Coronation Day of 5th Druk Gyalpo

Coronation Day-The Public Holiday

Source: Coronation of the king of Bhutan-2008

Annually, Bhutan celebrates the Coronation Day of Druk Gyalpo. Since the day was marked as a public holiday, it's considers as one of the major holidays in Bhutan. The fourth Druk Gyalpo's Coronation Day was celebrated on every June 2nd before his abdication of golden throne in 2006.  In memory, people can still remember his glorious reigned and the time spent together. The Coronation Day of fifth Druk Gyalpo falls on November 1st since on 6th of November 2008, His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk was crowned as the fifth king of Bhutan in a sacred and intimate ceremony in the Serthri Namgay Khangzang (the Supreme Golden Throne Room) in the Tashichhodzong. His Majesty the fourth king transferred the golden throne to his son in the mandate of practice and experience of ruling the nation with immense of dedication. During the day people found new radiance and with profuse expectation, offered prayers and Tashi Khadhars to their king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk. 

In the last 7 years, the dreams and aspirations of the people and the vision of fourth Druk Gyalpo have been fulfilled beyond all expectations after His Majesty became the fifth king. Through his wise and selfless leadership and the sacrifices and hard work has created a unique and special nation – a jewel of the earth. Today, we refer him as a true people's monarch of our time.

This year on his Coronation Day, I too join with the whole nation celebrating the day by reciting humble prayers and offering butter lamps for the safety of His Majesty's good health and long life. In our small way in the College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan, Lobesa the trainees and staffs joined together by making their sincerest prayers to His Majesty. After, as a tribute various songs and dances were performed on the courtyard closing the day with Trashi Laybey. On this occasion, we heartily wish that the people & nation continue to bask in the wisdom and magnanimity of His Majesty for all the times to come. May Dragon country protect by the guardian deities under your glorious reign where prosperity, happiness and peace flourish in the Kingdom ever.
Happy Coronation Day and Trashi Delak!  

The Death-Impermanence of Life

The Death shall come and it's for certain

 Some where in the ephemeral garden of hollow Samsara
There shines a bounty of beautiful flowers to the full bloom
Everyone was attracted by its succulent & aromatic figure 
But how long can it flower and ornament the garden?

The fear of death is worst than death!

   The fragility of its beauty nods in disagreement;
   The impermanence, shining in the glory of eternal life
   Involuntary when autumn comes it'll wither and get rotten.
   Human life too has a season that is short and inevitable
   Where the wavering of happiness and sadness is variable
   Definitely these has no meaning and are essence- less 
   That is not going to last forever in the circle of life
   Where the death shall come and it is for certain!

  For the death to come, it has no specific time and space
  It delivers no message, shows no ominous signs;
  Suddenly it can come to anyone not in a desire place
  Not by the age as young and old;
  It takes randomly and shall come to anyone.
  In which one has to leave everything behind
  Your charming lover, beautiful house and a car
  After-all; all will turn dust and disappear
  Death is inevitable-nothing won and lost-all is Impermanence.
  
  But how can one should prepare to die?
  Ignorance, lust, conceit, self deception and false hopes
  Are the root causes of human suffering and pain
  Desire gives birth to sorrow; cause demerits in action.
  Do everything positively and stop hurting others
  As nothing can be so true, all are bound to die  
  And rebirth are victory of ones deed; all are Impermanence!

                  ~In the memory of my late step mother who was passed away in throat cancer in 2010. Leaving all her children small before they can do stand by their own feet!

Message of Felicitation to the Drukgyal Zhipa

Prayer to my Beloved King in his 60th Birth Anniversary
As prophesied by Ugyen Guru Rinpoche-
'the great precious master' in his famous namthar,
With never ending blessing from the numerous great lama
And by our collective merits of good fortune together;
Fate gave to the birth of His Majesty- the fourth king
From the proverbial land of hidden treasures-
Where the precious jewel revealed and sparkled 
Spread the destiny of domain across the world.

Picture courtesy: www.google.com 

You came in as the world's youngest monarch
Ruled the nation in the spirit of Buddha;
Illuminated & showering us the way in the darkness
Protects every one of us and showered love & affection.
You have gave us the immense happiness and joy
Bought us to the horizon where peace is painted 
Under your benevolent and wisdom leadership;
Your reputed image was captured by the world
As a legendary and enigmatic inspirational monarch
We saw a remarkable chapter was open in the history;
Your Majesty-you are the true monarch in the heart of people! 


