“There are ferocious dogs guarding the place. So, I must call the Lama to tie them”, Wangchuk, a work colleague, told me when I shared with him that I was going to Tsetok Gonpa. Going up I did on the auspicious Tara Day, and Wangchuk not only had called the lama on my behalf, but he must have also spiced up my credentials. The lama welcomed me and provided me a guided tour with marvellous stories. I was also served tea and zaw (roasted rice) and offered lunch.

I started my visit by offering a butter lamp, and thanking the deities and divinities for everything in life.

Lodey Gyatsho – the founder 

Tsetok gompa stands on the top of a mountain that is shaped like a vajra – an instrument used in Buddhist rituals. Tse means top in local languages, and hence Tsetok literally means “on top of the tse”. Gompa means “a meditation retreat hermitage”. 

According to the resident Lama, Tashi Wangdi, Tsetok Gompa was established by lama Lodey Gyatsho – one of the six legendary students of Tshang Khenchen Pelden Gyatsho (1610-1684). All six are believed to have accomplished the highest level of tantric teachings. In fact, they were also referred to as drub-thob (The Accomplished One). Lodey Gyatsho was the youngest of the six Gyatshos. Many sources say they were all brothers.

Tshang Khenchen (literally meaning The Most Knowledgeable from Tshang) Pelden Gyatsho (1610 – 1684) was the biographer and a close friend of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594-1652).

Lam Tashi Wangdi adds that after their monastic education under Tshang Khenchen, the Gyatsho brothers were told to go out and fulfil their destiny of establishing seats of buddhist learning. Subsequently, Peljor Gyatsho established Geling Gonpa (which is now in Chukha Dzongkhag – opposite Chapcha), Sangnag Gyatsho established Thadra Gonpa in Thimphu – above Lungtenphu, Tsundru Gyatsho and Thinley Gyatsho built Tsundru Gompa and Phurdrub Gompa respectively – in Paro Dawakha, and Drakpa Gyatsho established the Jaba Jangchub Choling Gonpa in Jabana – also in Paro, on the way to Haa.

While the other Gyatshos immediately set off and fulfilled their destiny, Lodey Gyatsho, being the youngest, decided to take care of their ageing parents. However, as time went by he was increasingly drawn back to dharma and also felt repelled by the mundane farming life. He then returned to spiritual realm by entering into a serious retreat at Paro Taktshang Yoselgang and practiced the sacred Dorje Phurba (Vajrakilaya).

After twelve years of retreats and practices, Lodey Gyatsho saw in his vision the great Guru Padmasambhava who appeared to him and pointed to him the mountain facing Taktsang, and telling him that the Vajra-shaped mountain is the upper part of Thousand-spoked Wheel of Western Direction  (nubcho khorlo tsib-tong) and that his destiny laid there. 

Some mornings later, Lodey heard a loud knock on the door. This was strange because there were no temples and monasteries as we see them now. There were very few hermits and huts, and Yoselgang was the furthest spot of them all – and not even visited by birds or animals. When the lama opened the door he found a Vajrakilaya statue placed in front of his hermitage.

He took care of the statue, but one day he found that the statue went missing. Subsequently, he noticed a flickering light from the Vajra-shaped mountain, which he saw in his vision. After some days, he decided to hike to the mountain to see what that light was.

On reaching the peak of the mountain he found his Vajrakilaya statue on a flat stone in the middle of a small lake. He retrieved the statue and was planning to return to Taktsang Yoselgang when the local spirit, Genyen Bolap, approached him and asked him to stay there and build a temple – and that he would provide all the support.

Tsetok Gonpa was, thus, built.

The actual date of its establishment is lost in time. However, according to my calculation it must be around the mid of the 17th Century – just around the time when Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel had consolidated his place in Bhutan – because soon after Tshang Khenchen (The teacher of the six Gyatshos) was met with fierce opposition to his work in Tibet. Consequently, he was invited by Zhabdrung to move to Bhutan, which he did, and settled in, and built, the Menchuphu Gompa in Paro Shaba. 

