Pierrick Wattez, Zen at the Plouray Buddhist Centre in Brittany
Chinese portrait of Pierrick
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Quality
Ease of human contact
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Fault
A certain kind of laziness
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A guilty pleasure
Water sports: surfing and windsurfing in particular
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Passion
Windsurfing
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An ideal day
I get up between 4am and 5am for a yoga and meditation session. After that, I like to alternate between time devoted to my job and time devoted to my work at the Buddhist Centre before returning to the community at the temple. If I'm not working: surfing at sunrise and windsurfing in the afternoon with friends. I also love cleaning!
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Favourite spot in the King Morvan region
The Buddhist Centre in Plouray, I live in Paradise, and also the chapel of Sainte-Anne des Bois in Berné.
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Le Pays du roi Morvan for you
It's where time slows down
An international sporting career before Buddhism and Brittany
Pierrick Wattez was born in the north of France. As his mother has Breton origins, he often spent his childhood holidays in Brittany. He very quickly took a liking to the region. It was there that he learned to windsurf. It was a passion that followed him throughout his life, culminating in his becoming a professional sportsman. For 10 years, he travelled all over the world and met countless people! At the same time, he read the sacred texts of different religions. He was particularly interested in the treatises of the Dalai Lama.
But everything comes to an end, and when his sporting career came to an end, he left to work as a teacher and trainer in the south of France. There he met his godmother, whom he had never met before. It was she who introduced him to Buddhism. She introduced him to a monk with whom he talked a lot. It was thanks to all these exchanges that he found his way.
A Zen life at the Drukpa Buddhist Centre in Plouray, Central Brittany
That's all very well, but he misses Brittany...
Even though his legs are tingling, he's packing his bags for the last time and coming back to work there for good. He also wanted to find a place to practise Buddhism. The Drukpa Buddhist Centre in Plouray was recommended to him for the quality of its spiritual teaching. And in Plouray, it's serious business. The Dalai Lama himself came here in 2008! That same year, Pierrick made his first retreat there. The place enchanted him and made him want to live there.
Right from the start, he was a volunteer at the Buddhist Centre. He lived there full-time without giving up his professional activity. There he became a cameraman and video editor.... He joined theBuddhist Centre's media team and eventually took over responsibility for it. He then accepted the post of president of the lay association. It is responsible for organising spiritual retreats, maintaining the website, running the secretariat, managing the media...
It's a lot of work, but a lot of joy.
A bright future for an unusual place in the King Morvan region
As president of the association, he sees the growing importance of linking the Centre Bouddhique with the commune of Plouray and the Pays du Roi Morvan. "The primary vocation of the Centre Bouddhique is to welcome people wishing to take part in a spiritual retreat, either individually or as a group, but also to welcome visitors, whether residents of the Pays du roi Morvan or tourists passing through. In this sense, it also has an economic and tourist role to play in the region.
A museum and coffee shop project is currently on the minds of the people in charge of the Buddhist Centre, because "it's a shame that visitors can't make the most of the place for a drink". It may not happen immediately, but the idea is gaining ground.
Although he regularly goes to the coast to windsurf and meet up with his community of surfers, this jack-of-all-trades has finally found a zen place to settle down. With a name like 'Bel Avenir' as his address, the future can only smile on him.
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