On this auspicious occasion of the 60th Birth Anniversary of
Your Majesty 4th Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wanchuck;
Its my great honour and privilege to take an opportunity 
Wishing from the depth of my heart with profuse prayers
I join with the nation in expressing my sincerest felicitations;
May Your Majesty have a good health and long life,
That inspires thousand of generations with love & compassion.
May the Drukyul have unprecedented peace & prosperity throughout 
Under the glorious and compassionate reign of Your Majesty 
Happy 60th Birth Anniversary and long live Your Majesty!

"The only message I have to convey to you, my people, is that if everyone of us consider ourselves Bhutanese, and think and act as one, and if we have faith in Triple Gem, our glorious kingdom of Bhutan will grow from strength to strength and achieve prosperity, peace and happiness". said by His Majesty on June 2, 1974 during the coronation ceremony in Changlingmithang.

Happy Blessed Rainy Day

Thruebab- The Bhutanese Social Holiday

The Blessed Rainy Day literally means the flow of blessed cleansing water. In layman's term it is called 'thruebab'-the holy precipitation shower from heavenly Buddha Nangpar Nangzoed on the earth. It falls on 15th day of 8th Month in the Buddhist Calendar. This year, Bhutanese are going to celebrate thrue on 22nd September. That is exactly on 9th day of 8th month of Wood Female Sheep Year, 2015. On this day, people keep aside their daily bustle of activities and come together to celebrate. In a year it is one of the social occasions for the Bhutanese to take a day leave. Similarly, the people from Ladakh in India, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and some parts of China observed the day in their own way.

It is believed that during the Blessed Rainy Day, the whole water bodies on the earth turns into a holy water that acquired elixir like potency to cleanse sentient beings of all negatives and misdeeds of the past bad karma. As soon as the morning comes, people takes bath to purify all their defilements and demerits either from the direct tap water or bucketful of stored water.

I could vividly remember when I was a boy, a night before 'thruebab' my mother used to tell us to keep a bucket with some varieties of flowers outside the house. At night the blessed rain showers and bucket will be full of holy and purified water. Early in the morning she will make us to wash our face and take bath. We also offered the collected holy water as water offering to the god in the altar with the burning incense. My mother has a strong belief that the holy and purified water on 'thruebab' will erase the negative obstacles of us and pick up faster while in learning.

In our context, 'thrue' is a day marking the end of the monsoon season. It marks the end of the farming season and the beginning of the harvest season. As the 'thrue' is observed as a national holiday; the Government offices, Schools and Institutions, and Private Organisations remain closed for the day. Families, relatives and friends from the far distance and nearby gather together to have foods and drinks. Traditionally, families gather together to celebrate the day together since the permanence of their lives is not sure. Together they pray and make a wish as they will meet again later. 

After the foods and drinks the day was celebrated with the various traditional games like archery, khuru, and doegor. The team are formed from different villages and match are conducted where it promotes the preservation of culture and tradition which is one of the pillars of Gross National Happiness. But it was seen as taken blase by some people because of their work load pressure. Our younger one will forget soon and coming generation will never know as such occasion was there before,in turn this may lose our culture and the identity. 
On this very important occasion let me take a privilege to wish you all my dear parents, relatives and friends a "Happy Blessed Rainy Day"! 

Happy Blessed Rainy Day

Thruebab- The Bhutanese Social Holiday

The Blessed Rainy Day literally means the flow of blessed cleansing water. In layman's term it is called 'thruebab'-the holy precipitation shower from heavenly Buddha Nangpar Nangzoed on the earth. It falls on 15th day of 8th Month in the Buddhist Calendar. This year, Bhutanese are going to celebrate thrue on 22nd September. That is exactly on 9th day of 8th month of Wood Female Sheep Year, 2015. On this day, people keep aside their daily bustle of activities and come together to celebrate. In a year it is one of the social occasions for the Bhutanese to take a day leave. Similarly, the people from Ladakh in India, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and some parts of China observed the day in their own way.

It is believed that during the Blessed Rainy Day, the whole water bodies on the earth turns into a holy water that acquired elixir like potency to cleanse sentient beings of all negatives and misdeeds of the past bad karma. As soon as the morning comes, people takes bath to purify all their defilements and demerits either from the direct tap water or bucketful of stored water.

I could vividly remember when I was a boy, a night before 'thruebab' my mother used to tell us to keep a bucket with some varieties of flowers outside the house. At night the blessed rain showers and bucket will be full of holy and purified water. Early in the morning she will make us to wash our face and take bath. We also offered the collected holy water as water offering to the god in the altar with the burning incense. My mother has a strong belief that the holy and purified water on 'thruebab' will erase the negative obstacles of us and pick up faster while in learning.