The sacred statues (ku-ten in Bhutanese)

The temple has a statue of the Tshomen (mermaid) who was the guardian of the lake from where the Vajrakilaya statue was retrieved. The statue is on the ground floor and not for the faint-hearted since the Tshomen’s body looks like a giant snake. The lake is dried up because of the desecration works done by some delinquents. 

The main temple is on the first floor and depicts the Buddhas of Three Eons (Duesum Sangye) – Buddha Kashyapa (Sangye Yoesung), Buddha Shakyamuni (Sangye Sachathupa), and Buddha Maitreya (Gyalwa Jampa) – plus smaller statues of Guru Rimpoche, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel and of the founder – Lodey Gyatsho. 

The temple is adorned with medieaval swords and shields, and enquisite murals of pantheon of Vajrayana deities and divinities. The wooden flooring is over 200 years old and polished to perfection.

The sacred scriptures (sung-ten)

The temple has a rich collection of major scriptures and Buddhist canons such as Kanjur (words of Buddha) and Tenjur (commentaries), plus the sung-bum (speech teachings) of all the major masters of the past such as Tshang Khenchen, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel, and others. 

Lama Lodey Gyatsho was a renaissance man who not only perfected the Buddhist teachings and philosophy, he was also a master of all thirteen arts and crafts (zorig chusum) and also medicines (sowa rigpa) and astrology (tsi). In fact, the story goes that the blessed butter ointment (ngag-mar) made from his skull relic (kapala) is supposed to have cured a visiting tourist, who was suffering from an incurable chronic disease. This foreign visitor later donated a large sum of money and also rallied support to completely renovate the temple. His photo stands on the ritual stand (thri) of the caretaker-lama.

The sacred inner relics (nang-ten)

Set of Phurpa (ritual dagger). In the temple there is also a set of phurpas (ritual daggers) made out of wood, which used to be taken to the private houses during the rituals for the sick. Lodey Gyatsho meticolously carried out rituals and ceremonies for the seriously ill, and he made the phurpa set with the instruction that after his death, any lay monk can conduct the ritual with the phurpa set on the altar – and that the curative power and blessings would be the same as his. The phurpa set can be seen on the offering altar (sen-thri) of the main temple. 

Vajrakilaya statue. The Vajrakilaya (Dorje Phurba in Bhutanese) statue is by far the most precious nang-ten of Tsetok Gonpa. The small statue – of five or six inches in height, is housed in a large amulet.

The Vajrakilaya practice represents the enlightened activities of all the Buddhas, and thus is powerful in removing obstacles in one’s journey towards realisation, destroying forces hostile to compassion, and purifying the spiritual pollution that is prevalent in these degenerative times.

As the lama blessed me, I recited my favourite mantra, which was the first prayer that my grandfather taught me.

སངས་རྒྱས་ཆོས་དང་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་མཆོག་རྣམས་ལ། །

sangye chö dang tsok kyi chok nam la (In the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly)

བྱང་ཆུབ་བར་དུ་བདག་ནི་སྐྱབས་སུ་མཆི། །

changchub bardu dak ni kyab su chi (I take refuge until I attain enlightenment)

བདག་གིས་སྦྱིན་སོགས་བགྱིས་པའི་བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱིས། །

dak gi jinsok gyipé sönam kyi (Through the merit of practising generosity and so on)

འགྲོ་ལ་ཕན་ཕྱིར་སངས་རྒྱས་འགྲུབ་པར་ཤོག །

dro la pen chir sangye drubpar shok (May I attain buddhahood for the benefit of beings)

Tara and Manjushri Ter statues. There are also two beautiful ter statues of Tara (Jetsun Drolma) and Manjushri (Jetsun Jamyang). Ter statues are believed to be either antiques pieces, or of divine origins. Some are believed to have self-arisen and not made by humans. The Manjushri statue does not have the flaming sword, which I proposed to make one from a Sakya craftsman I know in Nepal, and offer it to the temple. The lama was very pleased with my offer.

The Wooden Mould. The temple also has a beautiful wooden mould to make miniature statues of animals and local deities. Legend has it that the mould contains all the animals living in the six realms. On close observation, some of the animals and figures looked like extraterrestrial beings – as depicted in Hollywood sci-fi movies.

