Don't Forget the Soap

You play music in the class! It is not uncommon to observe students taping feet, moving bodies, clapping hands, and snapping fingers with the beats of the music. You can also see their lips pretending to sing and synchronize with the song. These are unspoken expressions of interest students have in the music.

The young students of Lhomon Education (LME) at Chokyi Gyatso Institute in Dewathang, Bhutan wrote and performed the song title ''don’t forget the soap'' with the help of Mr. Simon Thomas. The theme for the song is healthy living!

The song composition is a platform for students to consider music as means of learning and sharing their ideas; to learn and experience simple song writing skills; to consider music as fun part of life and also to approach music as an offering in essence and generous in its message and melody.

We would like to thank to Simon Thomas, Gary Dyson, Brian Stevens, Brodie Cass Talbott, for your help in production. Watch the video and share it!

The camp ends

‘‘In this materialistic time just to have little interest to look inside, contemplate inside, not getting distracted by outside and really looking inside is very important. It's worthwhile to spend our time and energy in it.’’                                                                                                --- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

                               Photos and short video clips from the camp 

A week-long mindfulness camp at Chokyi Gyatso Institute, Dewathang ended on the 13^th of January, 2018. The camp was an essential platform for introduction and foundation of mindfulness techniques offered to Bhutanese educators and others. Our goal was simply to give everyone a chance to experiment and explore the inner working of their minds so that they may benefit their students, community members, and others through their examples.

The camp was organized keeping intact the tradition of our profound and deep meditation practices from the Mahayana teachings. The camp’s content included meditation practice, teaching about meditation, practice techniques, mindful offering of butter lamps, selection of local agriculture produced, waste minimization, cooking, eating & walking, karma yoga (work as practice) & sharing of experiences. 

The camp was resourced by Chungtrul Jigme Tsheltrim Wangpo of Tharpaling Monastery, Bumthang, Khenpo Tshering of Chokyi Gyatso Institute (CGI) and Dr. Yang Gyeltshen of Lhomon Education. There were 54 camp attendees including organizers: 18 teachers, 3 lopens from CGI, 3 from Youth Development Fund (YDF), 6 civil servants, 3 from Sherubtse College, 2 youths, 3 parents, 9 Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI) youth interns and 7 SJI staff. 

The camp is an integral to SJI's education program (LME) conducted annually, primarily targeted for educators, community leaders, and others in collaboration with Chokyi Gyatso Institute (CGI), Dewathang.

‘‘If the teachers are interested in value of Mindfulness, this is a good sign for the future of Bhutan. If the interest of mindfulness grows at a grassroots level, then we will have hope for our nation. If not, we will become mindless. We will become insane, our country will soon be filled with greed and insanity people.’’                                                                     --- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

The 5th Winter Mindfulness Camp

 A group of educators, youth, and civil servant from 12 Dzongkhags (districts) completed 8 days of winter Mindfulness camp at Chokyi Gyatso Institute, Dewathang on 31^st of December 2018. The 5^th camp had 73% of teacher participants from 22 different schools across Bhutan, 12% of civil servants, 3% from Nunnery Institute and 12% of high school and college youth. The camp also saw more female participants with 59% of the total participants. 

The mindfulness camp is an annual program of Lhomon Education to introduce the profound tradition of authentic mindfulness techniques to Bhutanese educators, educationists, stakeholders, and others, keeping intact the priceless tradition of Mahayana Buddhism.

The goal for such a camp is simply to give everyone a chance to experiment and explore the innate nature of human minds so that we can help our upcoming generation and youth in authentic manners to grow into being decent human. It is also to recognize that the mind is much more important than anything else and if we don’t control our mind there is no point controlling all the other things. Further, the program is in line with Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche’s vision to recognize our own profound practices of meditation that are authentic, rich, traditional, and progressive.

‘‘Actually, in Bhutan, we have a tradition of many kinds of profound and deep meditation practices such as Shamtha, Vipassana, visualization and dissolution. Even then, we are not aware of our own tradition and heritage. These days, when people from outside teach us mindfulness, there is shock and disbelief, leading people to believe that we need such things. This is similar to us not being able to recognize our own possessions and wealth. Only when the outsiders give us these things to us, which we actually already possess, then it appears like that the outsiders are introducing such a thing.’’ — Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

H. E. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in its opening video session highlighted that, ‘‘in this materialistic time just to have little interest to look inside, contemplate inside, not getting distracted by outside and really looking inside is very important. It’s worthwhile to spend our time and energy on it.’’

Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche, who presided over the camp, remarked on the importance of educators and individuals, in their roles to facilitate the necessary conditions for students to look inward (one’s own mind) and contemplate on it.

