Finding Happiness in Bhutan

Takstang Monastery behind us

Om Mane Padme Hum. I’m grateful to have visited this happy land-locked country in the Himalayas called Bhutan. This is the last standing Buddhist kingdom and ranked one of the happiest country in the world. This is the only country where the Gross National Happiness (GNH) is more important than Gross National Product and they have a Minister of Happiness to make sure that the people are happy.  

I've never heard of GNH before and don't know of any other country that measures it's value based on Happiness. The reigning monarchy has decreed that the well-being of its people is the priority, promoting the values of love, love of country, respect and protection of the environment over economic growth. Here's Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay on TED Talk where he explains how Bhutan puts happiness first and how Bhutan has set a world standard for environmental preservation. 

 
Are the people happy? I asked our guide Namgyi and with a beaming smile, he said "definitely!" He said that health care and education is free and he works six months a year and the rest of the year he travels and explores other destinations and visits his son who studying in New York. He himself was given the opportunity to study in Austria to hone his skills in tourism. 
 
The visit for me is sublimely healing. 

All 13 of us at the entrance of Punakha Dzhong

We visited monasteries in Thimphu but the most engaging one was in Punakha. We were there for the opening of the three day Punakha Festival where the monks and townsfolk performed rituals and sacred dances in colorful, swirling costumers and elaborate headdresses, scarves, hats, gold crowns and head masks depicting animals. The festivalgoers were also colorful in their traditional garb, the Kira and Ghos.

The highlight was the Black Hat dance performed only by monks wearing heavy brocade gown with kimono-like sleeves. The dance is a ritual done on the first day to ward off evil spirits. 

It is said that watching  the sacred dances during a festival removes five obstacles, illnesses and secret delusions. Kenzing Namgay described this "The five outer obstacles are caused by the planet of the upper world, mountain Gods of the intermediate world, earth spirits, serpents and death spirits. The five illnesses arise from obstructions  in psychic nerves that transmit vital energies; the energy flow in the motions, breath, air and wind; the seed essence and the empty nature of energy. The five secret delusions are desire, anger, ignorance, pride and jealousy." 

The Black Hat dance

Mingling with the colorful festivalgoers at Punakha

From there we went to the Chimi Lhaklang village, which was adorned with phalluses all over - yes, phalluses! Our guide actually warned us not to be offended by these sightings. He said that the phallus is known as the "Thunderbold of Flaming Wisdom" a symbol of Lama Drukpa Kunley referred to as the "Divine Madman". The symbol represents both fertility and the power to bring enlightenment and to ward off evil to those who seek his teachings. 

Phallus symbols adorn the walls of this village

Spotted a lady with her offering

We hiked 20-minutes through the rice fields to the temple which is famous for blessing childless couples. When we got to the temple, we spotted a lady carrying a 20-inch wooden phallus with a white ribbon tied to it and was was walking around the temple three times.  

We went inside the temple and set our intentions. After which, the monk blessed us with a wooden phallus and a bow and arrow. The couple in our group refused to enter the temple since they are already blessed with three children aged 17, 9 and 1 years old. 

Connecting wtih nature
In Punakha, we were billeted in an ultra-modern resort called Dhensa in the mountains. It was so beautiful that we decided to do some yoga and meditation early the next day. I led a yin class and Karla led a gratitude circle to give thanks to everything that we have in our lives. After breakfast, we did a KQ dance called "opening the lotus of your aura" to clear our auric field of negativities, connect to the elements and connect with our surroundings.

Early morning yoga exercise to op;en the lotus of our aura

Blessed by Guru Rinpoche's Tiger's Nest.
The last day was special, the highlight of the trip. We hiked all the way up to the sacred Takstang (Tiger's Nest) monastery. I felt like I dissolved into the serenity and beauty of the monastery as it is fused to the sheer-rock cliff face, 900 meters off the ground. The climb was steep on a dirt trail surrounded by pine trees. 