The Kapala. An important and priced relic is the kapala (Sanskrit for skull) of Lodey Gyatsho that has been turned into a ritual cup – as customary in Tibetan Buddhism. The skull has self-arisen images of the Sun, Moon, and the Pleiades (Karma Mindruk), which appeared miraculously.

The skull is believed to have miraculous properties. For example, butter rubbed inside can be later used as ointment for any skin, muscle, or bone ailments. The water poured in and blessed is then distributed to devotees, which is believed to spare one from rebirth in the Lower Realms. It also claims to cure internal diseases with the digestive system, urinary tracks, lungs and heart.

The bell and vajra of the lama. The temple also has several personal effects of Lodey Gyatsho, chiefly his bell (drib) and the vajra (dorje). The bell is supposed to produce a sound, which when heard will release you from the rebirths in all lower realms.

The Annual Blessing and Bumday

Coinciding with the death anniversary of Lama Lodey Gyatsho on the Fifteenth Day of the Ninth Month of the lunar calendar, a week long rituals and ceremonies are conducted, during which it is advisable to visit this gompa to get access to all the relics to pray, and also make sponsorships and offerings.

Getting there

From Lango town, drive towards Tenzinling Tent City, and keep right at every major junction till you reach Dungse Thinley Norbu Kudrung Chorten.

The access road to Tsetok Gompa is marked here, but during monsoon the road is either bad or damaged. It takes 1.5 – 2 hours till the temple from here. 30 minutes if the access road is through.

Happy to share the news that my PhD dissertation (aka research thesis) has been judged as the Dissertation of Year at the National Communication Association conference in Washington, DC, on November 15, 2023.

I was informed of it last October and was invited to attend the Award Ceremony in the US. However, because of some prior work commitments, I had to request my PhD supervisor, Prof. Todd Sandel, to receive the award on my behalf. In a way, he is the most appropriate to share the recognition.

Thanking everyone, who journeyed with me, on this joyful moment. As I have acknowledged therein, there is no such thing as a self-made man. Every help, big or small, or even the tiniest compliment or a word of encouragement, goes on to add up for the greatest of achievements.

After I woke up to the pictures of the Award on my WhatsApp (I was at Dodeydra monastery, which is good tendrel), I took a moment to pray to Manjushri, the deity of knowledge and wisdom, and wished that this humble work of mine inspire younger generation of Bhutanese to go more into seeking knowledge, do path-breaking research works and build a better world for all.

#phd #dissertation #award #nca2023 #washington #rca #universityofmacau

I took this video on my recent flight on Bhutan Airlines. In it you see a young air stewardess on Bhutan Airlines calming a terrified passenger (baby), who was screaming out of pain.

Probably his ear drum was hurting as the plane descended to Kolkatta. Minutes later he stopped crying and she handed him back to his mother.

As someone who has travelled with two young children in the past, and was frowned upon, and even shouted at, on international airlines, it really warmed my heart to witness this on our very own Bhutanese airlines.

Travelling itself is a stress. Travelling with toddlers, even more. You have to worry they may fall sick, run into something, or they may bring down the place itself.

But nothing is worse than adults being annoyed and upset about children being children.

World over, especially in the so-called advanced societies, adults often forget that they were infants once and may have inconvenienced others. Infants can only cry. They can’t speak or reason out. It is natural. Why is it so hard?

The world would be a better place with some compassion and empathy.

I am glad to see our young Bhutanese youth exhibiting these values in the degenerative times.

@bhutanairlines #travellingwithaninfant #compassion #empathy #love #Bhutan

“Choeken Gyalpo (Yama – the Lord of Death) is calling me for a meeting,”. Togden Jigme Chogyel, popularly known as Rangshikhar Rimpoche, tells me with a mischievous smile. 

“It seems Guru Rimpoche has submitted a complaint that I have been living off people’s wealth and hard work for far too long,” he adds.

“I think Guru has a point,” I tell him.

We laugh. He blesses me.

