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1. And Now What? The Life, Status, and Education of Newly Fully Ordained Nuns in Bhutan

Author:
Dorji Gyeltshen and Lauran Hartley
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
This talk communicates the findings of a research project on the evolution of monastic education in the 21st century, in particular, for contemporary nuns in Bhutan. On June 23, 2022, the 70th Je Khenpo, Tulku Jigme Chodrak, at the request of the king of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, and in an event organized by the Bhutan Nuns Foundation, conducted a bhikṣuṇī ordination to 144 nuns, restoring the Mūlasarvāstivāda female lineage in the Himalayan tradition. It is difficult to understate the importance of this event since, by most accounts, bhikṣuṇī ordination had never been introduced to Tibet or Bhutan, and nuns have only had access to novice status since the introduction of Buddhism in the region in the 7th Century. The goal of this talk is to discuss how Bhutanese nuns were able to develop a pragmatic discourse that allowed them to achieve this historical accomplishment, and how the newly achieved bhikṣuṇī status has impacted the lives of Bhutanese nuns and nunneries.
Topic:
Religion, History, Buddhism, and Nuns
Political Geography:
Asia and Bhutan

2. The Impact on Early Bhutanese Coinage of Contentious Relations Between Bhutan and Cooch Behar from 1772 to 1774

Author:
Michael Givel
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
Bhutan’s coinage has been thoroughly documented related to design and mintage variability. In addition, as noted for the first time in this paper, one of Bhutan’s late 18th to early 20th century core governmental missions is reflected through changes in Bhutan’s coinage. This is based on Bhutan’s conflict with Cooch Behar including interactions with the British East India Company and the legacy and aftermath of that conflict. While 18th to early 19th century versions of the symbols on Bhutanese coins reflected Hindu and national icons of Cooch Behar, the later versions to 1910 contained Cooch Behar symbols and definitive Buddhist symbols reflecting the sovereignty and a core mission to promote a Bhutanese Buddhist state where citizens became Enlightened.
Topic:
Sovereignty, History, Currency, Buddhism, and British East India Company
Political Geography:
South Asia, Bhutan, and Cooch Behar

3. So Old and Yet So New: Buddhist Education and the Monastic Curriculum in Contemporary Bhutan

Author:
Dorji Gyeltshen and Manuel Lopez
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
The emergence of a modern secular educational system in Bhutan in the 1960s forced the monastic institutions in the country to adapt and change to the new social, political and educational landscape. This article explores the transformation and changes to monastic education in Bhutan during the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century, with a particular focus on the introduction of a new monastic curriculum in the 1980s and the rise of the Shedra (Tib. bshad grwa) or monastic college as the central religious educational institution in contemporary Bhutan. The article is based on research that took place during the summers of 2018 and 2019, where the authors visited dozens of monasteries, collected various curricula, and talked to monks and officials all over the country. We argue that Bhutan is in the midst of a new transformational period in which Buddhist education and the monastic curriculum are being revitalized through a series of innovations and changes that have to do as much with a dialogue with secular education as with the impact of other factors: the influence of transnational Buddhist movements and ideas, the introduction of the commentarial curriculum from Tibetan monasteries in India, and the loss of political power after the introduction of the Bhutanese constitution in 2008, among others. The result is a monastic curriculum that asserts specific Bhutanese sectarian and national identity, and introduces a religious education that is transforming monastic life and education in ways that we are only beginning to see.
Topic:
Education, Religion, Buddhism, and Curriculum
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, Tibet, and Bhutan

4. Luminaries and Legacies of Nenyingpa in Western Bhutan

Author:
Dorji Penjore
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
Nenyingpa (gnas rnying pa) was one of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism to spread in proto-Bhutan or Lhomon Khazhi (lho mon kha bzhi) as Bhutan was then known. Some of the other schools were Lhapa (lha pa) of Drigung Kagyu (’bri gung bka’ brgyud), Kathogpa (ka thog pa) of Nyingma (rnying ma) school, Chakzampa (lcag zam pa) of Thangtong Gyalpo (thang stong rgyal po), Barawa (’ba’ ra ba) school of Gyaltshan Palzang (rgyal mtshan dpal bzang), and Gaden Shingtapa (dga’ ldan shing ta pa?). Several centuries later, the school, its lamas (bla ma) and their legacies are not known in Bhutan for various reasons. They were a member of the coalition of five lamas (bla ma khag lnga) who opposed Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal’s (1594- 1651) consolidation of political power under Drukpa Kagyu (’brug pa bka’ rgyud) school in western Bhutan.
Topic:
Religion and Buddhism
Political Geography:
Bhutan

5. Who is the Tigress in the Lair? A Preliminary Enquiry About Khandro Yeshe Tshogyel’s Visit to Taktsang

Author:
Sonam Kinga
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
The holy site of Taktsang in Paro, Bhutan, is renowned for its association with Guru Rinpoche, his consort Khandro Yeshe Tshogyel and disciple Langchen Pelgi Sengye. Although a monastery was built at this site in 1692 by Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye, the fourth civil ruler of Bhutan, the site was visited and blessed by Guru Rinpoche as far back as the 8th century. Its sacredness has been reinforced by the visits and spiritual undertakings of great Buddhist luminaries over the centuries. Pilgrims and tourists visiting Taktsang are generally told two things associated with Yeshe Tshogyel, who was a Tibetan princess and an emanation of Lhamo Yangchenma (Sarasvati). One, when Guru Rinpoche transformed into Dorje Drolo (one of his eight manifestations) and flew to Taktsang riding on the back of a tigress, Yeshe Tshogyel had transformed into that tigress. Two, Yeshe Tshogyel did the Vajrakilaya practice at the cave of Sengephu in Taktshang.
Topic:
Religion, History, and Buddhism
Political Geography:
South Asia and Bhutan

