Dzepa Chunyi: The Twelve Acts of the Buddha in Pelri Park.

The 12 deeds of Shakyamuni Buddha

Over 2,500 years ago, the devas prophesied, “In twelve years a great bodhisattva will be born who will become either a universal ruler or a buddha, and will be known as Shakyamuni.” The Bodhisattva Mahasattva who resided in Tushita Pure Land heard this and moved by compassion, resolved to take rebirth in India, on the Jambudvipa continent, as the son of King Shuddhodana and Queen Mayadevi of the Shakya clan.

Buddha Shakyamuni manifested the 12 deeds, as do all buddhas, as implicit teachings for the beings of our world system, in addition to the explicit teachings he gave during his life. Ven. George Churinoff said, “Through the various deeds he showed that that we too, born from a mother’s womb as the Buddha seemed to be, can attain enlightenment. The Buddha’s deeds of leaving his family and palace and his passing away into parinirvana are obvious teachings to his disciples about renunciation and impermanence, for example.”

There are different authentic versions of these 12 deeds which are presented separately according to one list are combined into one according to another. The deeds depicted in the Art of painting follow the order presented in His Holiness the Lam Odzer Pelzang Opening the Eye of New Awareness in Buddha Pelri Park, Mukazor In Bhutan.

1. Descent:

The Buddha, in his previous life, was at the helm of gods in Tusita heaven. When it was time to come down to earth, he passed on the celestial regal duties to his successor, Maitreya, and descended to earth. This is the first act of the Buddha although it should not be confused with the descent from Trāyastrimśa heaven later in his life.

2. Conception:

After checking the appropriate place, race, time, father and mother, the Buddha entered the womb of Queen Māyādevī in the form of a white elephant with six tusks.

3. Birth:

In the third act, the Buddha was born miraculously in Lumbini, allegedly from the right armpit of his mother. He is believed to have taken seven steps right after his birth and declared: “I am the supreme in the world.”

4. Upbringing:

The Buddha, as Prince Siddhārtha, grew up in the palace of Kapilavastu mastering all the arts and skills expected of a prince in his days.

5. Princely Life:

Prince Siddhartha ruled over the kingdom with his father and lived a luxurious life in the palace. He married Yaśodhara and had a son named Rāhula.

6. Renunciation:

Disillusioned with the state of ordinary life after he came in direct contact with illness, old age, death and renunciation, Prince Siddhārtha renounced his palace life in search of solution to the problems of life.

7. Austerity:

As was common in his time, he followed physical penance as a way to liberation. Siddhārtha spent six years undergoing a severe fast and meditation.

8. Adopting Middle Way:

When austere penance, like decadent palace life, did not lead him to inner fulfilment and liberation, he eschewed the two extremes of excessive indulgence and physical austerity and adopted the Middle Way to enlightenment.

9. Overcoming Evil:

After eating the cream he received from Sujātā and sitting on the comfortable mat, Siddhārtha entered a meditative absorption and overcame the evil forces of attachment, aggression and ignorance.

10. Enlightenment:

Having defeated the inner demons, the Buddha attained full enlightenment under the Bodhi tree when he turned 35.

11. Teaching:

Seven weeks after he attained enlightenment, the Buddha gave his first sermon at Deer Park to his five former colleagues. This began 45 years of his teaching and spiritual career.

12.  Passing Away:

The Buddha finally entered the state of Mahāparinirvāna on his 81st birthday. As he did with his life, the Buddha used his final act of dying also to deliver the message of impermanence.

Photographic Tour

Photography Tour

With the team of ACC survey group made an stop photography shot on the place of Zangpozor under Khamdang Gewog in Tashi Yangtse Dzongkhag. It's one of the remote Dzongkhag in eastern Bhutan border to Tawang in India and the background secnic is line of Control to Tawang, India.

Radhi Lakhang festival in Tashigang

Tshechu in Radhi, Tashigang.