I have always loved being in the presence of this holiest of men, who is our family lama for four generations. The first time I met him was 40 years ago, freshly out of school. In between his classic humours, in all these years, he has taught me many things. Once he explained to me the meaning of OM AH HUNG. It took a whole afternoon. And I forgot most of the things he said.

Another time he elaborated on the word, Lama, after which I use this word more than “rimpoche” (Precious One) to address Buddhist masters I respect.

He has also been very precise with divinations. In 1983 he told me to be careful in the month of February. That month I fell off a speeding truck, only to miraculously remain clinging with one hand, and stay alive. My paternal uncle wasn’t as lucky, or he didn’t take seriously to the words of this lama. He died.

This time, with his joke on the Meeting Call by Yamaraj, I guess he is subtly reminding me, and everybody, to earn what we consume, and not to live on someone’s hard work. It is a strong Bhutanese belief that seems to be waning.

His jokes are always a words of wisdom, if one can care to take them seriously.

#togden #lama #rangshikharrimpoche #gelephu #dekilinglama #wordsofmyperfectteacher

This unassuming temple, located right in the middle of Paro Town in Tshongdue, rarely gets a visitor. The caretaker was surprised I had come in. And yet, this place played an important part in Bhutan’s history. It hosted Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel when he first landed in present-day Bhutan in 1616.

While Zhabdrung was forced out of his ancestral estate in Ralung in present-day Tibet, Buddhist practitioners believe it was pre-destined. This is evidenced by the fact that for centuries preceeding him, his ancestors and lamas from the same school established seats of Drukpa Kagyu in Bhutan – thus preparing for his eventual arrival. The key figures among them were Lam Ngawang Chogyal, Kunga Penjor, Phajo Drugom and the divine madman, Drukpa Kinley. 

Druk Choeding was one such place, and it was established by Lam Ngawang Chogyel in 1525.

The centrepiece of the temple is Maitreya Buddha (the caretaker insisted it is Buddha Shakyamuni) and there is also a large image of Buddha Avalokitesvara. Smaller statues of Lam Ngawang Chogyel and Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel can also be seen on the altar.

On the right of the main altar is a smaller corner dedicated to dharma protector Aap Gennyen Jakpa Melen. He is believed to have appeared in human form, at times, and served Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel. His main abode is in Dechenphu in Thimphu. As Zhabdrung had just arrived in Bhutan it is possible that he followed him to Paro on the maiden visit.

Druk Choeding also plays a significant role in Bhutan’s history as the site of the first Tibetan invasion. In fact the Tibetan ruler Tsang Desi, who was responsible for Zhabdrung’s exit from there, sent an army to capture Zhabdrung. This temple was sieged but the local followers of Zhabdrung whisked him out to Drela Dzong before the Tibetans attacked.

The locals led by Zarchen Choejey and Hungrel Drung (the descendants are still alive today) raised a militia and managed to drive out the invading forces.

Today the place sits there, alone but intact. Right outside the gate people are scrambling for a parking slot, but everyone is heading towards the vegetable market.

Signs of changing time, I guess.

The National Memorial Chorten is one of the most popular landmarks in Thimphu, where thousands of people visit every day. More visit during religious events presided by important lamas and rimpoches.

Many residents in Thimphu make it an evening routine to circumbulate it, an act which is believed to be a skillful means of practicing the Buddha Dharma without reading the scriptures. You just walk around it in clockwise direction. Interestingly, not many people have visited it inside, and very few people actually know or appreciate the full significance of this monument.

What it represents

The Memorial Chorten is the most sacred monument, built by the holiest of men of our time, patronised by a Queen Mother, and built in the memory of a dharma King.

Unlike other stupas, this one has temples built on all the three floors. The first floor is dedicated to powerful deity Dorje Phurpa (རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕུར་པ་, Vajrakilaya) and its retinue. The Vajrakilaya pratice is believed to embody the enlightened activities of all the Buddhas. The deity, Vajrakilaya, is considered as the wrathful form of Dorje Sempa (Vajrasattva) and is known for removing obstacles, and destroying the negative forces, obstructing the practice of compassion. Hence, one can make a wish here to clear one’s hurdles in life, as one embarks on the journey towards Bodhisattva, or one can seek to clear any obstacle standing in one’s way in a new venture.

