise is very close to where on the map, 152 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,840 we see the heavenly realm depicted. 153 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,800 What this map shows us is that in medieval times, 154 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,480 islands weren't just seen as beautiful places 155 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:44,800 to get away from it all, 156 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,920 but as somewhere that existed between this world and the next, 157 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:53,160 spiritual stepping stones, to give you safe passage to heaven. 158 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:56,800 With this thought in mind, 159 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,800 I'm heading to another medieval island hideaway 160 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,000 to explore the story of a woman who rejected society 161 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,680 after her marriage came to a dramatic end. 162 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:12,000 This is Llanddwyn, off Anglesey in North Wales, a lonely headland 163 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,720 which becomes an island when cut off from the mainland at high tide. 164 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:27,320 There's a cold, melancholic quality 165 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,960 to the beauty of Llanddwyn island today, but then that's quite fitting 166 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,920 because the saint that the island was named after came here first 167 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:36,920 because she had a broken heart. 168 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,480 Llanddwyn means the church of St Dwynwen, 169 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,360 and as the tide begins to recede, 170 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:49,000 I cadge a lift from the island's warden in order to cross over 171 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,000 and tell the fantastical story 172 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,800 of what happened when her marriage to Maelon hit the rocks. 173 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,120 Dwynwen was a fifth century princess 174 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,360 whose marriage to Maelon had broken down, 175 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:06,920 so she prayed to God for assistance 176 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:11,560 and received it in the form of a magic potion delivered by an angel, 177 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:15,760 but when she gave the potion to Maelon, he was turned into stone. 178 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:17,840 This was an outcome a little bit more drastic 179 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:19,480 than that which she had envisaged, 180 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:24,320 so she prayed to God once more that Maelon be restored to life. 181 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,200 His reaction at that point is not recorded, 182 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:29,640 but by then their marriage was definitely over. 183 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:33,320 Dwynwen, freed from the tribulations of their union, 184 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:35,960 was able to retreat to this island here 185 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,600 where she devoted the rest of her days 186 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,720 to a life of prayer and devotion as a hermit. 187 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,680 Dwynwen was trying to turn her back on her troubles 188 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:53,200 by escaping to a place on the margins of society, 189 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:56,840 somewhere that was still of this world, but only just. 190 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,320 Her dream of a normal, happy marriage was in tatters, 191 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,200 and so she chose something completely different. 192 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,280 Living alone on an island seemed the perfect answer, 193 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,120 but things didn't turn out quite as she had expected. 194 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:17,200 Although unable to find love herself, 195 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,240 it was Dwynwen's wish that God work through her 196 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,520 to protect true lovers everywhere, 197 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:26,320 and so in Wales she's become the patron saint of Welsh lovers. 198 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,200 Her saint's day on 25th January 199 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,120 is celebrated each year as a kind of Welsh Valentine's Day, 200 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,600 and it was on that day that I asked my wife to marry me. 201 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,760 So I for one still have reason to be very grateful to St Dwynwen. 202 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,840 It's ironic that a hermit who embraced solitude on an island 203 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:50,920 should become a patron saint of love, the ultimate in togetherness. 204 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,000 But throughout her time here, 205 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,120 Dwynwen received a steady stream of petitioners seeking advice. 206 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,040 The poet John Donne wrote in the 17th century, 207 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:07,320 that "no man is an island, entire of itself, 208 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,640 "every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main". 209 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:13,800 By choosing this island, 210 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,920 Dwynwen had given herself the best of both worlds - 211 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,080 at high tide, she could satisfy her need to be alone. 212 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:22,680 The rest of the time, she too 213 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:25,520 could entertain the pilgrims who came to visit her, 214 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,560 becoming "a piece of the continent, a part of the main". 215 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:35,840 It all seems very appealing, 216 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,640 a life half in this world, half in another, 217 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,240 but I wonder what the reality would be? 218 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,000 Most of the holy islands around Britain 219 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,960 have been long abandoned, but not all of them. 220 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,360 I've come to Scotland to visit a modern day community 221 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:01,360 led by monks and nuns. 222 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:08,320 I'm on my way to Eilean Molaise, or Holy Isle, 223 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:10,000 just off the coast of Arran. 224 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,720 But the spiritual tradition that prevails here today 225 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,680 is not one that you might expect to find in Scotland. 226 00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:20,960 This island has been a religious retreat 227 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:25,080 since a Christian monk settled here in the sixth century. 228 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:26,520 But since the 1990s, 229 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:30,360 Holy Isle has been home to a Tibetan Buddhist retreat. 