The whole program from the start to the conclusion was thought through carefully as contemplation. The path LME presented was straightforward. It involved practice, practice, and more practice. The eight days of mindfulness program was practice-oriented, with 4 hours of sitting and walking sessions every day, interspersed with short talks, breaks, recorded teaching, guided contemplation, noble silence, discipline, offering, stretching, discussions and karma yoga practice (work with positive motivation) on daily basis. As a whole, the camp facilitated more than 40 hours of mindfulness practice sessions and more than 20 hours of teaching sessions for the participants. Even during tea and meal breaks the practice is integrated by encouraging mindful eating, mindful washing, and drinking to connect the practice into daily lives.

4th Winter Mindfulness Camp

''The mind is much more important than anything. Because, if you don’t control your mind, all the others no point of control. You are not your mind’s boss. Your mind is your boss.'' 

                                                                                                             Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche 

The Lhomon Education is organizing its Winter Mindfulness Camp at Chokyi Gyatso Institute (CGI), Dewathang from 6th - 13th January 2018. This mindfulness camp opportunity is created mainly for teachers, community leaders and genuinely interested individuals who can bring some impact to their community.

Interested educators and other individuals are requested to contact Mr Tara Nidi Nepal at 77385197 or Mr Dawa at 17809331 or write to us at lhomoneducation@gmail.com for more information. Registration for the camp will be done on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact us before the 25th of December, 2017 for confirmation. 

Hook

Workshop participants with Khyentse Rinpoche 

In this technology era, teachers will require creative ways to ‘‘HOOK’’ the others. How can we do this? The film affords us a rich, audio-visual medium for transformation across cultures and times. Therefore, the creative film could be an effective teaching strategy.

Khyentse Rinpoche during the session 

To explore the power of film as a skillful means for connecting and teaching, I attended a 6-day workshop on an Introduction to Film at Sarnath International Nyingma Institute (SINI), in Varanasi. The workshop was facilitated by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and Tuning Fork Production to delve into rich and manifold possibilities of presenting teaching through films. It was co-hosted by Sarnath International Nyingma Institute and Deer Park Institute.   

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche said ‘‘the film is one of the best medium for communication’’ and Rinpoche encouraged all the participants to continue using the skills to make more films.

Find a link of a compilation video of photos taken by participants: https://vimeo.com/246381115?from=timeline&isappinstalled=0 

Lopon Dechen of CGI (actor) and Ani Kinlay Dema (camera person)

Right Education and Right attitude - Advice from Khenchen Samdrup

The head principal, Khenchen Samdrup of Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro Institute (DKCLI), Chauntra, Himachal Pradesh, in India visited Chokyi Gyatso Institute (CGI), Dewathang from October 24th – 28th, 2017 to observe and study the implementation of Lhomon Education (LME) - program content and approach - how classroom materials are designed, developed, and delivered.

We invited Khenchen to LME class and requested him to give advice for LME students and teachers about the importance of education. It was indeed insightful for teachers and students to listen to his precious advice. Following are excerpts from Khenchen’s talk.

Khenchen Samdrup and Khenchen Sonam Tashi 

You living in Bhutan are Mahayana and Vajrayana followers. In essence, it means that our concerns and deeds must be for the benefit of all sentient beings and their liberation ultimately. That is why we have the basic responsibility to help and benefit others. We should be able to help our small communities, the whole village, the entire nation, and the world at large. Even if we cannot help others, we should not harm at the least. Therefore, education has a very important role to inculcate the habit of helping and benefiting others.

Khenchen talking to students and teachers

For example, a bird has two wings, so that they can fly high. For us humans, one of two wings is an education, and the other one is a right attitude. Education by itself does not make a good person. We need the right attitude. The right attitude with the support of education enables us to help others. It is obvious that the high qualification alone of a person cannot benefit others without the foundation of right attitude.

There is a saying that, a stupid person can make a mistake of an inch, but an educated person can make a mistake of a meter. What it means is that an educated person with the wrong attitude can destroy the whole community and society, while a stupid person with the wrong attitude can destroy only a small family or a small community. Therefore, right education that fosters kindness, compassion, right intention, and the right attitude are necessary to be able to help and benefit others and self. 

Khenchen, LME teachers, and students 

Whether it be spiritual or secular education, the focus should be to make a person decent, good human being, so that, he or she not only help one-self but others in his or her immediate communities, the nation, and eventually the whole world. 

We have His Holiness Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, a great leader and a master, whose activities are for the benefit of all beings all over the world. We have to cherish his profound activities and follow his footsteps.