Radhi is located some 30 km east of Trashigang Dzongkhag on a north facing slope. It is partly a dry Chirpine belt in its lower part and the upper part is covered with a cool broadleaf forest. It is drained mainly by two small rivers systems, namely Chongdiri in the east and Yudiri in the west. It covers 29 square km within an altitude ranging from 1,080 masl to 3,220 masl. The monthly average temperature varies between 12 degree Celsius to 22 degree Celsius and the average annual rainfall is1,353 mm and is a part of the Gamrichu watershed. (Meteorology Section, DOP).

The Gewog is surrounded by??the pastoral dominated Gewog of Merak in the south-east and mixed pastoral and arable farming in the Phongmey and Shongphu Gewogs in the east and west respectively. The small commercial town of Rangjung is in the south-west of the Gewog. It is famous for its rice and Radhi-Buray textiles. The main agricultural crops that are grown by people of Radhi are paddy, maize, soyabean, potatoes and vegetables, which are mostly used for household consumption except for rice which is mostly sold.

Radhi is a relatively small geog, it has 21 villages viz Tsangkhar, Dekiling, Dungsam, Radhi Pangthang, Khudumpang, Jonlapam, Jonla Tsatse, Tangthrang, Bongman, Chema, Melongkhar, Tsamang, Tonglingpam, Khatoe, Kadam, Drung Gonpa, Langteng, Tokshingmang,Naktshang, Phajogonpa, Langteng Sotshong with 758 households and total population of 5437.

The gewog has total number of 8 Lhakhangs and a Nunnery Institution. 6 of them are public owned and 2 of them are owned by private Kuenzang Theckcho Choden Nunnery Institute was established by Dungzin Garab Rinpoche in the year 1991 . It is located at Khardung village under Radhi Gewog. Presently the institute has 105 nuns, 2 Khempos, 4 teachers and a Lama making offerings and residing in the institute. They make offering and perform rituals for the well being of the people and sustaining harmony, peace and prosperity in the country and the king.

Namdrol Choling Lhakhang was established in the year 1908 by the initiative of Dronyer Ugyen Dorji and labour contribution from the people of Tshangkhar and Bongman villages. Before the Lhakhang is benefiting two villages but now the Lhakhang is spiritually benefiting seven villages via Tshangkhar, Melongkhar, Bongman, Chema, Radhi Pangthang, Dekiling and Langteng. They perform different celebrations and ceremonies on special occasions in this Lhakhang, by contributing labour and financial assistance from the people of the benefited villages.

Pangkab La Trek.

Pangkab La Trek between Tashigang and Samdrup Jongkhar

On dated 23/2/2019: Pangkab La Trek is located between Tashigang and Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag. The trek physically demanding because of its length, uphill and downhill which changes in elevation. The highest elevation on the Pass is about 3200 mts (approximately) above the sea level. The team had an limited time during the day to cover this distance,  no time for rest. The team had taken time to reach to the camp site  eleven to twelve hours of walking to get to camp before it gets dark.

Treks is along the ancient trade routes from Kangpar Village to Drangnang Village on which the trails may be rocky, sometimes made muddy by the hooves of passing horses, yaks and cattle. An encounter snow, especially on high passes and rainfall in the deep forest. Like any other parts of Himalayas, the descents are long, steep and unrelenting and rarely a level stretch of trail. However, if you are an experienced walker and often hike 13 to 14 hrs a day with a backpack, a trek in Bhutan should prove difficulty.

Mammy Meku (73 years old) from Tashigang Radhi made sussecful round trip trek in two days one night. In his answer most difficulties faced on the way from Kangpar to Pangkab La had an problem of water.

"BEST OF LUCK"

Naychen Gomphu Kora, Tashi Yangtse.

On dated 17th March, 2019: Naychen Gomphu Kora, Tashi Yangtse how difficulties to get the parking, more than 1000 people attended the annual festival including Dagpa/Nomadic from Tawang. Secnic was made sussecful by more Shopper Store, Dart Gameling and Hotels. This annual festival will be last Tshechu from Eastern Dzongkhag.

