By Ani Pema Chodron
I am living in the retreat centre, up the hill behind Namkai Nyingpo Rinpoche’s monastery in the midst of Juniper trees. It has a most beautiful outlook, over the Bumthang Valley with the medieval looking Jakar Dzong on the opposite mountain. The sound of the Chamkar River below is the background to the day and night activities. The Bumthang valley is famous for many sacred temples, monasteries and sites holy to Guru Rinpoche, Pema Lingpa and Longchenpa and is truly fragrant with Dharma. As I sit for meditation practice, it feels that there is a tangible Dharma energy that elevates and supports one’s own effort. I can hear the 400 monks in Lhodrak Kharchu Monastery below me, joyfully chanting. Throughout the day, I hear the different gongs and bells for different activities. Their wake up bell goes at 4.30, then the gong starts inviting them to the temple for their morning prayers.
One of the biggest events during my six month stay in Bhutan was the visit of Dungtse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s father. He had not been to Bhutan for over 20 years, and was invited by the Prime Minister for a month’s stay along with about 30 of his students from the United States.
He was escorted by his son Garab Dorje. He participated in two large public events in Thimphu. A large chorten in the centre of Thimphu had been dedicated many years ago by His Eminence to his father, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche. Dungtse Rinpoche met huge numbers of people there one morning, giving Benza Guru Mantra lung and a short Teaching. His arrival was preceded by hundreds of gomchen practitioners with large drums chanting and conducting the Chod practice. Gomchen practitioners are those trained in the dharma and also live in the community with their families.
The enthusiasm of the people was overwhelming, crowding and rushing towards Dungtse Rinpoche, but restrained by the army and police. Dungtse Rinpoche’s response was deeply moving as he opened his arms towards all those who had come to meet him. He continued his tour for a month conducting Drupchens and other events, spending most of his time in Eastern Bhutan where he had previously lived. Everywhere he went, he had his young students from America ,who had been trained by him since children, conducting the rituals, leading the chanting, and performing an extremely beautiful Cham dance that he himself had choreographed.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche arrived in Thimphu at the end of his father’s tour and over one weekend he gave a teaching on the 9th chapter of Bodhicharavatara.. His primary message, seemed to be to caution the young and educated Bhutanese, (as his talk was in English) not to lose their Buddhist values in the face of modern materialism and western education. His concern was evident as Bhutan faces more and more influence from international media, and the young people are very keen to be like their international counterparts.
It was particularly lovely to see Rinpoche relaxing with his own people “Half of Thimphu is my family, and that is very nice,” he said… He addressed many of the cultural rituals of Bhutan as having meaning only if people are aware of why they do them, otherwise they become empty rituals without meaning. In time people would start to feel that such rituals are irrelevant to their modern life. Rinpoche has several students here maintaining Deer Park Centre, and helping to restore Buddhism into the education curriculum. At the conclusion of the teachings Bhutan Broadcasting System set up and filmed a panel discussion on the topic, “Is Buddhism Relevant to Modern Bhutan?”. The panel consisted of Rinpoche and Lama Shenphen an educator, a scientist and director of Deer Park.
The audience was invited to ask questions and one woman stood up and said, “I am an architect here in Bhutan, and I design Lhakhangs, (Temples). Very often I am not allowed to even go into the Lhakhangs I have designed (women are forbidden to enter into any of the Protector Temples). My question to Rinpoche is : What do you think of this. If you were not Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, would you choose to be reborn as a woman?” Rinpoche responded saying that “Whoever tells you that Buddha discriminated against women, ask them to find such things anywhere in the Sutras of Buddha’s Teaching. They will not find it. Such attitude has been superimposed in various cultures, including ours.” Then he went on to say, “Every year when I go to Bodhgaya I make an aspirational prayer to be born as a woman, a black woman, very beautiful and to be a republican president of the United States!!!”
As you can imagine, this brought the house down!!