County the place to spiritually develop, says monk

County the place to spiritually develop, says monkImage caption, Venerable Dhammaloka, a Sri Lankan senior Buddhist monk, says Herefordshire has the right "state of balance"ByKate Justicein Kings CaplePublishedJust nowHerefordshire is the place in the UK for "people who want to spiritually develop themselves", a monk says. Venerable Dhammaloka, a senior Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka, says he can "feel" the county has the right "state of balance". For a person "to be happy", he said: "They need the right environment and this environment, the nature, the air, everything in Hereford allows that."It comes after Dhammaloka, who had never visited Herefordshire before, selected the West Midlands region as the place for his mentee, Ishara De Silva, to set up her wellness centre.Plantation Villa was originally founded in Sri Lanka by De Silva but in 2022, the site in Kings Caple, Herefordshire, was founded following Dhammaloka's advice. Ayurveda is an ancient system of medicine and healing from South Asia that has been developed over thousands of years.Image caption, Ishara De Silva started Plantation Villa in Sri Lanka and now has a second wellness centre in HerefordshireDe Silva admitted she too had never visited Herefordshire, despite living in the UK for 19 years."I had studied and worked in London, but when we talked about helping people in the UK, [Dhammaloka] chose Hereford," she said."He said that it was a place that was the best for developing a person's mind. "Historically, people who worked on their physical and mental health and even the old and ancient medicine in England - all of that happened around Herefordshire."Image caption, De Silva was told that Herefordshire was "the best for developing a person's mind"Those who use the centre can experience ayurvedic retreats, yoga and sound healing.Laura Leverington, who works at the centre after discovering he...