How and Why Bhutan Came to Worship the Phallust

In a remote corner of the world, lies the ancient landlocked Kingdom of Bhutan. Surrounded by the mighty Himalayas and bordering India and China, this Buddhist country is often referred to as the Last Shangri-La or the Land of the Thunder Dragon. In this obscure kingdom, the erstwhile capital city of Punakha continues to fiercely practice an age-old tradition of worshipping the most intriguing of objects: the phallus.

They are everywhere. Ornate penises flanking doorways, hanging off rooftops, painted on the sides of homes, as signage and on window displays. From bright yellows to pastel pinks, sometimes hairy and sometimes enveloped by a dragon spitting fire, some with piercing eyes and some even ejaculating. How does this rather shocking display of male genitalia fit in with this seemingly traditional countryThis penis fascination has a strong historic and spiritual significance in Bhutan. The story dates back to the 15th-century arrival of an eccentric and maverick Tibetan saint, or Lama, called Drukpa Kunley. He is believed to have shot an arrow from the then-Tibet to mark a new spot to spread his teachings. The arrow landed close to the site of present day Chimi Lakhang in Punakha (which is where his temple stands today) and led him to Bhutan. While searching for the arrow, he chanced upon a young girl who believed in his cause, and, pleased with her loyalty, he spent the night with her and ‘blessed her’ with his offspring. Today, the fertility temple houses an ancient bow and arrow and a 10-inch phallic totem made of ivory and wood.

After this introduction to Bhutan, his travels across the kingdom revealed to him the strict ways of the clergy and their unwavering adherence to orthodox societal norms. With a pledge to rid the people of their conventional ways, he set out to spread the true teachings of Buddha. His philandering ways and the sexual overtones in his often outlandish actions earned him the nickname The Divine Madman. With his bawdy poetry, titillating humour and wine-induced sermons, he deliberately shocked people into questioning the establishment and overthrowing traditions.

Bhutan the Land of Happiness

"Welcome to Bhutan, the Land of the Thunder Dragon," announces our Druk Air pilot, about 15 minutes before we land at Paro International Airport. For passengers like me, in a window seat on the left-hand side of the plane, the trip of a lifetime begins now.

As the plane flies around a mountain, far in the distance I glimpse the snow-covered Himalayas. Landing at Paro International Airport, at an elevation of 2,320m, is nothing short of nerve-wracking. The dramatic approach is at a 45-degree angle between mountains; not until the very last minute does the 2km runway appear. One of the most dangerous landings in the world, only 17 pilots are qualified to land here.

Nestled between India and Tibet, the tiny mountainous kingdom of Bhutan is often referred to as the world's "last Shangri-La". It's easy to see why: as I make my way to the capital city of Thimpu, an hour-and-a-half from Paro, serenity takes over almost immediately. Fluttering prayer flags and chortens (stupas) are dotted along the roads and avenues, a constant reminder that everyday life is permeated by Buddhist teachings and philosophy.

Tashichho Dzong, the fortress of the glorious religion, in Thimphu, Bhutan.

My first stop is the National Memorial Chorten, a Tibetan-style stupa. Built in 1974, it commemorates the nation's third king Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, considered the father of modern Bhutan. Swarming with devotees from all walks of life, circumambulating the chorten in a clockwise direction (a rule for any religious structure in Bhutan) or turning the large red prayer wheel, it is a hive of actcheck into Six Senses Thimphu for a good night's sleep and signature Bhutanese hot stone bath. Charcoal-heated river stones are dropped into a wooden tub filled with naturally heated water and wormwood, which is known for its medicinal propertie

Unification of Drukgyel Dzong

Drukgyel Dzong and How a Lama Unified Bhutan

Bhutan is a Himalayan kingdom with a rich history and a distinctive Buddhist culture . It has barely been impacted by modernity and globalization, and has managed to largely preserve its ancient culture. Perhaps the best-known historic site in the country is the ruined complex of Drukgyel Dzong.  The Bhutanese government has applied for the site to be recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

The History of Drukgyel Dzong

Drukgyel Dzong was built in 1649 to protect the area and also to serve as a religious center when the Dzong area was of great strategic importance. The Drukpa-Kagyud Buddhist School was built by the head, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, often known as the Bearded Lama, who had fled from Tibet.

