A GROUP of Scottish Zen Buddhists have finished a 24-hour run of the West Highland Way to help raise money to open the first residential temple in Scotland.
The group from the Cloud Water Zen Centre, which is a charity organisation based in Glasgow, are raising money to open the first residential Zen Buddhist temple in Scotland.
To help raise money, with the current overall target at £100,000, the group of around 20 Buddhas have completed a fundraising 24-hour relay run along the West Highland Way.
The not-for-profit charity aims to open its own retreat space after spotting a demand for wellbeing retreats after completing their own on the West Coast in previous years.
The temple would not only offer a space for the Zen Buddhist’s to practice their own activities but also other activities such as yoga, Tai Chi and mindfulness, which have all proven to be popular.
Karl Kaliski, who is a sensei and director at the Glasgow Zen Centre, says they offer courses to people who are refugees and asylum seekers so they can seek solace in the temple and have time to themselves without outside distractions.
Speaking about the fundraising run Kaliski said: “The weather was glorious, sunny and dry throughout and the logistics and planning couldn’t have gone better.
“We were really lucky to have a friend who is an ultra-running expert Kev Craig.
“Kev crewed for us during the entire event, ferrying people around between stages in his campervan, which became our base camp for the run.
“The response to the fundraising couldn’t have been better and we’ll end up raising around £15,000 by the time we’re done.
“Hard work at times but great fun.”
The run started at 4.00pm on Saturday, June 1 at Fortwilliam and finished at around 2.15pm on Sunday, June 2 in Milngavie.
The group has managed to raise more than £4900 on their GoFundMe page with the 24-hour relay run which is a number that Kaliski said will be a lot larger by the end due to runners having their own individual sponsorship sheets.
Anyone who wants to donate can do so HERE and if anyone is interested in learning more about Zen Buddhism they can do so HERE as well there is an introductory course on June 15 in Glasgow.