6. Putting the Festival Participants Back into the Festival: Rethinking Communal Identity Formation in Buddhist Cham Festivals in Bhutan

Author:
Mareike Wulff
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
This paper investigates how the practice of communal festivals in Bhutan results in forming communal identity, with a focus on Vajrayana Buddhist cham1 festivals. It seeks to close the gap between scholarly publications that address the formal content of festivals, and arguments for identity formation as an outcome of festival practices by centring the festival participants between these two positions. Drawing on the results of my long-term case study of the Korphu Drub, a cham festival performed by the Korphu community in Trongsa District, the paper shows how social actors carry out festival action in relation to their status and knowledge as community members throughout time. I trace the different age grades and genders in their lives coming along with specific social statuses, and connect these to the changing ascribed / achieved positions and works taken up during the festivals throughout one lifetime. This is to show how communal identity evolves as an ongoing process of reflexivity between the individual festival participant and his/her community. Last, I relate my observations to the concept of rites of passage and propose that the Korphu Drub can be understood as a substitute for missing rites of passage in Korphu, which additionally fosters identification with one’s community.
Topic:
Buddhism, Identity, Tradition, Communal Identity, Agency, and Festivals
Political Geography:
South Asia and Bhutan

7. A Dharma Raja and a Mahasiddha: A Note on the Spiritual Relationship Between His Majesty King Ugyen Wangchuck and Togden Shakya Shri

Author:
Sonam Kinga
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
In 1917, King Ugyen Wangchuck (1862-1926) made an offering of forty thousand English pounds to Togden Shakya Shri (rtogs ldan shAkya shrI, 1853-1919), who was raising funds for renovating and re-consecrating Swayambhunath (phags pa shing kun) stupa in Nepal. Approximately a hundred years earlier, i.e., on the fourth day of the fifth month of Water Bird Year (1813), Lama Sangye Norbu initiated the renovation which took five long years. He was one in a line of more than twenty lamas appointed by Bhutan’s Dharmarajas to the courts of Gorkha and later Nepal’s kings. He served during the reign of King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah (1799-1816) (Padma Tshewang, 1995, p. 238). Exactly a hundred years later in 2017, His Majesty the King commanded support for restoring the Bhutanese temple within the precinct of the same stupa, which was badly damaged by the 2015 earthquake. Call it historical coincidence or karmic continuity, the royal patronage of this important Buddhist monument by the first and fifth Druk Gyalpos – separated by a hundred years – reminisces Bhutan’s custodial rights over Swayambhunath and its monastic lands given as compensation to Bhutan by King Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1772 after the 16th desi, Zhidar relinquished Bhutanese control over the kingdom of Vijaypur at the former’s request!
Topic:
Religion, Spirituality, Monarchy, and Buddhism
Political Geography:
South Asia and Bhutan

8. Spirituality in Management Education

Author:
Karma Ura
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
This paper is about the global challenges on the one hand and values on the other. Being from a Buddhist country such values may take a Buddhist tinge. The scale of interdependence between people of different countries and global challenges suggest that our values and behaviour should be aligned. Most nations and peoples are motivated by the twin goals of peace and prosperity. Global peace has improved on a shortterm retrospective, according to Global Peace Index (Institute of Economics and Peace, 2017). Global Peace Index is a composite index calculated by aggregating six measures of conflicts, 10 measures of social safety and security, and seven measures of militarization. Looking to the near future, the conditions of peace are expected to increase.
Topic:
Education, Spirituality, Management, and Buddhism
Political Geography:
South Asia and Bhutan

9. Buddhist Contributions to Human Development

Author:
Tshering Tobgay
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
The birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha all happened in the second month of the Buddhist calendar, which is known in Sanskrit as Vaisakha. The Vesak Day has been known by different names in different countries and it has been celebrated for the last two thousand years by all Buddhists around the world to remind them of these three most sacred events in Buddha’s life. Vesak Day is a great occasion for an international gathering to meet, celebrate, remember and learn from the life of Buddha. Several global issues were discussed in the previous Vesak Day celebrations. In particular, the past Vesak celebrations have brought out certain future directions for all Buddhist communities. This year’s Vesak celebrations will be similarly fruitful and stimulating, with its theme on Buddhist contributions to human development.
Topic:
Religion, Buddhism, and Human Development
Political Geography:
South Asia and Bhutan

10. A Philosophical Exploration of Radical Forgiveness

Author:
William J. Long
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
Forgiveness in its many forms is a remarkable individual and interpersonal achievement that can restore one’s identity and reconstitute one’s relationship with another. Forgiveness is important in rectifying social wrongs and can contribute to constructive inter-personal and inter-group relations. Existing decisional or emotional explanations for forgiveness do not fully account for the transformative experience of the most radical forms of forgiveness. Exploring personal identity from Buddhist and Western philosophical perspectives can help us locate a new understanding of this form of forgiveness. Some of those who forgive deeply do so by transitioning from one cognitive-emotional state to another radically different one. This reappraisal is mediated by the experience of the nonessential nature of the self and the other, and this realization, in turn, allows for a profound transformation in personal identity and interpersonal relations.
Topic:
Philosophy, Buddhism, and Forgiveness
Political Geography:
South Asia and Bhutan