Ngawang Namgyal and his followers built several other Dzongs to control the wild mountainous region of Bhutan and in 1634 he unified what is now the Kingdom of Bhutan after his great victory in the Battle of the Five Lamas. Prior to this time much of the country was in the hands of Buddhist monastic orders and feudal lords .

Buddhism and Intoxication

How does Buddhism view intoxication?

According to Lopen Tashi Tshering, a lecturer at Institute of Science of Mind, the Buddha had this to say about alcohol, the most abused intoxicant of his time: “Intoxication can lead to the loss of wealth, increased unnecessary confrontations, illness, disrepute, and weakening of wisdom.”

“Intoxicant includes anything we ingest, inhale or inject into our system that distorts consciousness, disrupts self-awareness, and that are detrimental to health,” said Lopen Tashi Tshering.

Production and consumption of alcohol was prevalent long before the time of the Buddha.

He added that Buddha had recognised that indulging in intoxicants (alcohol) led to losing heedfulness, a quality important to achieve realisation. Heedlessness in this context means moral recklessness, obscuring the clarity of mind to understand the bounds between what is right and what is wrong.

The Buddha, therefore, included the downside of intoxication in a sutra: “One is to refrain from drinking even a drop of alcohol and taking intoxicants because they are the cause of heedlessness. If any Buddhists succumb to the lure of intoxicating drinks, they shall not consider me as a teacher.”

“Though the precept started off as a ban on the drinking of alcohol, it has since been expanded to the use of modern intoxicants,” said Lopen Tashi Tshering. “This means, the modern issue of intoxication which includes incredibly wide range of addictive substances and unwholesome pleasures can be considered as transgression of fifth vow according to Buddhism.”

However, taking medication containing alcohol and other intoxicants for genuine medical reason does not count. Similarly, neither does eating food flavored with a small amount of liquor of violate the precept. This, Lopen Tashi Tshering, said was because one’s intention to take the medicine was to cure one’s sickness.

A traditional Buddhist reason for abstaining from alcohol and drugs was that intoxication inevitably led to the breach of other precepts, he said.

Buddha had prescribed five precepts for the followers as the minimal moral observances: abstinence from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and use of intoxicants.

Alcoholism and intoxication of the substances are a costly burden on the modern societies.

The teachings of Buddha do not say anything directly about smoking. However, the Buddhist prohibition of tobacco and smoking came later in the time of Guru Padmasambhava.

Understanding the detrimental effects of smoking, Guru Rinpoche prohibited the use of tobacco, according to Lopen Tashi Tshering.

Elaborating on how Guru Rinpoche imposed the prohibition, he explained that Guru had clearly seen the effects the fumes from the cigarettes have on the gods and above and local deities around. Similarly, he also understood that the spitting harmed the ants and insects on the earth and deities underneath.

Lopen Tashi Tshering said that abusing drug was equal to poisoning oneself slowly to your death. “Once a person chooses to do what is illegal, disrespectful of god and potentially damaging to their health and spiritual well-being, it affects their luck and I suppose this is the reason why a number of youths commit suicide today.”

In Buddhism, another factor to consider is its belief about life after death, meaning that our stream of consciousness does not terminate with death but continues on in other forms that we may take into six realms: 1) gods, (2) , (3) humans, (4) animals, (5) hungry ghosts, and (6) hell beings, which is determined by our habits, propensities, and actions in this present life.

According to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, a person who indulges in intoxication in present life suffers consequences of their actions through all lives that they may take in any forms, Lopen Tashi Tshering said.

Tourist arrival over the years in Bhutan

A total of 274,097 tourists visited Bhutan last year recording a growth of 7.61 percent over 2017, according to the latest Bhutan Tourism Monitor.

