Our last full day in Bhumtang was also wonderful. First I did my usual early morning walk, and in Bhumtang, that meant I could actually get a real walk in, only time determined the limit. I loved the scenery while walking and here came 3 horses completely on their own out for a morning walk. I also loved this sign of the Dzong (fortress) above the town. It was now city administration and I couldn’t go up, but the sign was great!
We then had an extensive tour of the palace and it was really well done, exploring the history of the country, the kings and their wives, not all had multiple, but the 4th one did, 4 sisters actually. There were photos and what was remarkable was what every single queen did, carving out her own area of impact, from schools, to environment, to developing technology, significant work. The fourth King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, voluntarily abdicated in 2006 at the age of 51 to empower his people and peacefully transition the country to a constitutional democracy. He believed it was risky to rely on a single absolute ruler and wanted the new generation to lead the country into a democratic future. Amazing. The current king continues to be progressive, taking care of his country, sticking to one wife and both of them are felt everywhere. With photos of the family on many houses and buildings, you have a sense of their presence in a wonderfully positive way.
There was then a pause after the palace tour and a rare couple of hours with nothing scheduled. Rick and I and Niñez had really wanted to go into town, so we grabbed the moment while others had lunch at the palace. We went into Bhumtang with a guide from the palace who insisted on driving us. Which turned out great because he was delightful and we were able to explore, buy some souvenirs and have lunch before we had to get back.
The others stopped at the hotel, but I drove back with him to the palace for our afternoon lectures/talks. I asked him about his family and it turned out that he was the first person who’d had a rinpoche in his family that I could ask about. We’ve all had questions about these small children taken into the monasteries (at Dorje Phagmo’s many were dropped off because of poverty, different challenges). This guy, I’ll call him Joe, and his family lived in the country very remotely. There were 7 (?) in the family and one day, a group of monks came to the house and said his brother was a tulku (reincarnation). His parents argued, but it turned out they had a lot of evidence to demonstrate the accuracy. So his brother left when he was 7 and that was it for years. His parents were really sad, as were his siblings, but there was nothing to do. Once a year, his parents were able to talk to the brother’s main teacher, but not to the brother. Finally, when his brother was 18, he got a phone and then they were able to talk regularly.
When his brother was in his 30’s (?), he came back to Bhutan (he’d been in Nepal) with his retinue. In the meantime, Joe had managed to get to Thimphu on a king’s scholarship, get a degree and two jobs later was working at the palace. When his brother came back, he was able to see him and talk with him. As he was leaving the country, the attendants asked Joe if there was anything they could do for him, did he need anything? He said yes, a car would be amazing. And they gave him a car!
I gingerly asked how the family felt about all this. He said they never stopped being sad, but that once the phone calls became regular and then he came back to show his concern and connection with his family, they felt better. But wow.
The rest of the day was filled with teachings and discussion. It was a rainy cold day and all of the talks were wonderful.