Lopon Tshering, translating Khenchen's talk t

Now, you are fortunate to study under LME that believes in educating a person to be good, decent human being. I advise you not to waste your time, energy, and this great opportunity. Take this opportunity seriously, so that you will accomplish the goodwill and wisdom which will benefit not only for yourself but the rest, whom you will have the influence on. And also that you will cherish about yourself when you grow old and not regret.  

Why an elephant has breast, not an udder? --- A story from an elder

What a local elder has to say about the location of elephant's breast? Usually, many quadrupeds have their udders located in between their back limbs; however, this is not true to the elephant. The female elephant breast is located on its chest like we human. Here is a story retold by an elder man, meme Sherab, 80 from Bangtsho, Dewathang about the location of elephant's breast.

Once, there lived a hunter. Every day, he hunts and offers meat on his shrine in a bamboo container. One day as usual, when he returned back from the forest, he found his room well cleaned and arranged. He was astonished to see his room condition and wondered, who uninvited guest, could have visited him. Next day, as usual, he went off to hunt. Right after the sunset in the evening, when he returned home, it was another surprise. His mud stove was on fire with a crowd of dried firewood gathered through the stove mouth. He wondered again, who could have made a fire in his stove. On the third day, when he came back from the jungle, he found delicious meals cooked, ready for him to feed on. This time, he definitely suspected that there is somebody, doing all these works in his absence.

He had an idea! Next morning, he pretended to go off for a hunt but, he came back to watch what was going on in his house. As he watched from behind the bush, a beautiful woman emerged out of a bamboo offering container, which was kept on the shrine. She uncovered herself from a skin and immediately started to work in his kitchen. Without delay, the hunter ran as quickly as possible closer to skin shedded, he grabbed her skin and was about to burn it in the fire. The woman shouted, don’t burn it! Throw some part of it up in the ceiling, some of it down on the ground, and some under the house. The hunter followed her instruction. Instantly, the part of the skin on the ceiling turned into seeds, the part on the ground turned into kitchen utensils, and the part under the house turned into animals. After that, the hunter and the beautiful woman eventually got married and lived happily together for many years.

One day, the couple had quarrel out of some misunderstandings. The hunter scolded his wife. He said, ‘‘you are a woman, who is transformed out of animal flesh''. The statement deeply disappointed her. She felt so embarrassed and sad. She walked far-far away from their house and never returned home. The hunter worried as the wife did not return home. He came out looking for her in the forest. Far in the forest, he saw his wife’s cloth lying on the ground and herself transformed into an elephant. The hunter with deep regret returned home alone.

Meme Sherab said ‘‘this is why female elephants (cows) have their breasts on the chest like we humans do.’’

The legendary Tshongpon Norbu Zangpo and his riding Rhino

Meme Sherab 84, a resident of Bangtsho, Dewathang, narrated the following story for LME students on his visit as a guest speaker to the class. Besides, he talked about barter system, which existed as a common practice of trading within a small village and across wider communities then. Moreover, he shared, that the trade was not only with the exchange of goods, but also services on day to day basis.

Once, the Rhinosaur was believed to be merchant Norbu Zangpo’s riding animal when he travelled for his business in India and Tibet through Bhutan.

One of the routes merchant Zangpo took was via Dewathang to Assam in India. Consequently, today a tall and big tree growing right at the beginning of Dewathang town is his legacy, believed to be from his walking stick and few meters away, is his cooking stove, the tri-stone in a circle.

Those days, all the merchants from Bhutan and Tibet, who took the route, circumambulate the tree and the stove as a sign of respect and devotion for merchant Zangpo. Even to these days, the residents of the town look after the area and offer incense often.

It was believed that one day, as the merchant travelled for his regular business, his riding animal fled away to Manas, the South Central foothills of Bhutan. So, the merchant Zangpo became very angry. Subsequently, it was believed, that he subdued the Rhino and prohibited its entrance to the South East of Bhutan. That is why today, we don’t see any Rhino in the south-east region of Bhutan.

Meme Sherab has asked us to closely study the skin pattern of Rhino. The saddle, which was used by Zangpo on Rhino then, can be seen these days on its skin pattern. It was believed, that the Rhino fled away with the saddle on its back.  

Japanese monks are usually good in paintings. They practiced painting not to become famous artists but to build focus and gain concentration skills.  They found drawing and painting to be one of the best medium to get to higher levels of concentration. These days, especially teachers try every means to gain student’s attention in the classrooms.  One way could be indulging students in art activities that will bring in educational and personal benefits in long run. 

So to bring art as an important aspect of LME curriculum Dr. Yang Gyeltshen, a lead teacher has recently visited Trashiyangtse Zorig Chosum Institute to interact with Zorig Instructors and collect relevant materials for the development of LME curriculum Unit on Art and Culture.