Revenue from tourism has also increased by about seven percent or USD 5.6M (million) compared to 2017.

Of the total tourism receipt from international leisure segment of USD 85.41 million, USD 26.29 million was direct revenue for the government through Sustainable Development Fee (SDF), Visa fees and two percent TDS (tax deducted at source).

However, despite the growth, TCB states that the country still faces a problem of seasonality and unbalanced regional spread.

“As a destination with an emphasis on sustainability at the core of its development agenda, it is important that appropriate interventions are put in place to further sustainable growth with emphasis on regional spread and to make Bhutan a year-round tourism destination,” it states.

Of the total arrivals, 71,807 were international arrivals. A majority of them entered and exited Bhutan via air while majority of regional arrivals used land as their mode of transport.

According to the report, international leisure arrivals grew by 1.76 percent to 63,367 while arrivals from the regional market grew by 10.37 percent.

About 87.81 percent of the total visitors visited Bhutan for leisure or holiday and most arrivals was recorded in May and October with 14.50 and 13.70 percent of the total arrivals.

While India continues to be the main source of market for regional arrivals with 94.83 percent of the total arrivals, America, China, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom and Germany continues to remain the major international source markets.

The report states that arrivals from USA recorded 14.54 percent growth, China 7.12 percent, UK- 10.44 percent, Germany 15.22 percent, Malaysia 6.22 percent, and Australia 21.79 percent increase over 2017 arrivals.

While the most significant growth was recorded for Vietnam ar 37.81 percent, visitors from Singapore (-5.89 percent), Thailand (-3.98 percent) and Japan (-2.55 percent) decreased in 2018.

In terms of global segmentation of source markets, Asia-Pacific was the top region (46.89 percent) followed by close to one-quarter (29.71 percent) of the market share from Europe and America (22.27 percent). Visitors from Middle-East, South-Asia and Africa comprise less than one percent.

According to the report, a majority of the source markets’ outbound tourists chose March, April, October and November to visit Bhutan.

Festivals remain one of the most visited attractions in the country with Thimphu and Paro Tshechus receiving maximum visitations with 20 and 32 percent.

Most visitors (86.41 percent) to Bhutan have undertaken some form of cultural activity with other nature-based and recreational activities.

The report states that the shift and sophistication in the demand and behaviour of tourists for meaningful travel experiences further emphasises the need for growth, diversification of tourism products and destinations, including authenticity, contacts with local communities and learning about culture, tradition and flora and fauna.

In terms of length of stay, on an average a tourist spends 6.63 nights in Bhutan.

According to the report, Swiss visitors have stayed 11 nights on an average followed by 9.39 nights by French visitors. Dutch and German visitors have spent an equal number of nights (8.86). For regional arrivals, the average length of stay is 5 nights.

Tourism

To date, I have been invited to speak to 3 batches of guide trainees. On every occasion I have gone to great length to impress upon the aspiring guides just how important they are in the delivery of “high value” component of the “High Value, Low Impact” tourism policy we have pursued since we opened up our doors to tourism in 1974.

I have time and again pointed out to the trainees that guiding is not a job - but a profession that will take them places. That the guiding phase in their lives is merely a stepping-stone to a secure and safe future. That it is a time when they have the opportunity to build network, acquire knowledge and skills and establish relationships on which to build their lives. But alas, despite all that, I have come face to face with some truly deplorable and woefully incompetent guides. Quite alarmingly, it wasn’t that some fly-by-night tour companies employed these guides - some of them were guiding for some of the top ten tour companies of the country.

Two evenings back I was in the company of a tourist group being guided by a young cultural guide (one of the Rotarian group members had wanted to meet me). The guide was drunk witless, either with alcohol or with substance, due to which he couldn’t simply comprehend what his guest was asking him to do. Worst, he had about him the foul stench ofdoma. Once in Punakha, I saw a guide sitting on a sofa in a hotel’s reception area - with his legs up on the tabletop, completely oblivious of the many guests milling around him. In Bumthang a guide was so drunk that he couldn’t remember why he and his single-person group were in Jakar! After great difficulty he remembered that they were there for a festival - but he just couldn’t remember which one.

