Chortens (Dzo. མཆོད་རྟེན་; literally meaning “Support to The Teaching”) come in all shapes and sizes. Contrary to popular belief, there are more than three architectural types of chorten.
Stupas were adapted in the Buddhist world from earlier traditions as monuments for simply safekeeping the mortal remains of Buddha. Over time they evolved both in terms of physical aspects as well as the content. What is common to all types of chorten in the Buddhist world is that there are five physical structures to represent the five natural elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space. Chortens in Buddhism are built as representation of the Buddha as seated in a lotus position.
In this post let me share what goes inside a Bhutanese stupa, so that one day you can also build one. These pictures are from the Rigsum Gonpo stupa that my siblings and I sponsored to rebuild in Athang Morakha in Wangdue, as per the advice of my lama, Khandro Dorje Phagmo Rimpoche.
I dedicated the holy Saga Dawa month (the fourth month in the Bhutanese calendar) rebuilding a Rigsum Gonpo stupa in Morakha village in Athang Gewog. The place is associated with two very important figures in Vajrayana Buddhism. First, it is believed to be the abode of Vajrapani (Chana Dorje), which is referred to as Changlochen. Second, it is associated with Mendharawa – one of the principal consorts of Guru Padmasambhava.
Rigsum Gonpo (Dzo. རིགས་གསུམ་མགོན་པོ) means Lords Protectors of Three Families (or Realms) and refers to Chana Dorje (Vajrapani), Chenrizig (Avalokiteshvara) and Jamyang (Manjushri). The three stupas are the representations of these three important deities in Vajrayana Buddhism.
Picture 1 – Every major construction starts with a salang tendrel (Permission Seeking Ceremony) where we ask the consent of the earth deity to build the stupa. We offer 12 sacho bumter (vase of treasure) – four each for the three chortens. This offering is considered as a gift to the earth deity for allowing us to occupy the ground.Picture 2 – The first structure over the ground is the Sa-zin (foundation). This stage is important to provide the correct direction of the stupa (called Chho in Dzongkha). It should not face any direction randomly – especially its shadow should fall in the direction of any private homes. A master astrologer or a realised lama should do this to ensure that it benefits all sentient beings and hurts no one. Picture 3 – The next is to build three stairs called them-kha. Here inside the walls we have the first set of zung (relics) going in – consisting of farming implements and an old urn at the bottom layer. After covering this layer with juniper leaves the men and women garment and jewelries are spread – including arms and ammunition.Picture 4 – Then comes the Thri (throne) where the second set of Zung is buried. Here, inside of it, we offer a full set of religious musical instruments, and as many yangbum (vase of prosperity).Picture 5 – Every inch of the hollow space is filled with tsatsa (mini stupas) and dried juniper leaves. If juniper leaves are not available dry sand is fine too. The thing to remember is not to leave any space.
Picture 6 – The Thri is sealed and this marks the completion of the first stage of the constriction.
Picture 7 – Over the Thri, we build what we call the Tshemed-Zhi (The Four Immeasurable). It is four-step pyramid and in it we plant the sokshing – the soul of the stupaPicture 8 – Sokshing means “tree of life” and it is what makes the stupa come to life and bestow the power. It is a wooden pole sliced out of a young juniper tree, around which hundreds of scrolls of mantras, clay statues and precious objects are bound. This is best done by a master artisans, although it may be cheaper to do on your own. I prefer to get it from one master I know. Picture 9 – Planting the sokshing is one of the three most sacred stages of the construction of the stupa and hence, a realised lama should preside over this. It is believed the act of “planting” causes disturbances in the Lower Realm, and even the Lord of Death, Yama, can get upset. On the other hand, the upper tip is believed to send power of prayers and mantras, like a radio antenna, to the Higher Realms and the divinities would take a break to witness this sacred moment. Picture 10 – At the base of the sokshing we offer Kaypi-Mar (eternal butter) in a copper urn, and four sets of choeb-ting (water offering cups) filled with gemstones and precious metals. You fill the remaining empty spaces with sacred scriptures like Kanjur (Words of Buddha) or Bum Poti (Perfection in 100,000 lines).Picture 11 – The Bumpa (vase) – the conical shape structure is filled with statues of the deities and divinities.Picture 12-13 – Above the bumpa is the chug-sum khrolo (Thirteen Discs of Enlightenment) which envelopes the upper part of the sokshing. The completed chug-sum khorlo is in the picture below.Picture 14 – The golden parasol which covers the Chug-sum Khorlo is placed on top and both are given a golden color. The three stupas of Rigsum Gonpo are also given their respective colors: yellow for Manjushri, white for Avalokiteshvara, and dark blue for Vajrapani.Picture 15 – Finally, the top-most structure is the golden pinnacle. Usually the Sun, Moon and the Star representing the space are carved and placed there, but increasingly people offer golden pinnacle, which is costlier and believed to accumulate more merits.Picture 17 – The main sponsor of the construction is honoured with gifts of rice, textile and a white khadar.May this sacred stupa bless all sentient beings and bring peace and prosperity to this community and country.
