Everyday features on Culture in Bhutan its emerging street fashion, lifestyle just about anything that brings a smile to people from the Land of the Thunder Dragons BHUTAN.
There is no doubt that i love her striped kira held by the equally antique diamond shaped coma, but her spirit and child like glee captivated me the most. We laughed non-stop for 15 minutes just trying to get her pose right and in the end i ended up with a series of priceless expression that money cant buy :)
Just as the Greeks had the Iliad and the medieval Europeans had the legends of King Arthur, Tibetans had the Epic of King Gesar. The Epic of King Gesar is rooted from folklore and oral history passed down from Tibetan generations and its written origins can be traced back to 1716 when it was ordered to be translated from Tibetan by the Qing Emperor. The epic has been called the Orient’s Homeric Epic and is considered to be the longest literary work in the world. Amassing over 120 volumes and 20 million words in more than 1 million verses.
“The epic relates the heroic achievements of Gesar, the superhuman warrior ruler of the Kingdom of Ling, who waged war with the nearby Kingdom of Hor. Distinctly Tibetan in style, the epic appears to date from time of the second transmission of Buddhism to Tibet. Gesar is said to have lived without fear of his rather formidable enemies, subdued monsters, helped the poor and controlled the strong, and brought benefits to the common people”.
To Tibetans, and much of Central Asia, King Gesar is a hero. “He is said to have been born in the 11th century. During his childhood he spent his time as a shepherd and later married “Zhumao” and with her brother built an army of tens of thousands under 30 generals. After defeating their enemies, they established the State of Ling with Ozhu as its base. The Chinese acknowledge that Gesar fought in present-day Golog, Yushuo, Garze, Xinlong, Daofu, Seda, Luohuo, Aba and Qamdo. His generals were granted land in Baiyu, Dengke, Shiqu, Golog, Yushu and Qamdo”. In old age, Gesar of Ling decided to return home from Chamdo where he had been residing. Legend says that at Dengke, his horse was startled by a dog, and the king was thrown and died. ( courtesy Tibet Talk by Jigme Duntak )
In memory of the Great King Gesar on the 15th of July which was also the 15th day of the Tibetan calendar, The ling Gesar day or so i coined myself , my family ( Dad me and uncle) and our other Khamba neighbours went up to Yotongla pass which is an hour drive from Trongsa to hoist and hang our prayer flags. Accompanying us were two monks from the dzong and some fellow helpers to climb the trees.
We first lit a huge pile of coniferous leaves to create clouds of smoke that blended gently with the mist, It almost felt like we were invoking the spirit of Ling Gesar himself. The monks began chanting the rituals after blessing the prayers flags we set about climbing trees and hanging the prayer flags from one tree to another. I complained about my shoes being buried ankle deep in the marshy soil much to my dad's annoyance lol. The older lot started with nailing prayer flags on barren available prayer poles. I felt so invincible almost like Ling Gesar himself when I along with a fren carried a two storied in length huge prayer pole on our shoulder from one hill to another, making sure to be careful along the way so as not to snap the long pole with our movement .
Moments inside the wood amids the mossy coniferous forest much as I hate to admit i couldn't help feeling like Edward from the vampire series waiting for a Bella to to appear from behind the trees haha ( blame my over imaginative Saggitarian mind ).
We said our prayers and hoped the sailing flags would carry all our ills and bad luck away. The tedious task was followed by lunch in the misty drizzle which showed signs of turning into a full fledged rain. My dad and elders told stories of Tibet to the two native monks from Trongsa , at this very moment as we sit and eat , folks back in Tibet were dancing, horse racing in the meadows , singing and stories of merriment and courtship amongst the younger lot was a general trend. Sigh!! how my heart longed to be in Tibet for a moment in time to witness the Khamba Edwards and Bellas and more :)
Cheers to the months to come along!! Bad luck be gone.
PS : did not have the leisure to take many pics as the elders thought i was avoiding work LOL
The designated driver Aue Tshering ( my friends elder sister) made us hike some places where the road was steep because she wasn't used to the narrow road and was concerned for our safety :)
The narrow roads , seen here in the pic is slightly better some roads were really narrow, steep and in need of immediate repair
As soon as we arrive a beautiful temple greet us ... whoaa just amazing
My friends youngest niece gets the first hug from her grandmother who was patiently waiting our arrival
Some of the retreats folks take a break from their isolation and rituals and bask in the sun over looking the valley
The neighbors cat , notice the mis- match eye colour. The old lady who took care of it was really possessive of the kitten =(^_^)=
Beautiful Inspiring walls of the cottages especially the second wall nice pattern
The hide and seek playing lights insides the cottages very interesting
The balcony my friends mother sits during her afternoon meditation and the narrow stairs leading to her tiny room :)
I know there is something wise written below the mantras but the English translation confused me , If someone could leave the right translation in the comment box, Thanks!
