A Rosary of Jewels - August 2005

Pilgrimage to Bhutan with the Venerable Lama Ngawang Tenzin 5th to 26th August 2005

by Adrian Leigh

 Our very harmonious group of forty-six, mainly French, pilgrims garlanded with a delightful small contingent of children, commenced our journey in great comfort at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kathmandu, from where we took the flight to Bhutan which takes less than an hour and from which Himalayan snow-capped peaks are visible. Bhutan's state religion is Buddhist of the Drukpa Kargyud lineage, which has been established here since the time of the first Gyalwang Drukpa, Tsampa Gyare (1161-1211). The first Buddhist temples were reputedly built by the first Tibetan King, Songtsen Gampo (c. 618-649), followed by those of the Tibetan refugees who settled here during the persecutions of Langdharma and of a further wave of Drukpa Kargyudpas who settled here in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The twentieth century saw the establishment of a hereditary monarchy and in 1953 the third King created a national assembly. Until the early 1960s there was no currency, schools, hospitals, postal system nor tourists. Television and the internet have been here less than ten years. Bhutan has retained 70% of it's forest cover and 86% of it's population are subsistence farmers producing amongst other crops delicious red rice, apples and peaches. English is widely spoken and one is frequently surprised by how very well educated and cultivated many hoteliers, tour-guides etc are.

Bhutan is very striking; the countryside is perhaps like visiting Switzerland in the eighteenth century! Often one feels that the boundary that separates real life from fairy-tales has become indistinct. Almost everywhere looks as if one is living in a Tibetan thanka – green hills, wonderful sky and clouds, rain, rainbows and torrenting rivers everywhere which, due to their shallowness, sport the characteristic jaunty splash patterns one sees in oriental paintings. Stupas and temples dot the landscape alongside the handsome traditional buildings, with everyone wearing traditional dress. As we came down the stairway from the smart Druk aircraft into this brightly lit land, many of us remarked on it's singular appearance, even the airport building, a 2001 addition to the 1984 original, is indistinguishable from a Buddhist temple. Our first hotel was the excellent Oladeng, built to host the many heads of state that attended the coronation of the present king, aged sixteen in 1974. Over the ensuing days, thanks to the very high esteem in which His Holiness is held here and also Lama Ngawang's exceptionally good connections, travelling in small comfortable mini-buses, we were granted very privileged access to the holy sites where we practiced together the Tcheu Sengue Tsewa and texts from the Rosary of Jewels. Some of these sites included the singular Paro Taktsang, the tigers nest monastery, built around a Guru Rinpoche cave and visible through a splendid golden door. Also Kyichu Lhakhang, operated by the royal family, the old part reputedly built by Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century. The majority of the sites we visited were closely associated with His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. In Kyichu Lhakhang was the first of three reliquary stupas containing his ashes, which we would encounter. Alongside the familiar three statues to be found in most temples namely; Padmasambhava, Maitreya/Sakyamuni and the Shabdrung (Ngawang Namgyal, 1594-1651, the unifier of Bhutan, a descendant of the first Drukpa, Tsangpa Gyare and a reincarnation of the great fourth, Pema Karpo), here in Kyichu Lhakhan was an additional very fine and large golden faced statue of H.H. Dilgo Khyentse. Many of us were also fortunate to visit his room with its chair and bed, itself virtually a temple. There is also a superb new part and here we encountered the first of an astonishing series of major building projects by the royal family in support of the Dharma, the Queen mother Ashi Kesang selling her own jewels to finance many of them. The moving beneficence of the royal family was a tangible presence throughout our pilgrimage, (perhaps affording us a glimpse of Plato's philopsher kings and queens and possibly even his world of ideal forms!). Here was a superb five meter high Padmasambhava. In many of the temples we saw, the awesomely huge statuary and magnificent wall paintings created a very deep and rich impression.

Some of these sacred sites included: Chime Lhakhang (founded by Drukpa Kunley where we were blessed by his cup and plate amongst other items); Trongsa Dzong; Punakha Dzong (where we were perhaps most privileged to practice in the Machey Lakhang, where the reliquary of Pema Karpo, the embalmed body of the Shabdrung and the remains of Pema Lingpa are housed. This precious shrine is private to the King and Je Khenpo); Nyimalung (the monastery of Bairo Rinpoche); Membartsho (the burning pool of Pema Lingpa and his monastery Tamshing) and Simtokah Dzong. In Punakha we were joined by the charming Thuksey Rinpoche, and his older peer Khamtrul Rinpoche already a formidable teacher. In Bhumthang, we were blessed over the following days to receive teachings on Bodhichitta and Guru Yoga from both of them, at perhaps the most important temple in Bhutan, Kurjey Lhakhang. Here is housed a stupendous ten meter high statue of Padmasambhava, whose giant head reaches right into the ceiling, reminiscent of the gigantic seated figures on the nile. Some other highlights remain strongly with me: experiencing a Buddhist state; our very nice group; the lunch at Tango Monastery where Thuksay Rinpoche and Khamtrul Rinpoche are both students and where we received a wonderful welcome; the reception with the Je Khenpo and Ani Jinpa's moving speech of thanks to him (and her precious and informative speeches and translations throughout our tour); visiting the cremation site, stupa and reception room of H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche not to say receiving blessings from the young yangtsi of H.H. Dilgo Khyentse; unexpectedly receiving blessings from the youthful Trulku of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche at a local festival in Wang – and finally being received by His Holiness and His parents, Bairo Rinpoche and Myumla, at the Amitabha project in their apartments. Rumour has it that we may be returning in 2008!

With heartfelt thanks to all and greeting from Adrian Leigh, Brighton, England!