tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316227662024-03-26T01:53:46.399+06:00Reflections of a Bhutanese ManPersonal thoughts and reflections of a seeker on his journey; observing, absorbing knowledge and exploring the world. cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-76598690257103626912024-03-10T19:25:00.005+06:002024-03-12T12:29:25.287+06:00Restoring the only surviving photograph of Trashigang Lama Neten Sonam Dorji from Bartsham (circa 1901 - 1968) During the early to mid-twentieth century, when
Bhutan was under the reign of the First King and the Second King, just before
the country opened up to the world outside and adopted the path to modern
development, both government and monastic officials held great power. And to
hold the position of Lama Neten (abbot) of Trashigang must have been a big achievement for
someone from Bartsham, a cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-41849841510039207182022-10-11T09:14:00.004+06:002022-10-11T16:50:28.970+06:00Long life prayer (Zhabten) of His Majesty the Fifth King of Bhutan མི་དབང་འཇིགས་མེད་གེ་སར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་དབང་ཕྱུག་མཆོག་གི་ཞབས་བརྟན།ཨོཾ་སྭསྟི།
དཀོན་མཆོག་རྩ་གསུམ་སྐྱབས་གནས་རྒྱ་མཚོ་ཡིས། །དགེ་ལེགས་རྟེན་འབྱུང་དམ་པའི་མཆོག་སྩོལ་བས། །
ས་སྐྱོང་འཇིགས་མེད་གེ་སར་མཚན་ཅན་གྱི། །སྐུ་ཚེ་ཡུན་བརྟན་མངའ་ཐང་རྒྱས་པར་ཤོག །
བཅོམ་ལྡན་ཐུགས་རྗེའི་དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ་ཡིས། །བྱིན་རླབས་བདུད་རྩིའི་ཆར་རྒྱུན་རྣམ་ཀུན་ཕབ། །
མི་དབང་ཆོས་རྒྱལ་དམ་པའི་སྐུ་ཚེ་བརྟན། །ཆབ་སྲིད་cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-21514689490786923302021-05-23T12:38:00.013+06:002021-05-23T15:23:03.275+06:00The Dying Art of Bhutanese Calligraphy (Yig-zo)Tshampa Norbu Wangchuk, master calligrapher who wrote the master copy of the Constitution of Bhutan in gold, writing Kanjur in gold at the Royal Textile Academy, Thimphu (May 2021). Students in the monastic schools and the erstwhile Semtokha Rigney School used to study calligraphy as one of the disciplines to be mastered. But it does not seem to be the case anymore. So, when His cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-55825170769977317562021-05-23T12:09:00.003+06:002021-05-23T12:09:33.229+06:00 A Tipsy Irony (based on a real encounter) A Tipsy Irony (based on a real encounter that happened on 8th May 2021 above Tashichhodzong)By: Tshering CigayLast Saturday at around 11 am, I was travelling in my brother’s car when a man walking unsteadily by the roadside waved his hand at us for a ride. Brother: Where do you want to go?Man: Can you take me to the city bus stand in the middle of town?Brother: Okay. Get in. As he got in, cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-44690709265632573852021-04-07T10:01:00.004+06:002021-04-07T10:01:54.707+06:0016 Practical Suggestions to Tackle Thimphu’s Water Problem for the Immediate to Long-term Let me begin by making it clear that no
individual or organisation should feel offended by this post, as it is only
intended to start practical conversation and actions to solve this perennial
water problem in our capital city.Fig. 1. Picture of water distribution pipe at the distribution tank above Zilukha.The people in my neighbourhood and my family went to bed without water last
night, cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-71792830610695156162021-01-25T20:43:00.014+06:002022-07-06T19:23:05.661+06:00Lama Pema Wangchen– Bartsham’s Most Illustrious Son and Its Greatest Benefactor Lama Pema Wangchen– Bartsham’s Most Illustrious Son and Its Greatest BenefactorBy
Tshering Cigay Dorji
Written
on 25th January 2021
Growing
up in this fertile and beautiful village of Bartsham in upper Trashigang, not
very far from Bhutan’s easternmost border with Tawang district of Arunachal
Pradesh, India, I, as a child, heard people talking about our revered Lama Pema
Wangchen incigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-20618608046535750512021-01-24T17:10:00.003+06:002021-01-24T17:10:57.144+06:00What does a Bodhisattva look like and how does he/she act? What does a Bodhisattva look like and how does he/she act?