Shrine at my friend's mothers little room , apparently she explained that all the Rimpoches on display were the Tsa-wa-lama ( root Gurus )of her Late husband, brother and other important family members
The beautiful inspiring frescoes on the Temple walls it is said to be 250yrs old. These paintings were outside the shrines in the hallways with due respect to the Temple no pictures of the shrines or the paintings inside were taken :) we are NOT allowed anyways.
Beautiful mud walled and wood country cottages like these bring me so much JOY, Its such a relief from the ugly concrete urban houses with loud colors
Places of other retreat people also her neighbors :)
A young monk takes his lessons outside in the Temple lawn along with his other fellow monks
Bidding farewell the one she is hugging who is leaving for further studies to India and is apparently her grandmothers favorite. Grandmothers words to her " We are sending you far away not because we don't want you around, It is so that you can get the best education for your own future. Study hard, take care of yourself and make the family proud"
A month back my friend and I had promised his mother that we would visit her when she would go on a one month long isolated retreat to Tashigang (a retreat center up the hill 3 hrs by foot above Hongtsho, Thimphu ). We set out in my friend's sisters car with her ( Aue Tshering) behind the steering along with his three nieces Selsi , Gelek and Kunzang Pc.
We avoided the 3 hrs trek up to the retreat center ( I dont know if center is the right word ) for we had children with us but the road up hill was no smooth ride either, It was a newly built road with loose soil and falling debris at some places and to make matters even worse for the driver who wasn't used to the narrow road it was very steep, For the safety of the children we hiked at some steep places.
On reaching our destination we were greeted by our host for the day with a warm hug. We had to further hike uphill to her place with butter lamp oil packages, incense some food and rations that we had had carried for her. We arrived at a little cottage that belonged to my friends family and it was being used by two other people who were on a similar isolated retreat. The cottage had a little garden a small veranda overlooking my friends mother's room where she sat during afternoons and meditated. I instantly fell in love with the place I could live here for ever.
We had a light lunch of mushroom datsi (cheese) , dal, soyabean and bowl full of rice mixed with fresh butter ^^ my friends mother had prepared that with love. Lunch was followed by visit to her neighbors living in similar old quaint cottages and visit to the shrines of two of the temple that was available. We said our individual prayers and soaked in the places as much as we could for we never know this just might be the first and last time some of us would be here given our busy lifestyles. A whisper in the wind and prayer on my lips I hope to visit this place one day and hopefully its pristine untouched beauty and simple cottages would not give way to ugly concrete buildings and litters of trekkers.
If you are serious about taking the spiritual path, I think there is no better way to start than with a retreat. On retreat you can find a greater depth and intensity of spiritual practice than you are likely to have experienced before. You will experience facets of reality, and of yourself, that may surprise you. Some of the people higher up in the hill were in retreat for three years and we were requested to not make noise or cross the fence of the longer duration retreat practitioners.
Loneliness brings a sense of compassion automatically. You can't have compassion unless you have egolessness and the sense of precision at the same time. The sense of egolessness, obviously, comes with loneliness. And the sense of precision is seeing the wretchedness and at the same time seeing through oneself, so that everything's be...en examined and looked at. That becomes compassion. That's unconditional love, unconditional loneliness. Even after you reached that point, the loneliness principle goes on. But then you are not lonely anymore; it becomes aloneness as opposed to loneliness, which brings a sense of space. From "Loneliness," page 141 in THE PATH IS THE GOAL.
A lot of things haven't been answered in life -- and we are still searching for the questions. That questioning is buddha nature. It is a state of potential. The more dissatisfaction, questions and doubts there are, the healthier it is, for we are no longer sucked into ego-oriented situations but we are constantly woken up. Glimpses of Mahayana,
I am not a very ritualistic person so the idea of a retreat in isolation best suited the spiritualist in me. It was truly a day well spent :) For all those people who assume i maybe shallow or selfish just because i have a fashion school background I would like them to know that I may not have memorized my sutras and prayers but I sincerely do have a good heart. I prefer my actions do the talking.
On a lighter note , the SONG we were listening to throughout the journey a track from the Japanese drama " One liter of Tears " Thank u Kunzang Pc for transferring it to my cellphone I am listening to it as i edit the blog :) and I shall listen to it on my trip to my hometown the day after tomorrow :)
Going home to Trongsa on the 14th of July for few days, just the though of it brings JOY and childhood memories. Back to a familiar place that i was raised in the sleepy lil Trongsa town.Being the youngest in the family does help, I always get a warm welcome and lots of hugs ^^.
