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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. 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

3. Lepcha Chieftains of the 17th–18th Centuries, based on Tibetan and Bhutanese Sources

Author:
John Ardussi
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
The ruler Gaeboo Achyok (Rgyal-po A-mchog) is undoubtedly the most highly celebrated Lepcha cultural hero. It was he who led a valiant attempt during the second half of the 17th century to assert the authority of the Lepcha people over their ancestral lands in the region of modern Kalimpong and the hill country near South-west Bhutan. Although his story has been told by previous authors, much is still based on legend and conflicting secondary sources. So, it is worth reviewing the primary original, written documents in the context of broader events of his era.
Topic:
Religion, History, Culture, and Historiography
Political Geography:
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. Territorial Annexation of Tibet: Tenure of the 13th Dalai L ama (1876-1933) recorded by Charles Bell (For mer Br it ish Polit ical Representative in Tibet, Bhutan, and Sikkim)

Author:
Monika Chansoria
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Japan Institute Of International Affairs (JIIA)
Abstract:
Histor y often tends to repeat itself, or as Spanish-American philosopher, Jorge Agustín Santayana wrote in 1905-06 in The Life of Reason, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. While setting out to write on, or about Tibet, it is inevitable to conclude that there never was, or will be, a long walk to freedom either for Tibet, or for the holy chair of the successive Dalai Lamas – the god and king-in-one incarnation of Chen-re-zi, the Lord of Mercy – the patron deity of Tibet. The Dalai Lama not only governs his subjects in this life, but can influence their rebirth in the next, or as Tibetans believe is the “Ruler in this life, the Uplifter in the hereafter.” The journeys of the Dalai Lamas in and out of Tibet recount being perennially those, which forced them out of their homeland in the most pressing, dark, and arduous circumstances. These have been recorded most persuasively by Sir Charles Bell, British civil servant, and former British Political Representative in Tibet, Bhutan, and Sikkim, whose accounts dedicated to the memory of the 13th Dalai Lama stand testament to their long and affectionate friendship. Bell’s work Portrait of The Dalai Lama published in 1946 is amongst the finest accounts on Tibet’s chequered history. It’s important to understand Tibet’s geography and the course of events that shaped its historical and political destiny in order to realize the relations that Tibet shared with the powers that encircled it. The Chinese overlord ship, which commenced early in the 18th century and ended in 1912, was often little more than nominal. China’s endeavor to control the foreign policy of Tibet sprang mainly from two reasons: First, the Chinese desired the country as a barrier on the west; and second, from 1642, when the supreme authority of the Dalai Lama was established– China sought his spiritual backing to restrain the turbulent Mongols from invading the northern Chinese provinces.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Religion, History, and Territorial Disputes
Political Geography:
Asia, Tibet, and Bhutan

6. 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

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. 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

9. Guru Padmasambhava of Odiyana (Odisha): The Founder of Lamaism in Tibet

Author:
Bimalendu Mohanty and Varish Panigrahi
Publication Date:
11-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
Guru Padmasambhava of Odiyana went to Tibet along with his wife Mandarva in 747 CE at the invitation of the King Trisong Detsen (755 CE to 797 CE) of Tibet and established a Buddhist order that was based upon Vajrayana practice developed in Odisha. He brought a synthesis among the Bon religion, which existed in Tibet along with Sahajagyana, and established Lamaism. From the biographical sketches available from the existing documents, it is known that Padmasambhava was the adopted son of King Indrabhuti, the King of Sambala in Odiyana. The second wife of Guru Padmasambhava, Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, had written a biography titled The Lotus Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava where the Guru has been described as the son of King Indrabhuti of Odiyana. It is believed that before reaching Tibet, he had visited Bhutan along with his wife, to settle disputes among warring neighbouring countries and to bring peace in the region. He also spent some time in Sikkim and Nepal while en-route to Tibet.
Topic:
Religion, History, and Buddhism
Political Geography:
South Asia, Tibet, and Bhutan

10. Guru Padmasambhava in Context: Archaeological and Historical Evidence from Swat/Uddiyana (c. 8th century CE)

Author:
Luca Maria Olivieri
Publication Date:
11-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
In this contribution, which is based on a collection of data that were earlier presented in different fora1, I would like to first briefly touch upon the fact that last year the Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat2, founded by Giuseppe Tucci in 1955, just celebrated its 60th anniversary. The Mission, which I have the honor to lead3, is still in full activity despite the many dramatic events that hit the beautiful Swat valley between 2007 and 20104. I also intend to pay tribute to Giuseppe Tucci’s seminal essay, On Swat (Tucci 1977), which holds a wealth of suggestions and historical hypotheses that are still stimulating research5. Amongst those historical hypotheses, there are some aspects of mutual importance connecting Swat and Bhutan, i.e. the early diffusion of Vajrayana in Swat, the relationship between Swat and the trans-Himalayan regions, and the role of Guru Padmasambhava.
Topic:
Religion, History, Buddhism, and Archaeology
Political Geography:
South Asia, Tibet, Bhutan, and Himalayas