The trail 

Communing with nature

The monastery was devoid of prayer flags. Our guide, Nam, explained that they no longer allow putting prayer flags after a Thai tourist fell off the cliff after taking a selfie. Apparently, the tourist leaned over the prayer flags thinking it was safe to do so. Now, there are railings in place.  I don’t mind not having the colorful flags fluttering with the wind as is typical in sacred grounds in the Himalayas. I prefer viewing the monastery in its natural environment, perched on a cliff of granite walls surrounded by the evergreen forest.

Tiger's Nest Monastery

To keep the place in its pristine state, we weren't allowed to take photos inside the monastery. We were able to sit and meditate in the same place where great Tibetan saints meditated including Milarepa. The monaster is where Guru Rinpoche is believed to have descended on a flying tiger in the 8th century bearing the Nyingma Tantric teachings.

My best takeaway in this beautiful country is all it takes is to live simply and be kind and respectful of ourselves, of others and especially of our environment. I'll be forever chanting the mantra of the mountains Om Mane Padme Hum which means 'Hail to the Jewel of the Lotus!' 

The art of wearing a Bhutanese Kira

a traditional Kira

The Bhutanese are proud of their national heritage and this is evident as most of the women wear the traditional Kira dress and the men, the Gho.

The Kira is an ankle-length dress made of a woven fabric.  The hand-woven ones are heavier and warmer and also more expensive.  The fabric is wrapped around the body and delicately folded on one side. 

We were invited to have dinner at the home of our travel organizer, Snow Leopard, in Thimpu. The mother of our host personally dressed all of us in traditional Bhutanese clothes.

She first wrapped a beautiful hand-woven, 100-year old Kira up to my shoulders which she pinned with an antique silver Koma (repousse brooch), one for each shoulder. Then she made me put on a Wonji, a light-colored, long-sleeved silk blouse and wrapped a 3-inch  hand-woven belt around my waist. Last is the Toego, a dark-colored heavy silk jacket with the end of the Wonji folded back to form a cuff. For the final touches, she pinned a brooch to secure the jacket from opening and added two strands of antique gemstone necklace. 

Nowadays, the Kiras are cut at the waist instead of pulling it up all the way up the shoulders  Here's Tessa being dressed  by one of the festivalgoer at Punakha:

A festivalgoer helping Tessa put on a Kira

It is interesting to note that the Koma, especially the old designs, can double up as a self-defense weapon. At the textile museum, I spotted one of the antique silver brooches that resembled a knife. The guide said that some of the brooches were used as knives for protection. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo since we weren't allowed to take photos inside.

Here we all are wearing our traditional Kira.

Semana Santa in Castile y Leon

The procession de la Soledad celebrated during Holy Thursday in Leon.

The best place to spend Easter is in the Castilian region of Northern Spain to witness the most dramatic religious rites and processions. The origin of the liturgical rituals date back to the 13th century.

Call it serendipity! I was in  the right place, at the right time.  I was in Burgos six days ago to meet up with my friends who already started their Camino de Santiago pilgrimage using the camino Frances route.  Stephen started all the way up in the Pyrenees at Saint Jean Pied on March 28 and the rest - Gai, Alan and Raffy - started in Pamplona on April 2. I came from Bozi Dar in the Czech Republic where I did a Kundalini Yoga module 2 course facilitated by Harijiwan and Gurujas and thus, got to Burgos only on April 9,  Palm Sunday.

The devotees donned in capirote.

Palm Sunday is the official start of the Semana Santa in Spain. It was my first introduction to capirote. This is, the devotees, the brotherhoods who organizes the processions, are dressed in tall conical hats covering their faces and in belted robes. Each color represents a brotherhood or a masonry guild.

The medieval garb is reserved for those doing penance as a sign of atoning for their sins. They would walk through the narrow cobblestone streets wearing their hats, their faces covered so they wouldn't be discovered as sinners and carrying the carrozas (floats adorned with flowers and large religious figures). Some are walking barefoot. They do resemble the Ku Klux Klan attire though.

The women would wear their traditional mantilla, a black lace veil worn high on the back of their head with a mini-comb clip.