In our context, 'thrue' is a day marking the end of the monsoon season. It marks the end of the farming season and the beginning of the harvest season. As the 'thrue' is observed as a national holiday; the Government offices, Schools and Institutions, and Private Organisations remain closed for the day. Families, relatives and friends from the far distance and nearby gather together to have foods and drinks. Traditionally, families gather together to celebrate the day together since the permanence of their lives is not sure. Together they pray and make a wish as they will meet again later. 

After the foods and drinks the day was celebrated with the various traditional games like archery, khuru, and doegor. The team are formed from different villages and match are conducted where it promotes the preservation of culture and tradition which is one of the pillars of Gross National Happiness. But it was seen as taken blase by some people because of their work load pressure. Our younger one will forget soon and coming generation will never know as such occasion was there before,in turn this may lose our culture and the identity. 
On this very important occasion let me take a privilege to wish you all my dear parents, relatives and friends a "Happy Blessed Rainy Day"! 

Bastard or Fatherless child?

Fatherless Child or Bastard- Are they not Bonafide Bhutanese Citizen?
I feel awkward to say bastard to a child who is brought-up by a single parent. It is an offensive and serious crime to say, when the child was born having his/her biological father and mother. How can one should say, a baby will born without a father? And they are called 'bastard' because they don't have a father. In our dialect 'Bastard' refers to as 'drang', and it's an abusive and humiliation to describe it. In literary, 'Bastard' is a old use to a person born of parents not married at the time of his/her birth. Instead, they are called illegitimate or fatherless child.

It is common where a single mother and a fatherless children in the village. When the mother could not identify the child's true biological father. And the father don't want to accept the truth and cannot take her as his wife thereby refusing to accept a child as his own blood. Such was a evil sin which makes a child to suffer and do not get warm love & care that cause morally disappointment in later age of a child.

Just a few weeks ago, I was dumbfounded when the young School going children humiliates one of his friends on their way to the School. A boy was shouted to a girl; "Poor bastard, you don't have a proper bag to put your books". It was raining, may be she was his classmate. She remained silent and shows her sign of assistant from him. As they headed off, I was asking to myself; Are they children of next door neighbour? Did his parents teach such conduct in that way? Because a girl was a fatherless child and look down. Usually people gullible and deceived a single woman in the village when the child was born without a father. It's a common to all and every time happening. Which creates social stigma and alienation in the society, giving more pressure of distress and exclusion to those innocent souls. 

The fatherless children are more jeopardize to get into danger. They may get into the drugs & alcohols out of disappointment, fighting & suicide, thief and robbery. Lack of financial supports may results a child to drop from the School, whereby he/she cannot pursue for a tertiary education. This a serious issues which requires urgent attention from the government side to care and support them. Because the fatherless children are also born as bonafide Bhutanese citizen. Why should these innocent souls left neglected and make to suffer?

Not very recently, I have witnessed a pitiful incident in one of the Schools. I was going to enroll my uncle's son during the admission day. A young and charming woman was also there with her six year old son, who was seated behind us silently and fully bowed her head down. When everyone was making full-swing. I didn't notice making her head up. In my discursive thought, I guessed she has some problem to discuss. I went to her side and asked in a low voice. 
I was astounded, when she says; "I could not registered into the census of my son, he's six years old now". I asked her, "why, what was happened to that?".
She turned almost red and said, "I have no marriage certificate, and couldn't registered of him into the census". She added, "His biological father refused to accept him as his son".
For the moment I was confounded by hearing that. And fortunately, the School finally approved his admission despite in needs of his documents. 

Such was a pitiable condition, it requires dire intervention from the relevant stakeholders of various spectrum. But the problem will remain as it is and may become the worst, if the matter is not take as seriously. When the concern authorities are not involve to care those innocent single woman in the village. How can they expect to file a court case and determine their child's biological father? Since settlement in the court takes a long time. How does a poor and single woman can face an accrual of huge expenses? 
In the village level, they have a Local government and Dungkhag court to take defence. And further Dzongkhag authorities to appeal. The authorize agencies must not expect a innocent souls to defence by them individually. They are backward not highly learned. They can't go and do DNA test which it incur a huge lump-sum of expenditure. For a rustic villagers like them, it's too expensive and huge amount where they can't afford it.

