{"id":21982,"date":"2012-07-02T13:39:13","date_gmt":"2012-07-02T17:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/static\/?p=21982"},"modified":"2012-07-02T19:45:19","modified_gmt":"2012-07-02T23:45:19","slug":"wind-turbine-syndrome-closing-internationally-famous-buddhist-retreat-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/2012\/wind-turbine-syndrome-closing-internationally-famous-buddhist-retreat-scotland\/","title":{"rendered":"Wind Turbine Syndrome closing internationally famous Buddhist retreat (Scotland)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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—Jackie Grant,\u00a0Dumfries & Galloway Standard<\/a> (6\/29\/12)<\/p>\n Buddhist monks are selling their spiritual retreat in the forest of Ae\u00a0because they can’t live near a windfarm.<\/p>\n Scottish Power, which has lodged plans to extend the Harestanes development\u00a0with a further 19, 125-foot turbines, said it was close to finalizing a\u00a0buy-out deal with the Tharpaland<\/a> monks.<\/p>\n Concerned monks submitted evidence<\/a> to a Scottish parliamentary inquiry into\u00a0the government’s renewable energy plans, claiming they suffered serious\u00a0side effects when they were praying within five miles of a windfarm.<\/p>\n They say these included: pain in the head and chest, heart palpitations,\u00a0dizziness, dry retching, anger, heightened emotions and crying.<\/p>\n Tharpaland is Britain’s only international retreat centre of a popular and\u00a0growing branch of Buddhism known as the New Kadampa Tradition.<\/p>\n It was founded in 1985 and attracts thousands of people from all over the\u00a0world.<\/p>\n In their evidence, the monks said: “As Buddhists, we cherish the natural\u00a0environment and all who live in it and are committed to the development of\u00a0clean and sustainable forms of energy and are therefore not opposed in\u00a0principle to the development of windfarms.<\/p>\n “However, in March 2003, following news of a proposal to build a massive\u00a0windfarm in the Forest of Ae, Tharpaland set about assessing the wider\u00a0implications this would have on the centre’s ability to provide suitable\u00a0conditions for meditative retreat, if the windfarm was approved.<\/p>\n “The findings of these studies were so surprisingly negative and adverse\u00a0that there was little room for doubt that the proposed windfarm, if\u00a0approved, would force Tharpaland to close.<\/p>\n “It showed a consistent and progressive average 70 per cent loss in ability\u00a0to develop concentration over the various distances approaching the\u00a0windfarms and virtually a total loss in ability to develop concentration at\u00a0the turbine site itself.<\/p>\n “Subjects also reported disturbing negative psychological reactions\u00a0including confusion, loss of self-confidence, effects similar to\u00a0depression, effects similar to mania, irritability and anger, heightened\u00a0emotionality and crying.<\/p>\n “For most of the subjects in these studies, these windfarms were centers of\u00a0massive and traumatic disturbance, even after only a few hours. They also\u00a0claim that spiritual centres and communities could be forced to close and\u00a0disperse.<\/p>\n A Scottish Power spokesman said: “We have been in regular contact with\u00a0Tharpaland and, after positive discussions, are in the process of\u00a0finalising an agreement to purchase the property.”<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Monks selling retreat at Ae forest” —Jackie Grant,\u00a0Dumfries & Galloway Standard (6\/29\/12) Buddhist monks are selling their spiritual retreat in the forest of Ae\u00a0because they can’t live near a windfarm. Scottish Power, which has lodged plans to extend the Harestanes development\u00a0with a further 19, 125-foot turbines, said it was close to finalizing a\u00a0buy-out deal with the Tharpaland monks. Concerned monks submitted evidence to a Scottish parliamentary inquiry into\u00a0the government’s renewable energy plans, claiming they suffered serious\u00a0side effects when they were praying within five miles of a windfarm. They say these included: pain in the head and chest, heart palpitations,\u00a0dizziness, dry retching, anger, heightened emotions and crying. Tharpaland is Britain’s only international retreat centre of a popular and\u00a0growing branch of Buddhism known as the New Kadampa Tradition. It was founded in 1985 and attracts thousands of people from all over the\u00a0world. In their evidence, the monks said: “As Buddhists, we cherish the natural\u00a0environment and all who live in it and are committed to the development of\u00a0clean and sustainable forms of energy and are therefore not opposed in\u00a0principle to the development of windfarms. “However, in March 2003, following news of a proposal to build a massive\u00a0windfarm in the Forest of Ae, Tharpaland set about assessing the wider\u00a0implications this would have on the centre’s ability to provide suitable\u00a0conditions for meditative retreat, if the windfarm was approved. “The findings of these studies were so surprisingly negative and adverse\u00a0that there was little room for doubt that the proposed windfarm, if\u00a0approved, would force Tharpaland to close. “It showed a consistent and progressive average 70 per cent loss in ability\u00a0to develop concentration over the various distances approaching the\u00a0windfarms and virtually a total loss in ability to develop concentration at\u00a0the turbine site itself. “Subjects also reported disturbing negative psychological reactions\u00a0including confusion, loss of self-confidence, effects similar to\u00a0depression, effectsRead More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[157,168,166],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}