Spanish women wearing their traditional mantilla

Each town along the Camino, from Burgos to Carrion de los Condes to Leon, would have their own .

We were lucky to arrive in Leon and witness three processions in one day. These are  the procession de Santo del Desenclavo, the procession de la Soledad and the procession Camino de la Luz. The last one ended until midnight.

The next day, Easter Sunday, the procession started in the morning.  At this time, the devotees were no longer wearing their hats. The procession ended in the town square, in front of the Cathedral.

If you want to witness the medieval processions during semana santa, I heard that Seville and Zaragosa are also good.

Here are some video clips and photos of the proceedings:

Palm Sunday procession after the mass in Burgos

Holy Thursday procession in Carrion de los Condes

The processions in Leon on Easter Saturday and Sunday

The Healing Sound of a Gong

with gong master Mehtab in Hong Kong

I'm now paying it forward after all the gong training I've been through. First with Martha Collard, a student of gong master Don Conreaux and recently with another gong master and kundalini yoga teacher, Mehtab Benton for gong yoga and gong therapy.

Both of the training I've attended were at the Red Doors Studio, founded by Martha. This is where her collection of 19 gongs (and still growing) is housed. She established Red Doors in Aberdeen as a platform to share her passion with a larger audience.

I've been drawn to gongs ever since my first gong bath experience at the Summer Solstice Festival in France in 2013 by Nanakdev Singh.  He had on stage massive gongs (more than 40" in diameter). He was at the center and there were 5-6 students with him. As they played,  I felt that my tired, aching plus jet lag body was being healed by the overwhelming overtones of the gong.  I would go back each day of my stay at the festival to receive a 30-minute gong bath by his group.

The gong is one of the oldest transformational and therapeutic instruments used in rituals, ceremony, prayer and meditation since the Bronze Age.  The sound generated are multi-dimensional ripples that swell into varying degrees of sound waves. What happens in a gong bath is that the person receiving (in a lying position)  is 'bathed' in the swelling sound vibrations, shifting brainwave activity from beta (normal state) to theta (meditative)  where deep healing takes place. The process is called entrainment where the sound frequency is the agent that produces the shift.

And now, four years after my first experience, I find myself starting a collection of  Paiste gongs - first, symphonic (24" and 34") and then, Mars (32") and recently, Earth (40") - and continuously undergoing training. For my kundalini yoga classes, I normally bring one gong with me and play the gong at the end of the class or at times, when I do special 'rebirthing' classes where the gong is played to clear emotional blockages.  I also hold longer, 45-minute gong bath sessions at the Third Eye Wellness Center every Wednesday evening and for a very special group every other Wednesday afternoon. At times, I do participate in public events and give gong baths.

at an outdoor yoga class hosted by Life

at SouLove Center

at the opening of Yoga+Express Legazpi

at the Global Mala event

integrating gong during my Kundalini Yoga class 

After undergoing eight days hands-on training with Mehtab, I now integrate the sound of the gong in my kundalini yoga classes and not just play it at the end or during special featured classes. One of my students, Natasha Rodriguez, remarked that the gong helps her concentrate better and encourages her do the poses more.  Mind you, in kundalini yoga, we hold the poses at times for more than a minute or two.

Gong Therapist certification

I'm also a  'Gong Therapist' and conduct one-on-one sessions (by appointment though).   During the session, the gong combined with the practices of yoga (i.e. breathing techniques, hand gestures) are used to create a healing environment and transformational experience.

One of my first clients said that she experienced loose bowel movement after the one-hour session. Imbalances in the body may cause accumulation of toxins in certain parts of the body. The sound helps move high vibration energy through the body, loosening, dislodging and flushing out these accumulated toxins which may come out either as loose bowel, skin rashes, etc.

It may take some time for sound healing to become mainstream here in the Philippines. Nevertheless, I'm hopeful that people will turn to sound as a complementary healing modality.  Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), the father of holistic medicine said that "Sound is the medicine of the future."  Even Rudolf Steiner, German philosopher said that "pure tones will be used for healing before the end of this century."