But the question is, why the siblings are call 'Bastard'? Are they not offspring of human? Do they have feelings and are not hurts when abused? Would he/she can be your friend?
"You may have both the parents now. And you are born and brought-up by them under a Kangaroo care. But how can you assure to escape from the death and live permanently with them"?

I prostrate to you-Jetshen Jampelyang

Jampelyang(Manjushri)- The Divine God of Wisdom

ཨོཾ་ཨཱ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷཱི།།

Jetshen Jampelyang-is the god of divine wisdom. He is known as one of the Rig-sum Goenpo-the three lineage holders of Buddhism (Jampelyang, Chhana Dorji and Chenregze). In layman term, he was also refers to as a genuine Buddha who transformed into the important and historical figure of Buddhism, and was a Bodhisattva who helped to preach doctrine to all the sentient being with the Buddha. As history says, he was supposed to have come from the China to Nepal where he split the mountains in the south creating the broad fertile valley of Nepal. 

Ever since my first day in the School Jetshen Jampelyang was my god of wisdom-where I used to pray to him everyday in the morning. Throughout my entire fifteen years of schooling was fully devoted to him, grabbing his holy wisdom and knowledge while in the process of learning. Today across the country in various Schools, students pray to him every morning before they can get into their daily lesson. Because learning simply do not take place with ones little effort, there are ignorance and defilement to ward off. As the Bodhisattva of wisdom, distraction and negative barriers are erase by the divine power whereby, students receives immense blessing of wisdom and knowledge. 

One may not have a prophecy to see him in a solid form but he is always with us in a various manifestations. His blessing are in the form of wisdom that one receives while in the process of learning. Even to this days, whenever I find the portrait or image displayed around of him. I would never turnover without reciting a sentence of prayer to him by folding my hands into one. As Jetshen Jampelyang is the guardian protector of students, I have a solemn devotion in acquest of an intellectual knowledge, retentive memory and a sharp mental perfection. I pray for you, the flaming sword you hold in your right hand to cuts off all my afflictive emotions- negativity, ignorance, arrogance and greed all the times to come. May you cut all difficulty or knotty problems of mine whenever I involve in the law of righteousness by your burning sword. The spiritual book that holds by your left hand on the blue Lotus, confer me immediately with the blessing of divine wisdom and knowledge that shine brighter ever. May you always be the lord of Dharma, and turn me to a son of Dharma lover. 

My Mother's Illusory Arranged Marriage

 -My 84 year old Grandma: Pema Lhaden's Narration

When my mother was in her mid twenties
Thee arranged her marriage with Dawa-
A son of Aum Pelden from a nearby village.
Indeed, She was not willing and reluctant to go
But, how can she refuse? My old grandma!
After all it was your instruction to do so.

They celebrated wedding in the traditional way
Soon after the wedding, she was taken there.
And that was a traditional system before where;
Bride have to leave to her bridegroom's dwelling.
Despite being guest, my mother was their bride then
There they lived together, and kinship was developed faster.

Tragically, time didn't allow to be together with her dear one
She felt in merely departure, losing of ones darling forever; 
Leaving her lonely in the cyclic existence, only with a wounded heart.
He went to serve as a soldier, leaving her charming darling behind
How can he disobey the order? It was a Royal decree- 
Which was a compulsory service to the government then.

She didn't know that she will face a misery-a hardship
There, in the absence of her pathetic Darling!
My faithful maternal was treated as slave and exploited;
Such was a heartbreak punishment, her aunt had imposed.
She has completely lost her fair appearance and shaped,
No mildly right was given to her and justice was not at all there. 

Fortunately, for a poor mother like mine,
She has her compassionate mom-My old grandma!
She was impatience when her daughter was mistreated,
She burn into fume and bristle, when their bride was harassed.
There, she promptly summoned back my helpless mother,
When captured in the thorny hand by those ghastly families.

I was born and brought up in the old hut of my grandma,
Her mothering effort for me are immense, with love and care.
Indeed, she was my first erudite guru back at the home;
She taught me the life skill and its practical knowledge,
How to respect the elders and cultivate bond with the buddies.
I could vividly remember her last wish once given to me;
Never forget to return gratitude to the ones parents,
And to serve with dedication to the country and people
I Vow to thee-My old Grandma! I'll fulfill your all wishes. 

                               Found in my old Diary: Written in grade XII, 2012

High hopes but Laid down!

I started my School days sincerely and regularly,
with lots of  industrious, expectations and hope.
Keeping aside numerous distractions and sacrificing a lots,
I worked tirelessly and timelessly to get a good career,
And to the goal of accomplishing my aim.