The custodians of Bhutan's tourism industry - each of them seem to have failed to keep the guides on the narrow and the straight. The regulator failed to regulate and the MBO's were clueless about self regulation.

How did our guides get this way? At what point in time did they acquire such shabby and unbecoming attitude and behavior? In an environment where they have to compete with 4,244 other guides (as of today, there are 4,245 licensed guides), how did they allow themselves to degenerate to this level of un-employability? And yet, they are obviously getting employed! How and why? I can think of following reasons:

1.  They are available at cheap rates - commensurate with their quality

     and level of competence and ability.

2.  Tour operators are unmindful of the quality of guides they employ - most

     likely because these guides accept rates far below the going rate. These

     tour operators likely fall within the bracket of those who are known as the

     “under-cutters”.

3.  The regulatory authority - the Tourism Council of Bhutan - is obviously failing

     to monitor, regulate and enforce their rules that are already firmly in place.

     There is a detailed Letter of Undertaking (LoU) that each tour guide is required to

      sign before they are issued their guiding license. This LoU is explicit about

      the DO’s and DON’T’s. And yet, many guides fail to adhere to these rules.

 TCB requires every tour guide to sign the above Letter of Undertaking before they are issued their guiding license - then promptly forgets to enforce the rules.

The reverse side of a tour guide's license issued by the TCB. The prominently printed rules require that the guides must display their guiding license but not all do.

The guide is the single most important person in the service chain of the tourism industry - even more important than the tour operators themselves! The responsibility on the guide’s shoulders is immense and all encompassing. The selection of the guides should, therefore, be most crucial - because they are the first and the last person the tourists will see, from the day of their arrival to the day of their departure, including every single day in between. The guides set the all important and lingering first impressions - all other impressions are secondary and incidental.

There should be no compromise in the selection of the guides. The guides’ training and grooming must be rigorous and first rate. Their social grace must be impeccable – they must be knowledgeable on the country’s history, culture and tradition. In order that they can be sensitive to others’ cultural and religious sentiments, the guides must have a fair knowledge of most of the world’s important cultures and religions.

All these qualification requirement means that the guides are highly trained people with special skills. In other words they must be treated with respect and paid much better than some of them are believed to be. I hear that some tour companies pay them as low as Nu.700.00 per day - thereby, on occasions, forcing them to sleep in buses - because they are unable to afford lodgings with what they are paid.

We need to improve the quality of our guides. Their knowledge base must be regularly updated - their training course must include some bit of history, culture and religion of the major countries of the world. We need to ensure that the tour companies are employing knowledgeable and disciplined guides, and paying them well. They must not employ delinquent guides.

The guides are our ambassadors - they project the face and soul of Bhutan. The TCB must immediately assume responsibility over the stewardship of this segment of tourism service. The TCB must step up monitoring in order that the rules already in placed are enforced so that the guides remain vigilant about their responsibilities. TCB inspectors must make surprise inspections to tourist sites, restaurants, hotels and airports - on a regular basis to ensure that the guides are performing as they are expected to. This should not be a problem since TCB has record of what groups are in the country, and where each of them are at any given day.

If need be, we must empower the RBP, Immigration and Cultural Officials, hotel/restaurant owners and others to regulate the guides' behaviours. 

We must all realize that the guides are an important element in guiding the tourism industry’s journey to the top. The metaphor that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys is a funny allegory, but its implications are serious. It is no laughing matter.

What it means is that whole lot of monkeys is ruinous for business.