Morakha takes its name from a remark made by an attendant of Guru Padmasambhava. It was during the time when Guru Rimpoche and Mendarawa were in the area. Mendarawa was in the village, while Guru was meditating in the mountains between Phobjikha and Athang. When the Guru inquired about Mendarawa, the attendant is supposed to have replied, “She is (Mo-ra) in the village (Khar)”. Thereafter the place where Mendarawa dwelled was named Morakhar, and later simply Morakha.
Morakha Temple stands over the village of Lomsokha in the main Athang valley. The site is believed to be the spot where Mendarawa practised the Vajrapani saddhana – known as Chana Dorje drub in Bhutanese. A temple was later built on the spot by the followers of Mendarawa and Guru Rimpoche. The exact date is not known.
Coupled with the Athang Tsho (lake), which is at the other end of the valley, the region was a mandatory destination of all emanations of Terton Pema Lingpa, and the followers of the Peling tradition. The area, therefore, received hundreds of pilgrims each year – thus adding to the prominence and economy of Athang region since the mediaeval era. It was only in the post-modern era that the region saw the decline, as the natives were lured to the urban areas of Thimphu and Wangdue. During the same period, pilgrimages from Tibet stopped for reasons known to everyone.
Mendarawa, and Adha mathra and Adha Rachu:
In front of Morakha temple is the boulder that is believed to be the handloom of Khandro Mendarawa, the spiritual consort of Guru Padmasambhava. While the Guru spent his time in the mountains of Athang (also colloquially pronounced as Adha), Mendarawa spent her days practising the Vajrapani mantra, and by night weaving the traditional clothes. The stone relic can be seen even today. Some local sources claim that the origins of the popular Adha mathra and Adha rachu – a traditional handwoven textile and pattern have their origins here in the works of Khandro Mendarawa. And because of their association to Mendarawa, these patterns of traditional textiles have spiritual blessings and are auspicious for special occasions.
According to one source, Athang Morakha is only place visited by Mendarawa. All other important sites of Guru are associated to either Yeshey Tshogyel or Tashi Khyidron. This makes Athang a very special valley
Betel leaves:
Another very popular item associated with this place and to Mendarawa are the betel leaves, which are believed to have been planted by her. The only surviving plant, which is standing in front of the temple, is jealousy guarded, as many attempts to graft and reproduce have been unsuccessful. The betel leaves from this plant are used for making mendrub (medicinal pills) or rilbu (blessed pills). Another local claims that the betel leaves available in the wild in the jungles of Athang gewog are equally blessed by Mendarawa – and they are used for Zhugdrey ceremony in Gangtey Monastery during the annual Gangtey Tshechu and Drubchen.
Chana Dorje relic (ter) statue:
The most prized possession of Morakha Lhakhang is a finger-sized relic statue of Vajrapani (similar to the one in Bartsham temple in Trashigang). It is tucked away in a secured safe and can be seen only on special occasions.
Vajrapani is referred to, in abbreviated form, as Chador in Bhutanese, and every newborn that receives his or her name from this temple is called Chador. So, every other person in this gewog is called Chador, and almost every Chador you meet may be from Athang gewog.
According to the caretaker monk, the sacred Chador statue is believed to have been retrieved by Terton Pema Lingpa from Mebar Tsho (lake) in Bumthang. “One statue flew to Tsakaling in Mongar, another to Paro Dongkala, and the last one came to Morakha,” he adds.