I had adapted the countless methods and strategies,
Never before any one has employed and it's unique.
Time is precious, and I had utilized every minute of it,
To the goal of striving an excellence in all, and
Yet it laid down, and remained under my knees!

Every time I remained late at night and woke up by an early,
I didn't bother my friends yelled out as a Nocturnal to me,
And Silverfish by my mentors, I keeps on doing my best.
I  had a setup goals, which was there for a long time ago,
Whence it gives me a strength to prepare for my best,
And there my hope remains high all the time and invariable.

 Though I'm not a loyal to all my teachers in the eyes of many,
But I paid respects and obey, listen to what they have spoken,
And acquired their teachings,which I took it as a Vast Expanse.
God! is always there for me and I prostrate the best I could, and
I felt I am Blessed and cared by the power of almighty God!
But where are all those luck has gone, and where is the favors in me,
Where is the rewards for my hard work, and why I'm left with suffering?

Now to whom I should question and to whom I should blame?
To my teachers, parents, friends or lover?
There is no success in me, and there is no luck with me.
I got only a small heart, and now it start to melt and lose hope,
For me this worldly and eternal realm of existence is found a big hollow,
Which I did not see hope and an inspiration, I am totally in lost. And
Now I must accept this as my karma, and I should go in line with the faith,
Karmic faith reveal what I have and take it into the ones own destination.


                                                               Composed in 2010, when I was in 10

 

My Dear Parents

         དྲིན་ཅན་ཕམ་གཉིས་ཁོ་ཐག་མ་ཆོད།།

རིན་ཆེན་གསེར་དང་འདྲ་བའི།།  བདག་གི་དྲིན་ཅན་ཕམ་གཉིས།།                            

གཡུས་བཟང་ཁྲ་མོའི་ནང་ལུ།།   སྐུ་ཁམས་བཟང་པོ་ཡོད་གམ།།                             

དྲིན་ཅན་ཡབ་ཡུམ་གཉིས་ཀུ།།   ཚེ་རབས་ཐོག་མའི་དུས་ནས།།                             

བུ་ཆུང་ཕངས་མར་ལེན་པ།།    འཛོམས་པ་ཚེ་སྔོན་འཕྲོ་མས།། 

                            

སྔ་མས་ཚོགས་བསགས་འབྲས་བུ།། དགེ་བ་ཕུན་སུམ་ཚོགས་པ།།                             

ཚེ་འདིར་ད་ལྟོའི་སྐྱེས་བ།།      ལན་ཅིག་འཛོམས་པ་དགའ་སོང་།།                           

བདག་ལ་གཅེས་པར་འཛིན་པ།།   སྙིང་ནས་ཐུགས་ཀྱི་བརྩེ་བ།།                              

བུ་ཆུང་ཉིན་མཚན་མེད་པར།།     བསྐྱངས་བ་བཀྲིན་ཆེ་སོང་།། 
                              

གཞོན་ནུ་ལོ་ན་སྦོམ་པ།།      ཡབ་ཡུམ་སྐུ་ཚེ་རྒསཔ་མས།།                              

ཕྱག་ཕྱིད་གང་དྲག་ཞུ་ནི།།     བུ་ཆུང་འགན་ཁུར་འབག་གེ།                             

དྲིན་གྱི་ལེགས་པར་སྐྱོངས་བས།།  བརྩེ་བས་དྲིན་ཅན་ཕམ་གཉིས།།                           

སྐུ་ལ་བསྙུང་གཞི་མེད་པར།།    སྐུ་ཚེ་བརྟེན་ལས་རིངས་བཅུག།                            

བློ་སེམས་བདེ་བར་མཆིས་བས།།  དཀོན་མཆོག་སྨོན་ལམ་བཏབ་གེ།

Fatherly wisdom to a loving son!

Gave Birth to a Son

My son! I had a dream when you are in your Mom's womb,
I closed my eyes to welcome you, there you cries and came as
Blessed by the God!, and the whole world cheers and marvel on you,
You gave me a strength, love and happiness to be a decent father.
Remember how much my heart runs and pumps blood,
Praying for both you and mom not to hurt alas!

Love you always my son!

I pray and looked in your eyes, there I saw  all my hopes
And dreams come alive in you, everything is perfect on you.
But the painful things is distance really matters in between,
I didn't have a time to be at your side and hold you in my arms,

But I promised I'll carry you in my heart and reminisce,
And I'll have proudest time to say others, you're my son,
I love you! more than you'll ever know, more now and for always!