230 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,080 It's not an obvious location for a spiritual tradition 231 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,400 that originated in a landlocked country in the Himalayas, 232 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,000 but the Lama of a Buddhist order bought it 233 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,200 after claiming to have seen a vision of the island in a dream. 234 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,600 When he finally met the Christian owner, 235 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:49,120 it transpired she was keen 236 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,160 to pass the island on to a new spiritual community, 237 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,360 and so sold it to the Buddhists at a favourable price. 238 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,080 I've been invited here by Choden, 239 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,480 a former monk who now runs the island, 240 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,760 and he explains why people today want to come here. 241 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,080 For genuine spiritual realisation, 242 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,480 one needs to really go away for a time 243 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,240 to deepen one's practice and re-enter the world. 244 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:15,240 And in order for spiritual work to happen, 245 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,040 you often need the right conditions, 246 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,640 a place that's set back from the world, but not too far. 247 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:21,720 The reason for this 248 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,320 is that you're trying to set up somewhere that's special and precious 249 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:29,200 so that when people enter that, they feel that they're entering something 250 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,560 that's a different kind of energy, a different kind of feel. 251 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:33,960 In the Tibetan tradition, 252 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:35,480 they use the term mandala, 253 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:38,080 and mandala is where you set up a sacred space 254 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,440 which has a clear boundary, 255 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,280 a place you enter into to enable you to touch something more deeply. 256 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,960 As we know, often living a very busy lifestyle, 257 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:52,960 it's not easy to touch the deep inner wisdom of one's being 258 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,960 because, you know, you're constantly...doing things 259 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,960 and stressed and whatever. 260 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:01,640 So an island is a good place to... 261 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,800 So an island, yeah, I know this isn't the tradition of Tibet, 262 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,520 but this fits the idea of a sacred mandala very well. 263 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,440 Is it difficult being in a retreat on an island? 264 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:17,240 It is. It's actually quite tough living here and practising here. 265 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:19,960 The reality is that when you're in a place like this 266 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,400 and all the distractions are taken away, 267 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:26,040 you start running more into deeper aspects of the mind 268 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:27,120 and in a way, 269 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,040 many of the things one's been running away from most of one's life 270 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:34,600 start appearing - one's anxieties, one's fears, one's sadness, 271 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,040 many things that we might have put the lid on 272 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:39,760 start appearing in Shangri-La! 273 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:44,360 And the whole idea of mandala is to create a space 274 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,720 that's safe and protected so that the things we've been putting a lid on 275 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:49,440 have a chance to come up 276 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,360 and we have a chance to work with them. 277 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,360 That's really what retreat is about 278 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,200 and that's really what meditation practice is about. 279 00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,960 And that is what this place is about, really. 280 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:02,360 What the community here have created 281 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,920 is a place to get away from the distractions of the world, 282 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,600 leaving them alone with their thoughts, 283 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:10,920 even if that is tougher than it first appears. 284 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:12,800 But the Lama who bought the island 285 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,960 didn't want this place to be exclusively for Buddhists. 286 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:18,120 He didn't want the Arran people to feel 287 00:17:18,120 --> 00:17:20,680 that we were just taking the island from them. 288 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,640 - Right. - So this would also be open to Christians 289 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:26,400 and people of all religions or none, 290 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,400 as long as they keep to the five golden rules, 291 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:33,120 which are the basic ethics of the Buddhist tradition. 292 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:34,480 And what are they? 293 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,280 Which are not stealing, not lying, 294 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:43,560 not killing, not drinking or smoking, so we're very strict on that, 295 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:47,200 and maintaining healthy sexual relations. 296 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,440 That doesn't mean you can't have sex, 297 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,280 it means just that one engages in sexual relations that are healthy 298 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:58,880 and don't harm. As long as people follow that, then anybody can come. 299 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,440 I've never meditated before, 300 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,680 but Choden's invited me to join one of their sessions. 301 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,600 After running through a quick mental checklist 302 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,480 to make sure I haven't broken any of the five golden rules - 303 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:19,520 well, not recently anyway - I agree to give it a go. 304 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:20,960 So, welcome. 305 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:24,440 - Come and join our community of meditation. - Thank you. 306 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,280 The first thing is to sit comfortably, 307 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:30,880 maybe you're not used to this, 308 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,400 and then the actual practice is 309 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,520 using the breathing and just becoming aware of the breath 310 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:40,400 as we breathe in and out, 311 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:42,720 and every time your mind wanders away, 312 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,080 just notice that and bring your attention back to the breathing. 