Bhutan: Enlightenment thru sex, drugs, rock?

Drukpa Kunley (1455–1529), also known as Kunga Legpai Zangpo, Drukpa Kunleg (Tibetan འབྲུག་པ་ཀུན་ལེགས་, brug pa kun legs), and Kunga Legpa, the Madman of the Dragon Lineage (Tibetan འབྲུག་སྨྱོན་ཀུན་དགའ་ལེགས་པ་, 'brug smyon kun dga' legs pa), was a Tibetan Buddhist lama, missionary, and poet in the Drukpa Kagyu lineage of the [Himalayan Bon sorcery-influenced] Vajrayana Buddhist Mahamudra tradition [1].

• "Crazy wisdom," divine madness (yeshe cholba)?
• Crazy wisdom or just crazy? (dhamma musings)
• The Enlightenment Trap: Obsession, Madness and Death on Diamond Mountain by Scott Carney (Foxtopus Ink)

He was trained at Ralung Monastery under siddha Pema Lingpa. However, by the age of 25, he had returned his monastic [Vinaya] vows [2] to take a wife, whose name was Tsewang Dzom (tshe dbang 'dzom) [3]. He is often counted among the Nyönpa ("Mad Ones"). He is considered to have been a reincarnation of Saraha [4]. More

The Enlightenment Trap: Obsession, Madness and Death on Diamond Mountain

(Audiobook) Author Scott Carney has 4.3 out of 5 stars (with 137 reviews). The 2023 edition of The Enlightenment Trap includes two new chapters, photography, and updated total revision.

In 2012, 38-year-old Ian Thorson's search for spiritual transcendence ended in tragedy on a remote Arizona mountaintop. His wife, a woman anointed as a goddess by an eccentric Buddhist community, held him in her arms as he slowly died from dehydration and dysentery.

For Scott Carney, a journalist and anthropologist who lived in India for six years, Thorson's death was just the most recent iteration of an unspoken epidemic that connected intensive meditation and mental instability.

The Enlightenment Trap explores how Tibetan Buddhism in the West morphed from its roots in the Himalayan foothills into a fundamentally new American religion. For Thorson, the entry point into this new faith was Geshe Michael Roach, the supreme spiritual leader of Diamond Mountain University.

Carney unravels the cult-like practices of Diamond Mountain to illuminate the uniquely American tendency to mix and match Eastern religious traditions like LEGO pieces. The result is that for some, enlightenment is a synonym for almost god-like powers, and achieving it can become more important than life itself.

Aided by Thorson’s private papers and cutting-edge neurological research, the book reveals the profound impact of intensive meditation on the brain.

Carney exposes stories of miracles and black magic, sexualized rituals and tantric rites from former Diamond Mountain acolytes. The Enlightenment Trap is a gripping work of investigative journalism that reveals how the path to enlightenment can be riddled with danger.

Bhutan building Mindfulness City, eating

(60 Minutes)

• What is "mindfulness" (sati)?

Sati (Pali sati [1], Sanskrit स्मृति, smṛti), literally "memory" [2] or "retention" [3] [previously rendered "vigilance," "bare awareness," "wakefulness," "presence of mind," "presence," "to bear in mind"] is commonly translated as mindfulness, "to remember to observe" [4].

It is an essential part of Buddhist practice [occurring 14 times in the list of the 37 Requisites of Enlightenment].

It has the related meanings of calling to mind the wholesome Teachings (Dhamma) such as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthanas), the Five Faculties, the Five Powers, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the attainment of insight [5].

What is there to mindfully eat?

(South China Morning Post) What people eat in Bhutan? Cheese

Moreover, it means observing and remaining aware of mental and physical phenomena (dhammas), which is the actual practice of maintaining lucid heightened-awareness of these dhammas [6].

The bodily and mental phenomena one practices to remain aware/mindful of are these processes/"things." This is done in order to counter the arising of unwholesome states, the removal of unwholesome states [7][8], to develop wholesome states, and to sustain wholesome states to attainment of insight (vipassana).

It is the first factor of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. "Right" or "correct" mindfulness (Pali sammā-sati, Sanskrit samyak-smṛti) is the seventh factor (limb or element) of the Noble Eightfold Path.

Definition

The Buddhist term translated into English as "mindfulness," "to remember to observe" [4], "to remember to remain observant," originates in the Pali term sati and in its Sanskrit counterpart smṛti.

According to Robert Sharf, the meaning of these terms has been the topic of extensive debate and discussion [8].

• Ven. Analayo strives for an academic definition from the ancient texts.

Smṛti originally meant "to remember," "to recollect," "to bear in mind," as in the Vedic tradition of remembering [memorizing slokas of] sacred texts.

The Pali term sati also means "to remember" the phenomena being observed in Sattipatthana, that is literally "the fourfold setting up of mindfulness," as well more generally remember the Teachings of Tipitaka ("Three Baskets" or collections of the) texts.

In the "Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness" (Satipațțhāna Sutta), the term sati means "to maintain awareness of reality," where sense-perceptions are understood to be illusory and misleading so that the true nature of phenomena can be directly seen [8] and penetrated.

• [What is their true nature? It is tilakkhana, marked by the Three Universal Characteristics of Existence, which are impermanent, disappointing, and impersonal, a lakkhana being a "mark" or "characteristic" of all phenomena, all dhammas, all "things."]

Sharf refers to the Questions of King Milinda (Milindapanha), King Menander I, which explains that the arising of sati calls to mind the wholesome phenomena (dhammas) such as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness...and the attainment of insight [5]. More

• 60 Minutes, Jan. 2025; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wikipedia Wiki edit

Journey w/ Robert Thurman in Bhutan (film)

Journey with Robert Thurman; Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tiger’s Nest Travel Guide - Epic Buddhist Monastery in Bhutan (magnificentworld.com)

Journey with Robert Thurman in Bhutan

(Journey with Robert Thurman) Journey with Robert Thurman in Bhutan: Buddhist Teachings and Meditations in the Land of the Thunder Dragon takes viewers on an inner and outer journey into the heart of the last remaining Himalayan Buddhist kingdom as it transitions into the world’s newest democracy.

Largest Buddha in Bhutan

Explore Vajrayana Buddhist Bhutan's sacred sites and temples, where Professor Thurman offers Buddhist teachings and meditations that illuminate central principles of Buddhism, and why it's essential for achieving Bhutan's goals of Gross National Happiness (GNH instead of GDP, "Gross Domestic Product").

To purchase the film, visit journeywithrobertthurman.com. Music SONG: "Flowering Seed." ARTIST: Dopekick. ALBUM: Something a Little Different.

Discovering Bhutan's natural treasure (video)

White Gold: Discovering Bhutan's natural treasure

(ABC News, 4/26/18) ABC News' Bob Woodruff travels to the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom, Bhutan, a carbon-negative nation battling climate change along its rapid flowing rivers. More important than money is the country's gross domestic happiness.

SUBSCRIBE to ABC NEWS: https://www.youtube.com/ABCNews/ Watch More on http://abcnews.go.com/ LIKE ABC News on FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/abcnews FOLLOW ABC News on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/abc GOOD MORNING AMERICA'S HOMEPAGE: https://gma.yahoo.com/

Buddhist Bhutan is carbon negative (TED)

This country isn't just carbon neutral — it's carbon negative | PM Tshering Tobgay

(TED , April 1, 2016) High in the Himalayas, on the border between China and India, lies the last Himalayan kingdom, now the democracy of Bhutan, which has pledged to remain carbon neutral for all time. In this illuminating talk, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay shares his country's mission to put happiness before economic growth and set a world standard for environmental preservation.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment, and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate Twitter.com/tednews, Facebook.com/TED

Himalayas: Visit to Buddhist Bhutan (video)

Yes Theory, Dec 1, 2019; Amber Larson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Traveling to the Happiest Country in the World

(Seekdiscomfort.com) What country is the happiest in the world? Well, after hearing from many traveler friends that it might be the last Buddhist Himalayan kingdom in the world, Bhutan, I had to go see it for myself. I am personally on a mission to understand the basic parameters of joy and happiness, so going on a trip like this is a dream come true. Where should we travel to next? Thank you to Bhutan Peaceful Tours for hosting. Want to join the Yes Fam Facebook group, which is 100,000+ of our most engaged and badass community members? Apply.

Fairytale wedding in Buddhist Bhutan (video)

NDTV, Nov. 6, 2011; Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

A fairytale wedding in Bhutan

Watch South Asia's version of the William and Kate wedding as the beloved monarch of the last Buddhist Himalayan kingdom in the world (Bhutan), King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, marries his bride, Jetsun Pema (not to be mistaken with the Dalai Lama's little sister, the elderly activist, author, and Central Tibetan Administration Cabinet Member Ama Jetsun Pema) in an ancient Buddhist ceremony at the country's most sacred monastery fortress.

Gangteng Monastery, Bhutan, Himalayas

Tapas Ghosh (tapasphotography/flickr.com); Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Gangtey Monastery

The Dalai Lama, Thurman, TibetHouse.us

Perched on a small hill that rises from the valley floor, Gangteng Monastery (aka Gangtey Gonpa) is the only Nyingmapa monastery on the western side of Bhutan’s Black Mountain’s Phobjikha Valley.

View of Phobjikha Valley, aka Gangtey Valley, Bhutan, at  sunset (Milon/Wiki)

 .

Padmasambhava Rinpoche (Wiki)

It is also the biggest Nyingmapa monastery in all of Buddhist Bhutan. The monastery is surrounded by a large village inhabited mainly by families of the 140 gomchens who take care of the monastery.

Gangteng was founded by Pema Trinley, the grandson of Pema Lingpa, the famous Nyingmapa sage (bodhisattva) of Bhutan.

In 1613, Pema Trinley established the monastery and became the first Gangteng Tulku (recognized incarnation of a prominent lama). The religious traditions of Pema Lingpa are still taught here.

The second tulku, Tenzin Legpa Dondrup (1645-1726), enhanced the size of Gangteng while keeping up good relations with the Drukpas and rebuilt the monastery in the form of a dzong ("fortress"). More

Trip to Nepal: Living on $1 a day (video)

Ashley Wells (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly; The Ticket to Travel; Adept Photography (Otuathail)

Noble friendship -- two Buddhist novices (trainee monks) live by the Ten Precepts.

(Gabriel Traveler) How much do things cost traveling around the capital of Kathmandu, Nepal?

OK, a friendly sadhu signals to Westerner that all is well (Adept Photography)

• PHOTOS (Adept Photography): NEPAL

Hi...gh. Sadhu waves. Too much ganja saps the vital life force (Adept Photography).

All trips begin with the Backpacker's Bible: Lonely Planet Travel Guides

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• Is cloning real? Donald Marshall, Paranormal, 2016
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• VIDEO: LeFlore County Bigfoot Massacre

Tsechu Mask Dance Festival, Bhutan (video)

Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly; EBSLanguage (EBS 외국어 학습); Tapas Photography

(Part 4) "In Search of a Celestial Kingdom," onward to Bhutan's capital Thimphu for a Tsechu ("Day Ten"), the kingdom’s grand festival (영어로 하는 세계테마기행, Themes Around the World).

Indigenous Himalayan shamanic influences color Teschu masked dance festivals (TP).

.

Bhutan's famed Tiger's Nest monastery (AW)

High in the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom -- now a democracy after the final king stepped down to modernize the country rich in unspoiled resources but more interested in Gross Domestic Happiness than Gross Domestic Product -- there is an ancient festival underway.

Hindu sadhu far below on the Ganges (TP)

Bhutan's Vajrayana Buddhism, which blends indigenous shamanism (Bon) and Tibetan/Chinese Mahayana universalism, devotees take part in a colorful annual display.

Tsechu is a masked dance festival that lasts for several days and celebrates the life of Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism to Bhutan.

Tsechu: "Day Ten"

Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit

Dance of the Black Hats (Stephen Shephard)

Tsechu (ཚེས་བཅུ།), literally "Day Ten," is an annual Bhutanese religious festival held in each district or dzongkhag of Bhutan on the tenth day of a month of the lunar Tibetan calendar, the month depending on the place.

Tsechus are religious festivals of the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism (Bhutanese Vajrayana). They are large social gatherings that perform the function of social bonding among people from remote and very spread out villages.

Buddhist India, Arunchal Pradesh (TP)

Large markets congregate at fair locations, leading to brisk commerce (Dancing on the Demon's Back: the Dramnyen Dance and Song of Bhutan, Elaine Dobson, John Blacking Symposium: Music Culture and Society, Callaway Centre, Univ. of Western Australia, July 2003). The Thimphu and Paro tsechus are among the largest in terms of participation and audience. More

Experience the Magic: Bhutan (video)

Naropa.edu/Bhutan; Wisdom Quarterly

(Naropa.edu) In 2013, Naropa and the Royal University of Bhutan signed an agreement for Naropa to be the gateway university in North America to offer a semester-long study abroad program for undergraduates. Exchange students will be fully immersed in Bhutanese culture.

Naropa Study Abroad in Bhutan

Bhutanese courtyard, Bhutan (naropa.edu)

The Naropa University Bhutan Study Abroad Program is a unique opportunity for international studies at the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB), nestled just beneath Tibet and to the east of Nepal, high in the Himalayas.

 

In this student travel program, open to all students currently enrolled at a U.S. university, participans will spend a semester at RUB, fully immersed in Bhutanese culture, experiencing the arts, [Buddhist/Bon] spirituality, sustainable practices, mythology, education, happiness, and extraordinary landscapes similar to those in Nepal and Tibet.

Asia has the world's biggest mountains in Pakistan (K2), Nepal (Mt. Everest)

   

Chortens, small stupas or reliquaries

The vibrant union of this ancient Himalayan culture with Bhutan's modern global leadership in Gross National Happiness [counterpart to U.S. corporate capitalist "Gross National Product"] provides a fertile ground for international studies, and inspires creative research.

 

As one engages in cross-cultural explorations and encounter diverse views, one will be introduced to effective tools for intercultural work, including environmental studies, contemplative practices, deep listening, and holding complex realities. Through international studies and student travel experience, one will gain a sense of leadership, finding a confident voice and understanding of one's role as a global citizen.

 

As a RUB student, dress in traditional Bhutanese clothing, live with Bhutanese students in campus dorms, eat in the cafeteria, and more, immersed in a culture based on happiness and anchored in Buddhist traditions that originated in Tibetan or Vajrayana Buddhism. 

 

When in Bhutan, see the Giant Buddha (ST)

There are three required Naropa University courses and a choice of two RUB courses, for a total of 15 credits per semester. For Naropa students, these credits will apply toward one's major or electives.

Students from other U.S. universities should consult with their academic adviser to see how these credits will apply.

English is the language of instruction in most Tibetan and Bhutanese schools and universities. Following a three-week orientation training with Naropa faculty, participants will spend the semester in residence at a selected RUB campus taking international studies courses and completing NU courses, including a research project. Read "Circling Back to the Source" in the spring issue of Naropa Magazine as an example.

2015 Blog

Be sure to check out Anne Parker's blog (Spring 2015 lead faculty in Bhutan).

Courses

When in Bhutan, visit the Himalayan Yetis.

View course descriptions of Naropa courses, as well as courses offered at the Royal University of Bhutan. Students admitted to Naropa's Bhutan Study Abroad program will be expected to participate in a 4-week online orientation program during the fall semester prior to departure. There are no costs nor grades associated with this online orientation, but participation is expected. 

Dates for Spring 2015 semester: Jan. 18-June 11

 View the Bhutan Study Abroad Student Handbook for more detailed information. 

Request Information More

• What does your DNA say about you?

Free College Night: Himalayan Buddhism

Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena

Buddhist prayer flags flutter in the Himalayas (Bhakti Omwoods/facebook.com)

College Night is an evening at the Museum just for college students. 

Meet the curators, attend tours, and listen to gallery talks with exclusive behind-the-scenes information about favorite paintings and sculptures. 

Learn about the 20-foot-tall Tibetan Buddhist silk thangka in the special exhibition In the Land of Snow: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas.

Lamayuru gompa, Ladakh (DT)

et inspired by the photography exhibition Face It: The Photographic Portrait, and then channel that inspiration as by drawing in the galleries and enjoying music, food, and drinks with fellow art lovers in the Museum’s sculpture garden.

Students receive 25% off all food for sale in the Garden Café. Visit the Norton Simon College Night page for more information.

• Friday, April 25, 2014, 7-9:00 pm
• Open House, FREE with valid college I.D.
• Registration recommended but not required

The Great Buddha of Bhutan (video)

Ashley Wells and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; JokerTrekker (flickr.com)

Bhutan's historical Shakyamuni: Buddha Dordenma statue (Michael Foley/blog.dwbuk.org)

  

As the last "Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom," now abdicated by the king for the sake of modernization, Bhutan is constructing a massive Buddha statue.

While seen here in the famous Earth-witnessing mudra, which recalls the time the Earrth Goddess Bhumi (Greek, Gaia) saved Siddhartha's, the tendency in Vajrayana Buddhism is to build statues of the future Buddha Maitreya.

The Maitreya Project is an international organization launched in 1990 to construct a 152 meter statue of Maitreya Buddha in the town of Kushinagar in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh near Nepal (which may not be the actual location of the historical Buddha's passing) along with education and healthcare facilities for the local population.

The largest monuments are forward looking in a messianic (Messiah/Mettayya/Maitreya/ and possibly the proto-Christian Indo-Iranian deity Mithra) move to beckon him, Bodhisattva Maitreya, whom the historical Buddha Gautama said is currently living in a world in space known as Tusita, awaiting a time when he will be reborn on Earth to strive for supreme teaching-enlightenment (sammasambuddha-hood).

This is most evident today in the rolling "Relics Tour" efforts of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhists culminating in building the world's most massive statue in Kusinagar (Kusinara), India, where the last buddha attained final-nirvana.

 

Buddhas do not come back by rebirth, having been freed of that bond by full enlightenment. New ones arise, whether silently or as universal teachers. Until then they are known as bodhsattvas, "beings bent on supreme enlightenment."

 

The massive Buddha in the capital of Bhutan, Thimphu: Buddha Dordenma on Changri Kuensel Phodrang at Buddha Viewpoint (Jokertrekker/flickr)

 

Buddhist lore states that a bodhisattva, prior to a potential final rebirth, looks down from the Tusita world in space onto Earth in search of specific signs: Does the Dharma (Teaching) still exist? Is the human lifespan sufficient for the average person to attain liberation if they were taught? Do appropriate parents exist? ...

Interestingly, amusingly, Vajrayana Buddhists seem to be confounding those signs with a visible monument that might be visible from space for the future-Maitreya ("Friend") to see. The signs are "seen" psychically, and they appear in accordance with Universal Laws (niyama-dhamma) are announced by devas ("shining ones") in space and on Earth.

So which one is Maitreya?

 

(inspirationalposter.org)

The most famous and perhaps most beautiful depiction of Maitreya is behind the Himalalyas in Thiksey Lamasery, Ladakh, India. In the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara (Northwest India/Pakistan/Afghanistan/Iran), in the first centuries of the common era in northern India, Maitreya is represented as a Central Asian/Northern Indian noble (kshatriya) holding a "water pot" (kumbha) in his left hand, sometimes a "wisdom urn" (bumpa). He is flanked by his two acolytes, the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu.

So much news, moving to Kalmykia (video)

Amber Dorrian, Wisdom Quarterly

  

Kalmyk flag, white lotus on blue and gold

(RD100) Elista, the only indigenously Buddhist capital in Europe, is also the Chess Capital of the World. It is the Kalmyk Republic's main city, a multiethnic metropolis with an industrious Eurasian population.
 

Kalmyk president, Dalai Lama (phayul.com)

The Kalmyks are descendants of the Oirats and other Mongol tribes from the time of Genghis Khan. They settled near Southern Volga along the Caspian Sea and fell afoul of Stalin during the Russian revolution.
 
During the time of imperial Russia, Kalmyks joined the Russian Army with the Cossacks. Lenin was part Kalmyk but an atheist rather than a Buddhist. The maniacal dictator Stalin did not take kindly to this minority ethnic group. 
 
So while everyone else around here heads for the Himalayas, I'm aiming for Europe. All I need is a Buddhist temple, a yoga mat, and a chess board. I can take it up with a little help from the friendly space-faring devas the former president of Kalmykia traveled with.

News overload

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• The Buddha's advice on dealing with doubt 
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• VIDEO: Jesus (St. Issa) visions and visitations

Europe's Buddhist Kalmykia to get Bodhi tree

Kalmykia.eu; Amber Dorrian, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Russia Today

(Kalmykia Tour) Gold Temple of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Хурул Золотой храм в городе Элиста. Калмыкия Европа. Буддийский храм "Золотая обитель Будды Шакьямуни".

 

The Golden Temple, Kalmyk capital, Elista

Kalmykia is an indigenously European Buddhist region in southwestern Russia. It practices Vajrayana Buddhism, an esoteric form of the Dharma blended with Siberian shamanism, establishing a long but little known history of the Dharma on the Continent.. Mongolian and Himalayan Buddhist kingdoms have apparently had a heavy influence its style of practice.

The Buddhist Dead Sea, Europe (kalmykia.eu)

HISTORY: The Kalmyks originate from Central Asia. Their ancestors -- the Oirats -- belonged to the western branch of Mongolian peoples. They represented a very powerful alliance of tribes, formations of the early feudal state under the dominion Mongolia found itself in during the first half of XV сentury. Consequently inter-regional conflicts and a number of military misfortunes caused the reduction of the Oirat Empire. More

Golden Buddha in Gold Temple abode

BODHI TREE: (Sandji Buvaev) On Nov. 27, 2012 the former president of the Republic of Kalmykia, billionaire Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, reported that he met with a Buddhist delegation from Sri Lanka.
 
It was agreed during that in the spring of 2013, a seed or cutting will be brought from the direct descendant of the world's oldest documented tree (the sacred fig or Ficus religiosa), under which the historical Buddha attained enlightenment. It will be planted in the European  Buddhist Republic of Kalmykia, according to KalmykiaNews. Recall that in 2011, the former Kalmyk president... More

• Buddhism in Europe: Girls of Kalmykia (kalmykia.eu)
• American actor Steven Seagal visits Kalmykia
• Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander (RanajitPal.com)

Buddhism traveled West out of India (TSO)

Life in Siberia
The coldest place on Earth is not Himalayan Ladakh, Nepal, Tibet, or distant Bhutan, some of the highest inhabited places. It is the Russian republic of Yakutia, which makes up a fifth of Russia's land.