This Vajrakilaya teaching was taught by Viyadhara Prabhahasti to Guru Padmasambhava, who practiced it in Yanglasho in Nepal, and concealed it thereafter. It was later revealed by Chogyur Lingpa (1829-1870).

The second floor has Ka-gye (Eight Great Sadhana Teachings), which was revealed by three tertons at different periods – Nyang Ral Nima Oser (1124-1192), Guru Chöwang (1212-1270), and Rigzin Godem (1337-1408).

The Kagye teaching is represented by the eight principal deities – Yamantaka (Dzongkha: Jampal Shinje), Hayagriva (Pema Sung), Vishudha (Yangdak Heruka), Mahottara (Chem Chok), Vajrakilaya (Dorje Phurba), Matarah (Mamo Botong), Lokestotrapuja-natha (Jigten Chotod) and Vajra Mantrabhiru (Mopa Dragnak). These eight deities represent the five wisdom deities of enlightened body (in Dzongkha, ku), speech (sung), mind (thuk), qualities (yönten) and activities (thrinley) of the Buddhas, plus the three worldly deities.

The third floor is dedicated to Lama Gongdu teachings, which literally translates as the Unified Intents of Gurus – a terma teaching revealed by Sangye Lingpa (1340-1396), and which is one of the most important texts in Dzogchen tradition.

All the above teachings, representations, symbolisms are from the esoteric termas that were believed to have been hidden by Guru Padmasambhava, and later revealed by tertons (treasure revealers) in the mediaeval and early twentieth century. 

The construction

Aesthetically and architecturally it is the most perfect Jangchub Chorten (Stupa of Enlightenment) – one of the eight styles of stupa in Tibetan Buddhism.

The chorten was designed, and the construction supervised, by lama Dungse Thinley Norbu Rimpoche (1931-2011). The legendary yogi, lama Sonam Zangpo (1888-1982), is also believed to have been closely associated with the project. 

The chorten was built under the royal patronage of the Second Queen of Bhutan, Ashi Phuntsho Choden (1911-2003), and was built in the memory of Third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1928-1972) – hence the name National Memorial Chorten. It opened in June of 1974 – coinciding with the Coronation of the Fourth King.

The consecration ceremony was presided over by Dudjom Rimpoche, Jigdrel Yeshe Dorji (1904-1987), one of the greatest scholars of Vajrayana Buddhism of the twentieth century. He was also considered as a terton. Infact, his works form the basis of the Dudjom Ter-sar (New Terma of Dudjom) movement in Buddhism.

Despite not being ancient, it is still the most sacred stupa in Bhutan because of the powerful Vajrakilaya representations, and other powerful deities and teachings. Furthermore, according to different sources, many antiques and relics are buried in each floor as nangten. This makes it a wish-fulfilling and obstacle-clearing stupa to assist devotees with mundane issues.

Above all, the stupa receives thousands of prayers, and the presence of ordinary and extraordinary people, thereby accumulating millions of moelams of aspirations and blessings. Simply put, it is not just another monument.

#stupa #memorialchorten #thimphu #vajrayana #vajrakilaya #buddhism #nyingma #dungsethinleynorbu #lamasonamzangpo #treasurerevealer #terton #bhutan #dudjomrimpoche #yogi #lama #lamagongdu

It was a nice nostalgic evening sharing my journey into discovering and bringing the wellbeing curriculum to Bhutan.

The journey took me to Kanglung and to remote Silambi in Bhutan,  and then to UC Berkeley and Yale in the US, and now we are now in Paro – in the valley where it all started in 2015. Our team has creeped into 40 schools and educators, who really believe in the future of education of the Bhutanese children.

Our country, and the world, are going through post-pandemic depression and economic recession. In Bhutan there are people leaving for foreign shores, a government that is caught off-guard, and a society that is not only condoning such a phenomenon but also encouraging it. All is not well, it seems.

Wellbeing initiative is a cure, I believe, albeit a slow one like every good thing in life.

I cannot save the country – or the world, but I am reminded of a Jewish saying, “He who saves a man, saves the mankind entire”. From the stories that were shared in the evening, there were two whose lives were altered for the better after learning of the wellbeing programme.

