Spiritual Calling of an IT Guy

  Upon the dawn of the 38th day after my birth, I awoke to an unexpected discomfort—a sharp pain in my right neck. Remarkably, this seemingly minor ailment persisted for an entire week before subsiding. Curiously, the day prior to my birthday, I had devised a plan to provide a modest lunch for the team engaged in the construction of Tsatsas meant for installation at Kadam Chorten. The intention was to host this lunch on the day of my birthday. Although circumstances prevented me from actualizing this plan and treating the team to a meal, I was still able to visit the site and offer a sum of Nu. 3000/- as a substitute for the planned lunch. Could this unexpected obstacle encountered on my 38th birthday be considered a test of sorts?

    During the 16th Kuechey of Khenchen Jigme Phuntsho at Kadam Chorten (Buddha’s Memorial Chorten) in Gawadrong, 2020, I found myself amidst what might have been the busiest period of my life. Not a single moment was spared for rest, from the early morning hours till late at night, for approximately three weeks straight. This demanding stretch encompassed an array of tasks that left no room for respite. For nearly two weeks, we diligently gathered resources from various organizations, striving to bridge the distance between these resources and the chorten itself—a site that required extensive clearing and cleansing, despite being less than halfway through its construction. Throughout daytime hours, my compatriot Lham Thinley (the Chorten Construction Coordinator) and I traversed from one office to another, earnestly seeking support. On other occasions, we labored on the chorten construction site alongside our dedicated supporters and helpers. The early mornings and evenings...

On the 29th day of the 11th month in the Tibetan calendar, which corresponds to November 3, 2020, around 9:30 am, I found myself deeply engrossed in delineating the administrative aspects of the ༼ཁྱེའུ་ཆུ་འབེབས་ཚོགས་པ་༽ within my office. Out of nowhere, a petite bird entered through the door and alighted gently upon my left shoulder. In response, I remained tranquil, permitting her to find solace in my presence. After a while, I documented the scene and walked approximately 10 meters to share the experience with a senior friend. However, by the time I arrived at the designated spot, the bird had already taken flight and disappeared into the garden.   Curiously enough, the previous night had brought forth a dream in which I was urged to extend my compassion to this very bird after one of my relatives had harmed it with a knife. Could this occurrence be interpreted as an auspicious omen for the fulfillment of the ཆུ་འབེབས་ཚོགས་པ་༽ program? This program, established by the esteemed ...

When you visit temples, chortens, or other religious sites, you've likely encountered Tsatsa placed either on or around them. It is believed that crafting a small Tsatsa is equivalent in merit to constructing a small or large chorten. At present, Tang Rinpoche is overseeing the construction of the Kadam Chorten in Gawai Drong. Within this chorten, numerous Tsatsa have been installed, a project initiated and coordinated by a dedicated member of the དེ་བ་ཅན་ཚོགས་པ། community. This individual has earned the affectionate title of Tsatsa Lhamo from Rinpoche. Among the members of དེ་བ་ཅན་ཚོགས་པ། , she is fondly referred to as Tsatsa Lhamo. During the process of crafting Tsatsa, numerous residents from the Samtse community joined to offer their assistance. Some even dedicated their time daily to this endeavor. In the initial days, the team responsible for digging encountered challenges in obtaining the appropriate soil for Tsatsa creation. However, a turning point arrived when I joine...

  On the 15th day of Saga Dawa Duchen in 2019, a significant day commemorating the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of the revered Buddha Shakyamuni, a momentous event unfolded for me. It was on this auspicious occasion that I was formally designated as the coordinator for དེ་བ་ཅན་ཚོགས་པ། , a role that felt imbued with blessings akin to holy water. Before embarking on my journey to partake in དེ་བ་ཅན་སྨོན་ལམ། , I sought a profound benediction from the Triple Gem at my Choesham. While there, an intriguing incident occurred. As I activated my fan, droplets of water from it unexpectedly showered over me, occurring almost three times consecutively. It felt as though the Triple Gem had graced me with a sanctified anointment using this holy water. The circumstances leading to this occurrence perplexed me. Could it be that heavy rainfall during the preceding night had accumulated water within the fan, transforming it into a divine elixir? My wife mentioned that rainwater had indeed g...

  The number 15 holds deep significance for the followers of དེ་བ་ཅན་ཚོགས་པ། , owing to several significant occurrences. As per online sources, humanity has abided by the lunar cycle for ages, aligning our energies with the Earth and the cosmos. When the moon reaches its full illumination on the 15th day of each lunar month, it symbolizes a spiritual zenith, prompting individuals to awaken from the cycle of samsara. During these full moon days, pivotal figures such as Buddha and Bodhisattva have been born or attained enlightenment. Notable examples include Lord Buddha, Terton Pema Lingpa, Lord Manjushri, Khenchen Jigme Phuntsho, the present Gyelsey Tenzin Rabgay, and many others. The 15th day of every lunar month is also revered as a sacred occasion for Buddha Amitabha, offering an auspicious opportunity to offer prayers and pay homage, aspiring for rebirth in the realm of དེ་བ་ཅན་ཞིང་ཁམས།.   It is recounted that Lord Manjushri, embraced by དེ་བ་ཅན་ཚོགས་པ། , came into exis...

  Between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM on the 15th day of the 3rd month in the lunar calendar of 2019, a unique convergence occurred: my expression of gratitude during a vote of thanks speech to the དེ་བ་ཅན་ཚོགས་པ། group was accompanied by the rumble of thunder. My predecessor, upon hearing the thundering thrice followed by a brief shower, interpreted it as an auspicious omen for the incoming coordinator.   The Samtse དེ་བ་ཅན་ཚོགས་པ། community is dedicated to the teachings of Manjushri (the Lord of Wisdom), which were revealed by Khenchen Jigme Phuntsho Jungney (1933-7 January 2004), the founder of Lharung Serta Monastery in Tibet. These teachings are believed to hold prophecies relevant to Bhutan. His Eminence Zheetrul Choni Rangshar Rinpoche (widely known as Tang Rinpoche) arrived in Bhutan with the purpose of fulfilling his root guru's prophecy, Khenchen Jigme Phuntsho Jungney, who was a Terton. In 2015, Tang Rinpoche's visit to Samtse College, at the invitation of former President ...