313 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,000 'The people on retreat meditate like this for an hour 314 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,560 'and three quarters every day. 315 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:08,240 'But for a beginner like me, three minutes is more than enough.' 316 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,040 So how was that? Are you enlightened yet? 317 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:23,480 I think it'll take a bit longer! 318 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:26,880 It was interesting to just... 319 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,480 to, er... 320 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:32,520 ..absent yourself. 321 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,200 What did you actually notice happening in that short meditation? 322 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,440 I was thinking about breathing. 323 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:46,800 - Yeah. - I was studying a spot on the floor there. 324 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,800 It reminded me of when I was a boy with appendicitis 325 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,680 and I used to focus on a spot on the floor of the bathroom 326 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,000 to make the pain go away. 327 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,800 And then I thought "I'm not supposed to be thinking about that", 328 00:19:57,800 --> 00:19:59,720 and I came back to the spot on the floor here, 329 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,720 and breathed a bit more. 330 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:07,160 So a lot of it's quite mundane, which is what the path is, 331 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,080 and I think a lot of it's just realising what the mind's doing, 332 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:11,160 moment by moment. 333 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:13,280 They call it the monkey mind, 334 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:15,520 becoming aware of the monkey mind. 335 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:25,040 As I leave Arran, one thing that occurs to my monkey mind is this - 336 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,000 here in Britain, we're all islanders. 337 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,680 We live at a remove from the European landmass. 338 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,080 Perhaps this is another reason why we're drawn 339 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,520 so strongly to the peripheries, and why some of the most 340 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:41,080 important holy places in the country are on islands. 341 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,200 And my next location is quite possibly 342 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,360 the most famous holy place in Britain, 343 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:49,920 and somewhere I've always wanted to visit. 344 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:57,760 Wow. 345 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,640 This is the halfway point on the causeway to Lindisfarne. 346 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:05,960 This road is submerged by the sea, apparently, 347 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:07,280 for half of every day. 348 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,440 You have to be careful with the tides, because apparently, 349 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,800 at least once a month, somebody gets trapped on his way over. 350 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,640 But the true pilgrims used to walk across the mudflats 351 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:22,080 following the line of those poles set out over there. 352 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:27,040 If they got caught by the tide, they'd have to scamper up 353 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,720 into those little wooden tower things 354 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:32,120 and then wait for the tide to turn. 355 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,160 The monastic community here on Lindisfarne 356 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,440 was established in the 7th century 357 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,280 as an offshoot of the Celtic Christian community on Iona, 358 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,440 off the west coast of Scotland. 359 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,160 It was part of a mission to re-establish Christianity 360 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,520 throughout England, and this island soon became 361 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,360 the spiritual capital of the north. 362 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,160 The island is now a major tourist attraction. 363 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,640 It's home to a picturesque castle 364 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:15,840 and it's where the sumptuous Lindisfarne gospels were created. 365 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,360 But it wasn't these things that really put Lindisfarne on the map. 366 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:28,400 What really catapulted Lindisfarne to its spiritual pre-eminence 367 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,320 was the appointment of the sixth abbot, St Cuthbert. 368 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,400 Many miracles were attributed to him, 369 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:36,680 but he was also an astute leader of the church 370 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:38,960 at a difficult time in its history. 371 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,520 St Cuthbert is one of the most important figures 372 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,160 in the history of Christianity in England. 373 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,600 His diplomatic talents held the church and country together 374 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,560 as it moved from Celtic Christianity to Roman Catholicism, 375 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,200 but his appeal goes beyond mere church politics. 376 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:05,000 It was St Cuthbert that was so beloved by St Herbert, 377 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,080 whose island we visited earlier on Derwentwater, 378 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,920 and St Cuthbert appears to have inspired this level of devotion 379 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:13,120 in everyone he met. 380 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,600 Long after his death, St Cuthbert was venerated by people 381 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:19,960 as varied as King Alfred the Great, 382 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,800 the Viking raiders who settled in Britain 383 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,160 and the Norman invaders in 1066. 384 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,240 He was one of the few saints to come out of the Reformation 385 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:30,800 with his reputation intact, 386 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,040 and in the years after his death his legend grew and grew 387 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,560 until he was eventually named the patron saint of the North. 388 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,640 But it's when you come here to Lindisfarne 389 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,280 that you get a hint of what an unusual man he really was. 390 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:47,880 Even here on this tidal island, 391 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,120 St Cuthbert was sometimes overwhelmed 392 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:53,120 by the cares of the world and the demands of his flock. 