Monks on mission to find sea, sand and nirvana

But for those who refuse to give up hope, the secret of true happiness could be closer than they imagined. As close as Scarborough, in fact.

Tibetan Buddhist monks who established a monastery in Scotland after fleeing the Chinese invasion of their country have chosen the seaside town for a mission, using an ancient power of healing.

The Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist monastery was established in 1967 by two lamas who survived the journey out of Tibet – one by eating his own shoe leather.

Now the community, which follows the teachings of the Dalai Lama in exile, is aiming to establish two spiritual wellbeing and meditation centres in the North, one in Manchester and the other in Scarborough.

The Manchester scheme faces delay so Scarborough looks likely to become the first. An appeal committee has already been set up to fund the development, backed by Scarborough's outgoing Mayor Bill Chatt and council leader Tom Fox.

Steering the project is Scarborough's only Buddhist nun, Ani Tselha, who has family connections with the resort. But once the centre is established a number of members of the Samye Ling community will be conducting sessions.

In the 1950s, the seeds of Tibetan Buddhism spread all around the world as many teachers, masters and practitioners fled the Chinese invasion.

They established centres in many countries, but Samye Ling was the first Tibetan Buddhist centre to be established in the West and received the honour of being named after Samye, the first monastery to be established in Tibet.

The launch of the appeal will be marked by a talk by senior Buddhist monk Gelong Thubten at Scarborough Spa Ocean Room on April 24, where Coun Chatt will be special guest.

But a number of pre-launch sessions have already attracted turnouts of more than 100 people. Sister Tselha said: "We have had the highest number in Scarborough than anywhere else in the UK or European Community.

"Obviously there is something people have a hunger for. All around Scarborough you find people whose faces are heavy. There is a lot of unhappiness about."

The Scarborough base would be a first, based in a purpose-built centre. It would also be the first outside a major city.

Britain has developed a penchant for alternative therapy and yoga classes, pilates lessons, and aromatherapy sessions are springing up.

But sister Tselha underlined that Buddhist meditation was about "prevention rather than cure". Unlike other therapies that treated the symptoms of stress, the aim of the mind-control techniques was to prevent unhappiness in the first place.

It was based on simple techniques developed over the past 2,500 years embracing posture, breathing, and a number of methods to discover inner peace and happiness.

Sister Tselha said there was even more need for the techniques at the moment owing to the recession: "Every day you walk around Scarborough and you see another shop closed down.

"People seem very, very unhappy and are clearly waiting for something. They do not want religion necessarily. They may be looking for something much more practical." Her community believes regular meditation, often just involving sitting or slow movements, can help overcome stress and depression and lead to a happier and more peaceful life.

A committee of the Rokpa Trust, the charity run by the Samye Ling community, has been set up to raise money for the Scarborough project.

A CULTURE OF HEART AND MIND

Tibet fully embraced Buddhism in the eighth century and Tibetan culture learned to revolve around the cultivation of a good heart and a calm, clear mind.

By the 11th century hundreds of monasteries were established across the country, with thousands of Buddhist monks training daily through recitals, retreat and meditation.

There were more than 6,000 monasteries in Tibet by the time of the Chinese invasion in 1950, but nearly all were ransacked and destroyed.

In the wake of China's occupation, the monks became the target of severe persecution and by 1969, not a single practising monk or nun remained in Tibet.

Around 80,000 Tibetans, including the spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled across the Himalayas to India.