When the original Morakha temple was destroyed by fire this relic statue is believed to have flown away and stayed safe on a nearby tree. It was later discovered by the resident monks and brought back to the temple.
Vajrapani is also a popular deity, who is revered as a part of the supreme Trinity of Protector Deities called the Rigsum Gonpo (རིགས་གསུམ་མགོན་པོ་) – literally translated as “Lords of Three Families” with the three families being Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani.
The affiliation to Gangtey Gonpa:
The association of Morakha Lhakhang to Gangtey Gonpa started with the life and works of the Second Gangtey Trulku, Tenzin Lekpai Dondrub (1645-1727), who is considered as the most prolific of all the previous Gangtey Trulkus, and who operated mainly in this region. Although a realised being, he lived a simple life of an itinerant monk – who are locally referred to as gomchens.
His works and the patronage he received from the Athang area became the inspiration for the popular adage, “Lama Ganteyb. Jindha Adhap” (Lama from Gantey, patrons from Athang). Today the monastic center is affiliated to Gangtey Gonpa, and the current Gangtey Trulku Rimpoche initiated the reconstruction and the expansion of the temple into a proper monastic institute.
Who must visit?
While Chana Dorje practice is recommended for everyone to pave the path towards ultimate enlightenment, the blessing is a must for those born with birth-mewa 2 and 4. It is strongly recommended that people born with these mewas make a pilgrimage to this sacred place and/or to Bartsham Chador Lhakhang in Trashigang. This is because Chana Dorje is the deity of those born with birth mewa 2 and 4. Birth mewa 2 are those born in the 1944, 1953, 1962, 1971, 1980, 1989, 1998, 2007, and 2016. Birth mewa 4 are those born in 1942, 1951, 1960, 1969, 1978, 1987, 1996, 2005, 2014, 2023
Getting there:
The total drive time from Thimphu is just 3-4 hours making it a nice day trip. There is a farm road that takes off from Kamichu on Wangdue-Tsirang highway. It is pliable with small cars (maybe not during the wet season).
When you get down to the valley floor from the Lapsaka Pass, look for a signboard. Take the road to the left marked as Athang Morakha Changlochen Chador Lhakhang.
What to take:
Take rice, flours, lentils, cooking oil and food supplies for the monks there. There is a community of monks headed by the abbot – with no subsidy from the state.
Where to stay: There are decent guest rooms at Morakha Lhakhang in case people want to stay overnight, which I highly reccomend. Contact person: Lopen Sonam Drugyel 17480524.
The bridge to cross towards Athang from Wangdue – Tsirang highwayAfter dropping down to Athang valley floor, you will get to this cross road.
The third leg of my New Year Pilgrimage 2024 took me to Mebar Tokchoe temple in Kheng Kikhar in Zhemgang where my teacher #3, Dorje Phagmo Rimpoche (popularly known as Khandro Dorje Phagmo) has established a nunnery called Ngajur Pemachophelling.
I conducted a Drolma Yuldhog, which literally means “Obstacles removing Tara ritual”, which is considered as the king of all rituals. While one could conduct the Drolma Yuldhog at one’s home or at other sacred places, for me there is no better place than here.
First, Khandro Dorje Phagmo is considered as the emanation of Jetsun Drolma (Tara). Second, Mebar Tokchoe temple is believed to have been established by Monmo Tashi Khyidron on the advice of Guru Padmasambhava to pave the way for the success of Samye monastery construction in Tibet. During the same endeavour, Guru is believed to have advised King Thrisong Detsen to conduct Drolma Yuldhog to clear the obstacles standing in the way in the establishment of Samye monastery. And third, the invocation of the blessings of Tara done by nuns is believed to yield better merits.
So, there are lots of reasons – both religious and historical – that make this place special for a Drolma Yuldhog. I commission this ritual twice a year – once after the winter solstice and one after the summer.