The opening paragraphs of the chapter ‘The Bodhisattva
Perspective’ in the book ‘The Tantric Distinction’ by Jeffrey Hopkins gives a
very good answer to this question. I couldn't help reproducing the following excerpt for more people to see.
“The Dalai Lama mentioned in a lecture in India during 1972 that all beings cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-91744311164571991662020-11-01T16:31:00.021+06:002020-11-04T07:21:16.471+06:00Background History on the Construction of the National Memorial Chorten in Thimphu, Bhutan The
National Memorial Chorten is one of the most important landmarks of Thimphu,
the capital city of Bhutan. This beautiful stupa is a sanctuary for a lot of
senior citizens and retirees who spend their time reciting mantras,
circumbulating it or meditating in peace and calm. It is also one of the must visit tourist
attractions in Thimphu, and the venue of various religious events cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-80817246209794761642020-05-24T15:43:00.016+06:002020-05-27T22:39:58.740+06:00Doing the Thimphu-Dungtsho Trek in One Day - a Test of Endurance
We had planned a one-day trek to Drakey Pangtsho with a group from JDW National Referral Hospital via Paro Drukgyal Dzong on 2nd May 2020 coinciding with Zhabdrung Kuchhoe, the death anniversary of the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the founding father of Bhutan. It was also a Saturday and we would have the whole Sunday to rest after the trek. But the night before, a notification had been issued by cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-16388454736231067722020-02-19T16:37:00.001+06:002020-02-19T16:46:14.256+06:00THE BUDDHADHARMA - A Talk Given By Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche to His Western Disciples
THE
BUDDHADHARMA
A Talk Given By Kyabje DudjomRinpoche (1904-1987)
to His Western Disciples
This article was copied from the book "Counsels from My Heart" with the sole aim of disseminating this to wider audience because the article is one of the most concise and clear introduction to Buddhadharma with explanations on the difference between Thervada, Mahayana and Vajrayana pathscigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-35834120179310998202020-02-10T22:10:00.005+06:002022-09-26T14:31:43.721+06:00The Story of Monk Ravati
The
Story of Monk Ravati
The
following story is written based on a teaching on ‘Lay Ju-dre’ (Law of Cause
and Effect) given by Bartsham Lama Ugyen Namdrol (popularly known as Lama Daupo) at Namseling, Thimphu in December 2019 when we visited him one evening.
Everything
in this universe is bound by the law of cause and effect. There is no result
without the cause. Everything that cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-67135770684956587362019-08-04T19:35:00.000+06:002019-08-05T21:38:22.625+06:00Origin of the Mantra of Dependent Origination
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cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-71167027403946339612016-06-10T23:56:00.000+06:002017-01-20T16:30:49.450+06:00Gist of my speech to Rinchen High School Students on Wednesday, 4th May 2016
Good afternoon, my dear young friends.
It gives me great pleasure to be here with you to speak a few words at the invitation of your respected Principal who was my classmate, and is my friend. Your school’s Wednesday guest lecture program is a noble initiative as you get to listen to different perspectives shared by people with various backgrounds and experiences. I want to try and make mycigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-12099918310086755492016-05-28T22:29:00.001+06:002016-05-28T23:28:44.099+06:00Seven Things that Make Bhutan Truly Unique and Special
Bhutan, the birthplace of the principle of Gross National Happiness, is often perceived as one of the happiest places on earth. However, like any other country, Bhutan has its share of problems and challenges. So, Bhutan may not really be the happiest place on earth.
