29 March 2010
If unbridled materialism is on the rise, Siddhartha-like
spiritual realisation is still part of Bhutanese psyche.
Jigme Wangchuk reports
Damchho Dorji, 25, from Pangsho
village in Punakha, finds not much meaning in life. It’s the same
nagging urge of Gautama that led him to renounce everything he had
in life to join monkhood at Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lödro
Institute, Himacha Pradesh, India.
Damchho , who is a B.com graduate of Sherubtse College (2006),
sat the RCSC exams and did Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and
Management in RIM after which he served in the Department of Public
Accounts as an assistance programme coordinator for one year. He
found his life empty and meaningless.
True to his name, which literally means the noble religion, he
found solace in spirituality. “It’s not one thing or the other that
leads to madness, but the space in between them, and it’s silly to
hang on to things that have no meaning,” he said, adding that he
needed to study and understand the true nature of the world.
Lama Shenphen Zangpo of Deer Park, Thimphu, who is one of
Damchho’s teachers, describes him as a very ‘typical Bhutanese guy’
who enjoyed working out in the gym and hanging out with friends and
having girl friends. And he thinks that Damchho was perhaps
influenced by the loss of his father at a young age and did not
want to waste his precious life by just earning a living and
hanging out in snooker halls.
“I lost my father and uncle when I was quite young. I was
devastated and realised the painful certainty of death. That’s when
I thought about my life seriously. But, of course, I’d always
wanted to be a monk,” he said.
Shy and quiet, and a lover football and mountaineering, Damchho
is also an ardent reader of Buddhist books. His favourites are What
makes you not Buddhist by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche,
Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche, and The Way of
Middle Path, a Commentary By Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Norbu
Rinpoche.
“He had a strong understanding that happiness comes from our
view of the world (from inside) and through helping others. He was
particularly influenced by Madhyamika philosophy and tried to adopt
this view in his interaction with the world,” said Lhama Shenphen,
who taught him basic meditation at Deer Park.
He is more of a person that impresses through his ordinariness
and consistency than through sudden acts of heroism, he added.
Damccho’s eldest sister, Tshering Lham, said that it was a shock
to the family when he informed them of his wish to be a monk. “My
mother opposed in the beginning. We went as far as consulting an
astrologer, who told us that my brother is destined to be a monk.
We let him decide then.”
Asked how his colleagues reacted when he decided to leave, he
said they were all very supportive. Two of his younger brothers,
who are monks with Zhung Dratshang were especially very
encouraging.
Now in his destined place, he said, “It’s a nice place, and
people are wonderful. I’ll go to Sara, Dharamshala to learn Tibetan
language, poetry and grammar some day. Everyone here is very kind
and friendly.
They helped me with my robes. This is the place that I have
always dreamed for.” Referring to the way people while away their
time, he said in a philosophical tone, “What are we but empty
vessels on a journey across sea of life? We want happiness, and
happiness comes from giving up certain things.
Every choice doesn’t have to mean loss. Happiness comes from
understanding the reality of life. The only refuge is the
Dharma.”