His Eminence Lama Nyingkhula

His Eminence Lama Nyingkhula, alias Kunzang Wangdi (1942-2018)

Born (1942, water horse year) to Jurminla and Thinley, he was raised in Pangthang village in Bartsham in Tashigang. In the tradition of non-formal education in villages, his grandfather Nyoendola taught him when he was a child. He retained his parent’s beloved pet name for him, Nyingkhula (སྙིང་ཁུ་ལ). He grew up in the blessed setting of the old Bartsham Chador Lhakhang, which contains the celebrated statue of Chador-Tumpo, a treasure of Pema Lingpa brought ages ago as a wedding gift from Khar Yangkhar Koche. In course of time, he became one of the most learned, reflective and meditative lamas of his age. He had a reputation of being unrivalled in his strivings, erudition and virtuousness. As Buddhist describe the passing away of an important religious figure, Lama Kunzang Wangdi’s body form dissolved into dharmakaya most peacefully on October 6, 2018. In a message paying tribute to him, Dzongar Jamyang Khyentse noted that though there are many peerless lamas, Lama Kunzang was unmatched also in practice of meditation.

During his last days in Genyenkha (དགེ་རྙིང་ཁ་ in old texts), where he had been living for the last thirteen years, His Majesty The King and Her Majesty Gyalyum Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck were gracious enough to visit him. His devoted services to Their Majesties as Their lama-sungkhorpa, or mantra holder (སྔགས་འཆང་སྲུང་འཁོར་བ), from 1992 till his passing away, began with the conferral of the title of lama-sungkhorpa by His Majesty the Fourth King. Between 1995-2009, Lama Kunzang was a member-representative of the gomchens, the communities of non-celibate Vajrayana practitioners, in the Religious Council of the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs. Lama Kunzang was of the gomchen or ngagpa tradition that is widespread in eastern Bhutan. Ngagpa or gomchen tradition, stretching back to Guru Rinpoche, was one of the two communities of practitioners: monks who were celibate sutrayana practitioners and gomchens who were lay or non-celibate Vajrayana practitioners.  In 2009, Lama Kunzang was elected as a member of the Council of Ngajur Nyingma for three years during an assembly of heads of Nyingma lamas.

The accomplishments and perfections of Lama Kunzang were not only due to his own exertions and insights, but also due to his long associations with many distinguished masters. His resume notes that he had the privilege of receiving dharma teachings and skills, roughly in order of timing, from Lama Pema Wangchen (alias Lama Nakulung), Lama Norbu Wangchuk, Dudjom Rinpoche, Jadrel Sangay Dorji, Lama Sonam Zangpo, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Dungse Thinley Norbu and Dzongsar Jamgyang Khyentse. Thus, his practices included both Nyingma and Kagyu streams of Buddhism.  He assimilated and incorporated six cycles of Naropa’s teachings from Lama Sonam Zangpo at Do Rangtha Hermitage (Lam Kesang Chophel, 2014, p. 1981) just as he learnt and mastered astrology comprehensively from Lama Norbu Wangchuk at Yonphula and Drametse. He absorbed many unique hands on (ཕྱག་བཞད་) legacies of Dilgo Khyentse and Dudjom Rinpoche, particularly on manual aspects of rites, because he worked with them for a considerably long time (Bartsham Dorji Lopen Sonam Zangpo, personal communications, 2018).

But his early life as a Buddhist learner and practitioner owes much to Lama Pema Wangchen of Bartsham. Lama Pema Wangchen’s biography by Khenpo Phuntsho Tashi (2013, p. 406) points out that by 1954, Lama Kunzang had become one of his young disciples. Lama Pema Wangchen schooled him in various knowledges and techniques of dough offering (གཏོར་བཟོ), mandala creation, chanting, and liturgical music. He learnt linguistics and grammar from Lama Tenzin Kuenleg, and stupa architecture from Tshong Tshong Lopen. Others taught him xylographic book carving, wood works, metal casting of statues, and calligraphy. Along with such widely appreciated skills he got, Lama Pema Wangchen also imparted to him an extensive range of texts on Buddhist theories, doctrines and practices. By 1961, along with key disciples of Lama Pema Wangchen such as Lopon Yeshey Dondup (1951-2002), Lama Daupo alias Ugyen Namdrol, Lama Nyingkula had received from him empowerments, transmissions and instructions for a huge number of texts including Dudjom Tersar tradition (Khenpo Phuntsho Tashi, 2013, p. 434). Such three-fold method of liberation-teachings culminated in the dzogchen texts and practices of All-Surpassing Realization of Spontaneous Presence (འོད་གསལ་ཐོད་རྒལ) and The Separation between Phenomena of Samsara and Nirvana (འཁོར་འདས་རུ་ཤན). He then went into eight long years of solitary retreat at Bartsham. Since then, it was quite regular for him to go into shorter retreats every year.