So, we keep going 

(The last picture is the 2015 GNH Conference where the concept of GNH as contentment was proposed)

#wellbeing #socialemotionallearning #sel #emotionalintelligence

@contentmentorg @contentmentbhutan

Tshog-kor (the full form is tshog kyi khorlo) is not a simple food offering but a profound and ritualised feast dedicated to a specific Vajrayana deity.

Thus Tshog Offering creates a sacred ritual space to practise higher tantras and, furthermore, the formation of a community and group practice. Literally Tshog-kor means “Offering in a Circle”.  

The main goal of performing it is to gather and accumulate merits and wisdom and to maintain and restore the commitment to the Dharma. This is believed to help with better rebirth in a place of peace, prosperity and fortune.

In everyday parlance we say a person has accumulated merits (tsho-sa) to refer to a prosperous and fortunate person. We also wish someone generous to be reborn again as a tsho-sa person.

Lastly, there is saying, Lha-Dre-Mi-Sum choe lam chi, (The three beings – deities, demons and humans have the same behaviours) and hence in Vajrayana we often seek from the deities and the demons (this beings to stay away from us), we also need to reciprocate their favours by offering our gratitude.

Tshog-kor is just a gesture – a thought, in the simplest of explainations.

Therefore the most important aspect of Tshogkor is to make prayers of aspiration (moelam) and dedicate the merit for the benefit of all sentient beings.

“Waktsa rey, soenam rey”, my late mother used to say. It means every child brings a fortune to the house.

My mother practised what she preached. All my village cousins were raised and educated by my parents. Plus I have many adopted siblings from Yangtse, Pema Gatshel, Rangshikhar, Khaling, Radhi. They were children who were all raised by my parents.

I have no doubt that the birth of the Royal Princess to our King and Queen will bring another fortune to the house (in this case the country). 

So it is time to hope again, feel alive again, and live again. The pandemic years were frightening and stressful. The post-pandemic years have been depressing. Let’s all collectively say a prayer so that this Daughter of Ours restore the sense of purpose, community and country that seem to have diluted in recent times.

A collective moelam can move a nation on its right path.

(Join in physically and virtually for the Green Tara Offering at Memorial Chorten from 23 to 26 September 2023)

The Death Railway (the official name is Thai-Burma Railway) is a historic 415 km train line between Ban Pong in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar. It was built during World War II in 18 months by the Japanese Imperial Army to supply troops and weapons at the Burmese front that was pushing towards South Asia.

The word, Death, was a nickname that came from the fact that over 110,000 people, between civilians and prisoners of war, died building this railroad – mostly because of maltreatment, malnutrition or malaria. 

The story is immortalised in the Academy-winning film, Bridge Over River Kwai, 1957, directed by David Lean with Alec Guinness in the lead. The bridge in question is still in use and is located at Kanchanaburi – some 100km west of Bangkok.

The Death Railway was destroyed by Allied bombing towards the end of the War, and today a short section between Bangkok and Nam Tok still runs nevertheless. It attracts locals, and historians and tourists alike. For many visitors it is pilgrimage to the grim reminder of human history, of atrocity and tragedy and the futility of war to resolve human problems.

Of late, the Death Railway and Kanchanaburi have become the site of reconcilliation where the deads are remembered and the heroes celebrated. Former foes come together to own the past mistakes and learn to build a better future free of such human tragedies.

There are two trains that run daily. The train is still driven by the old locomotive system and the station that it kicks off from is the Thonburi station on the west banks of Chao Phraya river. The train stops more than it moves, and passes over the historic bridge over Kwai at Kanchanaburi. It then snakes along the tracks carved out of the hills towards Myanmar border.

The ride is free for Thai people, while foreign visitors pay a flat 100 Bahts irrespective of which station you get off, or get on. The fare-paying visitors can have a dedicated carriage with better seats.

The section between Kanchanaburi and Nam Tok is the most interesting part.

#thairailway #deathrailway #kanchanaburi #bridgeoverriverkwai #thonburi #bankao #thamkhaoluangcave #kwairiver