A half day Mindfulness Session

On a request made by a group of officials from the Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde, a half-day mindfulness session was organized for the residents of Samdrup Jongkhar and Dewathang on 15^th June 2019, coinciding with the Saga Dawa Duechen (the Festival of Vaishakha) at Chokyi Gyatso Institute (CGI). There were more than 60 participants who took part in the session, led by the Thromde Executive Secretary (ES) along with the other officers, teachers, businessmen, farmers, local residents, and interested individuals.

A half-day session is to provide an essential platform for the introduction and foundation of mindfulness technique designed specifically for beginners based on the Annual winter mindfulness camp. The annual camp is a rigorous practice opportunity offered to Bhutanese educators and other interested individuals keeping intact the priceless tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. The session is aimed at giving a chance to look at the inner working of an individual’s mind in an authentic way.

The session is presided over by Khenchen Sonam Tashi of Chokyi Gyatso Institute. Khenchen talked about the importance of appreciating our own profound tradition of a meditation practice that is grounded on the grand motivation for the benefit of all sentient beings. Khenchen said the refinement of motivation is the first step that makes the practice profound and grand. Therefore, our invaluable traditional practice has the

se insights compared to the contemporary business-oriented mindfulness trend.

Khenchen also taught about shamata meditation, its importance, the body posture for the practice, and its technique. He also led a guided meditation practice and later an hour of the independent practice.

For Bhutan (Only a Vajrayana country in the world), we have many profound and deep meditation traditions that are authentic; however, these days there is a trend in which mindfulness practice is taught and introduced by outsiders to its land of origin and existence. This is a paradoxical situation. It appears that we are not aware of our own priceless tradition and possession we have. Therefore, Lhomon Education (LME), is spearheading to offer an authentic Mindfulness practice opportunity to all the interested Bhutanese and others.

A wooden project – An experiment

The students did a mini wooden carving project. The focus of the project is to try carving kitchen utensils from the dried woods. The aim of the project is to offer hands-on experience to learn about the harmful impacts of plastic utensils and at the same time to value our traditional practice of wooden utensils. It is also to assure skill development such as carving, handling tools, developing motor skills, working in a team, identifying valuable traditional knowledge, and recognizing local wisdom. In a nutshell, it is to help students learning to learn.

The two men from Rekhey community in Dewathang showed us how to carve kitchen utensils. They taught the students how to make a bamboo scoop and a ladle. Later the students were divided into different groups and were assigned to come up with their own creative kitchen utensils. They were given several days to work on their projects.

It was encouraging to see all the groups did their best to carve different utensils including spoon, scoop, ladle, chopstick, bamboo cup, turner, etc. After completion of the project, all the students made a presentation about their projects in the class. It was interesting to listen to their ideas, comments, and feedback. One of the feedback was, there is a need for good tools as a basic need for such a project. Besides, they shared their experiences and what they learned from their projects.

Wangdi, one of the senior students said, “I learned how to carve different shapes and designs from the project.”

“Through this project, I understood the hardships involved in making these utensils’’ said Tshering Dorji, another senior student.

Karma Nyendra, a junior student was able to recollect some ideas from his childhood in the highland of Singye Dzong, where elders in his village carved wooden utensils. He said, “My friends took part in the wood carving training, whereas I didn’t. However, with my interest, I took part in the project.” He added, “In the beginning, I didn’t have much idea, but I recollected how elders in my village made similar utensils and that’s how I managed to make few.”

Another junior student, Kezang Wangdi said, “I was interested when my friends were working on the project, so I joined them with my interest.”

Henceforth, Lhomon Education will keep on experimenting and improving on this project to make it possible for students to further learn and develop skills.