''Om mani padme hum.'' I first heard, or rather read this Tibetan Buddhist prayer, ''Hail Jewel of the Lotus Flower'' when, as a 12-year-old I avidly consumed a book called ''With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet.''

A rather weighty tome for one so young you may think, but it grabbed me like a self-grip wrench with a fascination and awe which never left. Little did I then know that I would spend sleepless nights in Himalayan Gompas, or monasteries, and take an expedition to search for the Lost Land of Guru Rimpoche.

A sample of Tibet was in Glasgow last week with monks and nuns giving a display of Traditional Tibetan Sacred Dance and Music in George Square. This is a warm-up for the World Peace Exhibition at St Mungo's Museum at 1.30pm, to continue next Saturday, when a fundraising auction by Christie's of donated paintings and other exhibits will take place at the museum at 11.00am.

I think it's great that we have a little bit of Tibet here in Scotland. The Samye Ling Tibetan Centre at Eskdalemuir in Dumfries has been churning out prayers for many years now, but a new and fascinating project is under way, ''The Stupa Project for World Peace.'' What's ''stupa'' you may ask. Well, it's rather difficult to define, better for me to quote . . .

''Built with traditional Tibetan ritual and precision of outer and inner symmetry, they will maximise the planet's potential for peace and harmony by harnessing and transforming existing natural and spiritual energy flows, to heal and bless all forms of life.''

To me a stupa seems to emanate a vital energy blended with a sense of peace; the sort of feeling you experience in a cathedral or a remote valley.

There are two stupas to be created in Scotland, the first to be built according to ancient Buddhist texts in the British Isles. One at the Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, Eskdalemuir and the other at White Point on Holy Island. Holy Island was purchased by the Rokpa Trust in April 1991 on the birthday of the St Molaise, the Celtic Saint whose cave retreat consecrated the island and gave it its name. The north end of the island will serve as a Multi Faith Retreat Centre with a long term Buddhist retreat at the south end.

There seems to be a closeness with the Buddhist faith and the aspirations of those who seek out the high places of the planet. When I went searching in the Himalayas for the Lost Land of Guru Rinpoche with a bunch of my pals, we were not aspirant lamas, but had a healthy curiosity in Khembalung as the ''Lost Valley'' was known to the Buddhist holy men.

Khembalung is supposed to be spiritual Shangri La and a three-star retreat. In any case as we were not true believers we would probably never recognise the place even if we fell down into it.

What's fascinating about this Scottish project is that we will have a brand new idyllic retreat ''doon the watter'' moored just off the east side of Arran. It's an exciting prospect in this age of road rage and spiralling taxes. The Holy Island is a cool place for god business, with built in ambience and religious history. St Molaise lived in a cave here, a cave which briefly also sheltered a couple of Hakon's generals.

St Molaise being a side-kick of St Columba thought the monastic set-up on Iona too lax so he retreated to the austerity of the Holy Island. Later a monastery was built on the north-west corner of the island, but this was a ruin way back in 1598. The island then had a pretty healthy population of wild goats (they are still in residence) and in Thomas Pennant's time in the 18th century, the island was infested with vipers.

I have happy memories of b&bs in Himalayan monasteries. The first being the most memorable. This was at a time when Tibet was closed and when European travellers were a rarity in Nepal. My friend and I had climbed the long drag up to Thyangboche monastery from Namche Bazaar, carrying enormous rucksacks and as it was during the monsoon accepted the offer of a doss from one of the monks in a leaky hut, close to where - we later discovered - an all-night Buddhist jam session erupted. This took the form of a cacophony of sound from horns and drums played by enthusiastic red robed monks.

The monastery is an impressive place and the setting mind-blowing. Ahead is Everest, ''Goddess Mother of the Snows'' and on the night, Ama Dablam, a great tombstone of a peak, which looks as if it's about to fall into the portals of the monastery.

In its own way the sanctuary of Holy Island will be equally impressive when it's up and running, the combination of sea and island lends itself to worship and contemplation, especially when its history is interwoven with the old Celtic Saints. I'm sure those seeking peace will find it here with the legionary hospitality of the Tibetans.