Home is where the heart is and mine at the end of the day belongs to Trongsa Town overlooking the majestic Dzong. Eating dinners together, talking to your neighbors through the window , the simple things in life is something i miss in Thimphu.The lack of creative outlet in Thimphu is quite stressful for a person like me. I would rather be a vegetable in a sleepy little town such as mine than be confused in a city ( cant i call it that ) like Thimphu.
I can endure the 8hrs journey over two mountain passes the Dochula and Pelela, pass meadows and valleys, wave at country kids, follow the rivers as my i-pod play my favorite Jack Johnsons and Chris Daughtry. Last but not the least i cant wait to meet my parents and sleep in my very own bedroom surrounded by old stuffs that once belong to me. I wanna be home like NOW.
PS : someone plz remind me to take my sketch book and water colors and my camera ><
Eversince i was a child i was drawn to radio static sound, always felt like someone faraway was trying to connect to me , reach-out for me. As years went by i now use radio static sound to lull me to bed its the nostalgia and the mystery that can keep me thinking for hours.
I recently borrowed my dad's radio not so that i could listen to FM but because i could listen to my long lost static fren. :) Maybe its the ET phenomenon of my generation, oh how i overdosed on that movie back during the VCR days as a kid sigh. I now am lying on my bed and static on my radio is buzzing sending me to a faraway land, oh sweet childhood I miss you :(
A sketch for the fans on Bhutan Street Fashion page on Facebook. Mashed up all the themes that was recommended to me they were totally random but i kinda like them ( Monsoon, Drowning, raincoat, polka) Oh!! so totally mixed matched.
I have always been fascinated by monk robes, headgear and drapes. Every year when we have our annual puja at home and while i sit on the floor at the alter chanting my prayers facing the monks I am intrigued by their robes, the shirt they wear and the colour maroon has always been enigmatic for me.
The negative impacts of Facebook , I would rather close my personal profile now before anything bad happens due to assumptions and presumptions arising amongst suspicious human minds.
I know my frens and family abroad still dont trust me but then I am working hard, I want to enjoy the real world .
When I'm hanging out with my friends i feel so detached coz I am constantly on my phone chatting with frens who are not nearby therefore detaching from the present moment.
I get frustrated when my dad wants more attention and my focus is on Facebook.
I feel like a voyeur most of the time, scanning the News Feed. Am I that bored that I have to see what everyone else is doing?
I receive messages and invites from people from my past who haven't changed at all and are alarmed at how i have changed and moved on with my life. They burn my energy being stuck to the past and want me to be the former face in the crowd me.The only change i see in them is a baby on their lap God bless your marital life (Honestly).
As tired as I get in the evenings, I still have enough energy to check Facebook, but not enough to write a blog post or read all the books I’ve been meaning to catch up on. What is more important?
I’ve resolved to start removing things in my life that are taking time away from my time.
The stupid Youtube video's that i am obligated to watch on facebook, had it been a college lecture i would have got a PhD by now in some scholarly field.
In the end I have fooled no one but myself in the false belief that people are interested in my life, in reality its a big NO, it just eats you inch by inch till you have nothing more to give.
Its amazing how the whole town knows what you are doing when you have no clue yourself and facebook only helps in the spread of these gossips arising due to assumptions and mis communications.
I will still have to be on Facebook for a portion of each day as I manage the page Bhutan Street Fashion popularly known as BSF. But that is small sacrifice for the overwhelming response and love shown by the page's fans :)
I can hear you asking: “So why can’t you make your personal Facebook profile part of your page?” I could. I tried. But I feel like I’m failing in that regard because of the other temptations that Facebook provides. I don’t need it. I don’t want it any longer.
Last but not the least i should be looking for a new job or making concrete plans about my future rather then obsessing about what pics to put on my facebook album lol. Lemme start with i must invest in a land, save for a vacation, move to a new place .... etc etc so you see my personal profile on facebook is the last in my priority list.
If people genuinely want to be in touch they will somehow, text me i love my message ring tone (^_^). Mark Zuckerberg shouldn't hate me i still have the page.
Those are the reasons why I’m leaving Facebook for this month.
PS : next on my list SMOKING ..... I must , can n WILL quit it.
PPS : I have toned down my excessive partying ways , pat on my back :P
PPS : I must start writing my children's book story and start on the illustrations ASAP
PPPS : I had forgotten i was a member of the national library n i haven't borrowed a book in ages :(
the 11th century. During his childhood he spent his time as a shepherd and later married “Zhumao” and with her brother built an army of tens of thousands under 30 generals. After defeating their enemies, they established the State of Ling with Ozhu as its base. The Chinese acknowledge that Gesar fought in present-day Golog, Yushuo, Garze, Xinlong, Daofu, Seda, Luohuo, Aba and Qamdo. His generals were granted land in Baiyu, Dengke, Shiqu, Golog, Yushu and Qamdo”.
