The K2 story
K2. It started big. It began with a dream. We called it City Bytes then, when it first saw the light of day. Our favoured child of destiny grew with time. It was indeed gratifying to witness this our...
View ArticlePrayer Rosary
Rosaries for prayers are a very common item of religious artefacts in Bhutan and Bhutanese people profusely use rosaries to say prayers and recite mantras. Known as chyem (ཕྱེངམ་) in Dzongkha and...
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Respect conventional truth, but don’t be bound by it
Lam, a friend gave me a wooden statue of the Buddha from Laos. I kept it on a shelf in my living room. It is not been consecrated and so I see it as an ornament, not a religious item. However, my...
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Children need parents, not dollars
I am a 30 year mother with two children (one 8 and one 6). I don’t have any real problems at home, but I feel bored with daily chores and I am fed up with my office job, and so want to go overseas...
View ArticleGawa – Appreciative Joy
Gawa (དགའ་བ་) or appreciative joy is the third of the four immeasurable thoughts, tshemed bzhi (ཚད་མེད་བཞི་). Although the term gawa or joy generally denotes the experience of happiness, in the context...
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Kunzang Khorlo Graph
Kunzang Khorlo (ཀུན་བཟང་འཁོར་ལོ་), which literally means the Wheel of Complete Good, is a common poetic graph found on the walls of temple entrances in Bhutan and the Buddhist Himalayas. The graph...
View ArticleTshechu – Planting the seeds of enlightenment
Lam, it will soon be the time of Thimphu Tshechu. I have been attending since I was a child, but I don’t think I really understand the meaning of the cham dances. Also, my mother insists that we can...
View ArticleTrhuebab
The Trhuebab (ཁྲུས་བབ་) festival is an important cultural event in Bhutan, observed mainly in the eastern districts. It literally means the descent (བབ་) of blessed water (ཁྲུས་) and refers to the...
View ArticleDiscipline – an antidote to sadness
I am a guy in my mid-twenties. I have a close family, and money is not a problem, but I feel depressed most of the time. I have tried to cheer myself up by going out with friends, but it doesn’t help....
View ArticleContemplating the Four Noble Truths
Lam, I’ll be travelling to Bodh Gaya and Sarnath in November, and I am interested to know more about the Buddha’s first teaching – the Four Noble Truths. How should I contemplate them at the sacred...
View ArticleZhanag Black Hat Dance
The Zhanag (ཞྭ་ནག་) or Black Hat dance is one of the most popular sacred cham dances without mask seen in Bhutan and other parts of the Buddhist Himalayas. Named after the black hats which the dancers...
View ArticleOur endeavours are no more secure than sand castles on a beach
I am a 26 year old girl, who lives alone. My parents died when I was young, and my aunt and uncle placed in boarding school. I am grateful to my aunt and uncle, but I don’t have strong emotional...
View ArticleRespect and trust are the best means to protect a relationship
I’m a 24 year old woman, who is planning to get married next year. I have known my partner for nine months and I trust him. However, many of my friends have been really hurt when they discovered that...
View ArticleJangchubsem Thought of Awakening
Jangchubsem (བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་) or Bodhicitta in Sanskrit is the thought of enlightenment or awakening. It is a desire to take all sentient beings, leaving no one behind, to the ultimate state of...
View ArticleDadar Arrow Scarf
Bhutanese homes usually have a shrine room in which a common artefact one finds is an arrow with scarves of five colours attached to it called the dadar (མདའ་དར་). The ceremonial arrow is used for the...
View ArticleBe aware of the situations that cause mood swings
I am easily affected by others’ words and this makes me very moody. Even a negative comment about something I posted on Facebook can put me in a bad mood for days. On the other hand, I’m really happy...
View ArticleLung Authorisation and Transmission
The culture of giving lung (ལུང་) or authorisation and oral transmission is very popular in Bhutan and the Himalayas. A religious teacher would often read out the scriptures for months in order to pass...
View ArticleGenuine wisdom destroys all prejudices
My brother is a transgender, but I am a devoted Buddhist and so I don’t feel comfortable with these things. Is it a sin to act like this? I feel embarrassed to be around him. How should I treat my...
View ArticleJangchubsem Thought of Awakening
Jangchubsem (བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་) or Bodhicitta in Sanskrit is the thought of enlightenment or awakening. It is a desire to take all sentient beings, leaving no one behind, to the ultimate state of...
View ArticlePrepare your mind for change rather than resisting change
After I graduate college, I want to travel and then look for a place where I can develop life skills. After that I hope to join a CSO, either in Bhutan or overseas. However, my parents are really...
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