It is always a sublime and blissful moment to be here. To paraphrase the some lines from the rituals:
“May you be free from the Seven Internal and Six External Sources of diseases. May you be protected from all negative energy. May you all be firmly on the Path to Enlightenment”
Radio – Back to the Future II (In this second part, I highlight some of the consequences of losing the traditional media such as radio, TV, books and newspapers and storytelling tradition. This article in based on the talk in Romania)
A legend says that 5,000 years ago, the Upper Egypt was ruled by a king known as Thamus. Theuth, an inventor, once sought an audience with the King where he presented his latest discovery: writing. Theuth who also invented a myriad of other things was fully convinced that his latest brainchild would be welcomed, “Here, my Lord, is an accomplishment that will improve both the wisdom and the memory of the Egyptians,” he submitted to the King. The King, however, was not very impressed and after a long thought, replied,
“Theuth, my paragon of inventors, those who acquire it (writing) will cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful; they will rely on writing to bring things to their remembrance by external signs instead of by their own internal resources. And as for wisdom, your pupils will have the reputation for it without the reality: they will receive a quantity of information without proper instruction, and in consequence be thought very knowledgeable when they are for the most part quite ignorant. And because they are filled with the conceit of wisdom instead of real wisdom they will be a burden to society.”
Does a vast quantity of information necessarily mean knowledge? This is an interesting point – and, nonetheless, relevant even today. The new media technology lays in front of us so much information at a click of a mouse – or on our mobile phone – anywhere anytime. At no point in time in human history has so much materials been available so easily. However, does that make us more informed? More knowledgeable? Or wiser? Well, it is more plausible what King Thamus had predicted 5,000 years back. And that people would think of themselves as “very knowledgeable when they are for the most part quite ignorant”. Let me elaborate.
One problem with too much information is the overload that does not allow a reader to sieve ‘good’ and relevant information from the junk. This is the reason why fake news thrive. We are no more selective of important facts from the less important ones. We cannot judge between the good and the bad, relevant from the irrelevant or right from the wrong. Many urban teenagers in Bhutan can name every member of any K-Pop group but wouldn’t be able to say who the first three desis (governors) of Bhutan were – or in the contemporary parlance, to name all the members of the Cabinet. Still, if we want to stick to K-Pop, do we know that the K-wave is subsidised by the government to exert their soft power politically and globally and that it is also is used as a PR cart to sell Korean products in the ever-competitive world market?
Not only that there is information overdrive these days, one is also subjected to the illusion of being widely informed and knowledgeable. Today as one scrolls the timeline of the FaceBook page or Twitter, one is fed with news and information from across the globe on variety of subjects; from the latest resolution in the UN Security Council to a dog being trapped in a well in remote India; from new scientific discoveries, whether true of not, to ancient Ayurvedic treatment for cancer, which the world had supposedly forgotten. Everyone knows who won the US election, that the Brits are leaving the European Union and that Kim Jong Un is testing nuclear weapons.
There is a difference between having information and being informed, though. Having information is nothing if one does not know the context or the prevailing circumstances. Information is like a raw material. You need more ingredients and some craftsmanship to turn it into a final product – to make a judgement or an assessment. Conversely, if you base your decision on a piece or on fragmented pieces of information it is likely to be dangerous. This is what is happening every day around the world these days. Character assassinations, campaigns of disinformation and fake news are having a field day. In one of the best sessions at the conference in Romania, researchers had presented some early study of how fake news and the illusion of being informed altered the voting pattern in one of the most “developed” nations on Earth.
All these bring us to the issue of substance, accuracy and credibility, which the new media such as Twitter and Facebook is short of. You can’t make a judgment on the Palestinian-Israeli issue in 140 characters or shoot down Aung San Suu Kyi’s persona or her Nobel Prize based on one Facebook post or picture. Therefore, the good ole media such as the radio, TV, books and newspaper and our own storytelling tradition will continue to, and should, play an important role to maintain a good level of public discourse. Of all places on Earth, the US of A has realised this after the 2016 Presidential elections. New York Times and Washington Post have seen increased sales and subscriptions in 2017.
One can’t say for sure where a well-informed society would take us but a shallow one, which we are fast becoming, can deliver the deadliest of consequences for mankind and nations. And it’s not me saying this. Someone called Siddharta Gautama based his teachings, some 2,500 years ago, on the need to alleviate ignorance, which at the very best, as Thamus had put, would be “a burden to the society” and to the world.
(In the next entry I will elaborate on my experience that I presented at the conference)
Dorji Wangchuk 