Lama Kunzang ’s most productive and prolific period as a scribe, writer and editor was from 1976 to 1986 while he was with Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdrel Yeshey Dorji in Kathmandu in Nepal and Kalimgpong in India. As the chief scribe and editor during that period he received many empowerments, transmissions and instructions not only on Dudjom Tersar but on numerous other earlier lineages such as Peling, Jigling, Longchen Nyingthig, and complete cycles of Ngajur Kama. He worked fruitfully on various projects of writing, editing and anthologies under the close and edifying tutelage and guidance of Dudjom Rinpoche. These monumental writing projects, in which Lama Kunzang was involved, included collected works of the former Dudjom, Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904) in 27 volumes, collected works or Kabum of Dudjom Rinpoche himself (1904-1987) in 25 volumes, and canonical collections of Ngajur Nyingma (The Early Lineage of Transmitted Precepts) in 57 volumes and the collected works of Sera Khando in seven volumes. Lama Kunzang, assisted by few other calligraphers, wrote and edited these massive volumes; each of these volumes ran on average into eight hundred folio pages. Each volume was originally a manuscript, which was authored by Dudjom Rinpoche and calligraphed and edited by Lama Kunzang, for reprinting and distribution throughout the Vajarayana world steeped in classical choskad. Some of the volumes of Dudjom Rinpoche’s own Kabum or Sungbum that we had the privilege to read, needless to say, reflects Dudjom Rimpoche’s mesmeric erudition and spell biding poetic exposition of all branches of Buddhist scholarship. So, it was not surprising that the copies of these texts ran out quickly. As original edition ran out, Lama Kunzang republished some of them later. The re-publication of the collected works of Dudjom Lingpa and Dudjom Rinpoche in computerised fonts were, for example, sponsored by Lama Kunzang between 2004 and 2006. In some of the collected works of Dudjom Rinpoche, the colophon at the end of each volume denotes that it was calligraphed (ཡི་གེ་པ), by Monpa hearkening to the classical name of Bhutan, Kunzang Wangdi. In fact, Dudjom Rinpoche had named him Kunzang Wangdi who was known until then as Nyingkhula.

Towards the later part of his life, Lama Kunzang was engaged in designing and supervision of several landmark religious structures envisioned by His Majesty the Fourth King and Their Majesties the Queens. In fulfillment of the vision of the Queen Mother, Gyalyum Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck, Lama Kunzang was responsible for the construction of Khamsum Yueley Namgyel Chorten in Punakha between 1992-1999.  Between 1997-2001, Lama Kunzang was charged with the restoration of Yongla Goenpa in Dungsam in accordance with the revered-wish of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. Yet the young boy who turned to Buddhist scholarship and practice in mid 1950s never lost touch with his community, and his roots in Bartsham.   Initiated and envisioned by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, Lama Kunzang led his community in Bartsham to construct the new, six-storied Chador Lhakhang in 2006. With the generous stipendiary support of Their Majesties the Fourth King and His Majesty for the Gomdra, he had enlarged the scope of earlier monastery and increased the number of gomchen. He had always hoped that future practitioners will have thus better opportunities of learning and liberation, which would facilitate happiness of all sentient beings.

Contributed by

 Bartsham Dorji Lopen Sonam Zangpo, 

Rinchen Wangdi and 

Dasho Karma Ura.