Yet, Bhutan is definitely a country like no other. It has no traffic lights or McDonalds, but make no mistake - Bhutan has fullycigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-68691046406336679652011-08-23T12:30:00.003+06:002019-08-07T14:24:23.717+06:00Significance of Japanese Tea Ceremony
Significance of Japanese Tea Ceremony: Peace Through a Cup of Tea
Most JICA trainees and other visitors to Japan would have had the opportunity to participate in a Tea Ceremony. To take part in a Tea Ceremony is considered a privilege and Japanese hosts often go out of their way to organize a tea ceremony for their guests. But the foreigners, with little understanding of the actual cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-91185110123288512642011-07-01T13:15:00.002+06:002011-07-01T13:18:57.935+06:00Will Elected Political Dynasties Emerge in Bhutan?Will Elected Political Dynasties Emerge in Bhutan?By Tshering Cigay Dorji (Ph.D)Published in Drukpa, November 2010 Issue on PoliticsElected political dynasties are common in democracies around the world: the Kennedys and the Bushes of the USA, the Aquinos of the Phillipines, the Nehru-Gandhis of India, the Bhuttos of Pakistan, the Bandaranaikes of Sri Lanka, and the Koiralas of Nepal. Are such cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-53851194184293667872011-07-01T12:24:00.001+06:002011-07-01T12:26:50.722+06:00Every Rose Has Its ThornEvery Rose Has Its ThornBy Tshering Cigay DorjiPublished in Drukpa, December 2010 Issue on MediaBeware the hype of social networking, says Tshering Cigay Dorji, for behind the glitz lies a plethora of unsavory ill-effects and insidious designMost of the internet-literate Bhutanese have now embraced Facebook, Twitter, blogs or online forums to interact with other people. These internetbased cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-48486011833119781572011-07-01T12:09:00.003+06:002011-07-01T12:21:06.117+06:00The Smaller the Purse, the Harder they FallThe Smaller the Purse, the Harder they FallBy Tshering Cigay DorjiPublished in Drukpa, February 2011 Issue on Education.Education is the key to solving social ills like poverty, inequality and injustice. Education is also the key to achieving many of our cherished goals as a society and as a nation. We do a great disservice to our nation when we deprive so many youths of equal access to this cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-85780687995576457602010-07-13T13:11:00.000+06:002010-07-13T13:30:26.953+06:00Robert F. Kennedy on what GNP means Below is a quote from Robert F. (Bobby) Kennedy on what the Gross National Product means and more importantly what it does not mean, from a speech given in 1968. "Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-33531505492224904912010-06-06T14:44:00.000+06:002010-06-06T14:45:57.467+06:00Let's not lose sight of the big picturePERSPECTIVE 5 June, 2010 - Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s article “Many questions, few answers” has generated much debate, both online and offline, just as he intended it to. I would like to offer my honest views on some of the issues he raised and some other related issues. People’s opinions and perspectives differ. HH the Dalai Lama writes in his book “The Universe in a Single Atom” that “Any cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-16585982731342880342010-05-31T23:09:00.000+06:002010-05-31T23:31:45.650+06:00Lone bangchu represents Bhutan at Exhibition in JapanThere is an exhibition titled “Himalayas: People’s life and Nature” taking place at a museum in Tokushima, Japan. It started on 29th April and will go on till 6th June, 2010. I visited the exhibition on 8th May and I was happy to see a bangchu(Bhutanese bamboo-made lunch box) on display. But I was surprised to see the label informing the visitors that it was from Nepal. I thought it was a mistakecigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-42138566160282045562010-05-30T21:34:00.000+06:002010-06-01T09:47:47.991+06:00Basis of Bhutanese ValuesWhat are the values that guide a Bhutanese man/woman?The answer probably lies in: (1)following the principle of mutual sincerity and loyalty in relationships (tha dam tshig) whether it is between the ruler and subjects, husband and wife, parents and children, or between friends, (2)following the principle of cause and effect (las rju 'bras) - the belief in the relation between cause and effect ofcigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-16915274892855141902010-05-17T15:12:00.001+06:002010-05-17T15:22:06.662+06:002 kinds of Happiness"The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven." - John MiltomAccording to Sogyal Rinpoche, "there are two kinds of happiness: one based on material comfort and pleasures; the other on inner contentment and peace."Rinpoche further adds, "Material happiness is often very expensive and doesn’t satisfy us. Whereas, if it’s based on deeper inner peace and cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31622766.post-55691970973652886982010-05-06T10:40:00.000+06:002010-05-06T11:26:26.758+06:00Unbeaten by the rain"If in the east there’s a sick childHe goes there and nurses himIf in the west there is a tired motherHe goes there and carries bundles of rice for herIf in the south there’s someone dyingHe goes there to tell him not to be afraid,If in the north there’s a quarrel or a lawsuitHe goes there to tell them it’s not worth it.When there's drought, he sheds tears of sympathyWhen the summer's cold, he cigayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13809861988441826291noreply@blogger.com2