393 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:55,600 At times like that, he would retreat 394 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,400 to a little rocky outcrop just offshore, 395 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,120 which we now know as St Cuthbert's Isle. 396 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:04,560 There, he would immerse himself in the sea and pray. 397 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:05,800 There's a lovely story 398 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,240 that when he came out of the sea after praying, 399 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:12,360 two otters would bound up and breathe on his feet 400 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:16,400 in order to warm them up and try and rub him dry with their fur. 401 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,400 Without doubt, St Cuthbert was very much at home with nature 402 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:21,120 and imposed what might be described 403 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:23,640 as the world's first wildlife conservation laws. 404 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,760 He banned the hunting of seabirds and the collecting of their eggs. 405 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:29,680 Eventually, even St Cuthbert's Isle 406 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,720 couldn't give him the solitude that he craved. 407 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,920 People would stand on the shore of the mainland and shout at him, 408 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,280 asking for advice. So he retreated to the island of Inner Farne 409 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,240 over there on the horizon, 410 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,200 and that's where he died in the year 687. 411 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:49,000 The place where St Cuthbert chose to live and die 412 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,600 is as bleak and wild a spot 413 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,840 as you could possibly hope to eke out an existence. 414 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:55,600 It was very much in the tradition 415 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,280 of being halfway between this world and the next, 416 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:02,240 and should have been the perfect haven from worldly concerns. 417 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,880 But as his followers were to discover soon after his death, 418 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,080 this was no early paradise. 419 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,360 Lindisfarne Abbey's island location 420 00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:15,640 ultimately proved to be something of a mixed blessing. 421 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:17,200 Its isolation may have helped 422 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,880 to turn it into a spiritual and creative powerhouse 423 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,440 packed with treasures, but it also made it a rich target 424 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:27,000 that was extremely vulnerable to attack from the sea. 425 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:31,320 The first recorded Viking raid took place here in 793 426 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,360 and further raids eventually forced the evacuation of the island. 427 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,440 As the monks abandoned the abbey, 428 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:41,640 it returned to the state of natural solitude 429 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,560 that had attracted them in the first place. 430 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,840 The Viking attacks were brutal. 431 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,000 They turned Lindisfarne into a mournful place 432 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,640 of martyrdom and death. 433 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:59,360 But oddly, that too is part of what a holy island should be. 434 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:02,280 For the monks of Lindisfarne, 435 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,520 the island had became their gateway to the next world. 436 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:09,320 I have one final place to visit 437 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,400 on my voyage around Britain's holy isles - 438 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,840 Bardsey Island, off the northwest tip of Wales. 439 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,200 In many traditions, crossing the waters 440 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:43,000 represents a journey to a better place, a paradise. 441 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,040 Norse warriors would send their dead out to sea 442 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,800 in a flaming funeral boat. According to Maori tradition, 443 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,360 the souls of the deceased would congregate 444 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,680 at the northernmost tip of New Zealand 445 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,600 before setting out on their final journey. And in India, 446 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,920 cremated remains are scattered upon the waters of the Ganges, 447 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:02,560 so they can be borne out to sea. 448 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:08,240 In Wales, there was a tradition for the dead to be carried 449 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,680 across the water here, to Bardsey Island. 450 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:14,320 It was considered so holy, 451 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,960 it became the burial ground for the great and the good 452 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,200 and is known as the Island of 20,000 Saints. 453 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:24,160 In the 12th century, 454 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,320 Bardsey's sanctity was confirmed by Pope Calixtus 455 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,360 when he decreed that three pilgrimages to Bardsey 456 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:32,680 were equal to one pilgrimage to Rome. 457 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,840 But for me, seeing Bardsey from a distance 458 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:41,400 brings me closer to appreciating its real significance as a holy island. 459 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,840 This is the very tip of Wales, the land's end, 460 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,840 a great place to contemplate the infinity of the horizon. 461 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:50,920 And out there, 462 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:56,480 a tantalising distance between us and the horizon, is Bardsey. 463 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:03,240 Perhaps this is the island at the top of the Mappa Mundi, 464 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:09,000 that stepping stone between this world and the next. 465 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:15,120 Bardsey seems like a distant paradise that we can see, 466 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:17,480 but can't quite reach. 467 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:19,080 But that's how it should be. 468 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,360 I understand now why islands hold an air of mystery and beauty, 469 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,640 and why people have been drawn to them over the centuries. 470 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:32,680 But I also know that it's not yet my time to take that last step, 471 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:37,360 to discover what may lie beyond this island's distant shores. 472 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:05,040 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd