Bhutan’s early history is steeped in Buddhist folklore and mythology; it features tremendous deeds and beings with supernatural powers. It’s said that a saint who had the ability to appear in eight different forms, one of them being Guru Rinpoche, visited Bhutan on a flying tiger and left the imprint of his body and his hat on rocks. School texts describe demons that threatened villages and destroyed temples until captured through magic and converted to Buddhism. Tales abound of ghosts who destroyed temples, and angels who rebuilt them. Spirits, ghosts, migoi (yetis), medicine men, and lamas reincarnated in three different bodies are accepted as a part of daily life.
Profoundly religious, curious, respectful, amicable, happy….
….with children in monasteries, schools that are just that….children…..no matter where they come from or who they are…they just play, smile and live their lives with glowing smiles…..
….and we even had time to warm up for the final of Champions League playing football (soccer), kicking at pebbles and empty bottles by Thimpu’s main square until dusk….making new friends…
….A country where monasteries are full of people praying and ‘activating’ the matras, which are inside cylinders that move clockwise to ‘earn merits’…while their chant their praying reading from delicate books written in Sanskrit….
….or walk around stupas which are deemed to protect them from bad omens and deities and bring good fortune….
….Where artisans learn patiently over the years to preserve the heritage and the traditions of their ancestors producing incredible pieces of art….such us Thankgas….
― Daisaku Ikeda