Nawang P Phuntsho

Wow, another month is down; look at my blog, it is literally starving. Good that it is silent though. I have nothing serious to blog about even today.   Buddhism denounces enormous wealth. It is not happiness, but it invites suffering and misery. First there is the pain and struggle of accumulating it and then there is burden of having to look after it accompanied by the pain of parting with it. And this leaves us with no or less time to practice the teachings of the Buddha and nearly no time to reflect on the preciousness of human life.   In mythologies, the King of Klu (Naga; serpent) is said to have nine heads and each one carries a lump of gold. And while gold symbolizes dignity, pride, wealth, power, the serpent king is said to be susceptible to lurking threats. By token of being born in a Buddhist country, we are taught to value spiritual happiness over material wealth. And then here we are taught that happiness is more important than any amount of wealth. Our policy...

My daughter 1 month old I have just talked to my daughter. When PaSsu one day wrote how he missed his daughter being away from her on a workshop at Chukha, I might have rolled my eyes a couple of times. But now here I am. I have been away from my beloved daughter for more than two weeks now. And of course PaSsu was so right – I miss my daughter so much. I dream about her every night and her mother allows me to talk to her on the phone. Sometimes when I call her mother, my daughter happens to be doing her round of crying. But when I start to talk and console her on the phone, she stops crying. This happened many times now. This makes me think that she can recognize her father’s melodic voice. Jokes aside, I become so happy when she listens to my voice on the receiver and giggles, pretending and trying to say so many things to me.  Sometimes I wonder if she tries to tell me how she misses me and why I was being away from her for a long time. And this makes me miss her even more...

Source: www.theduluthmodel.org Today (October 2, 2010) coinciding with the Birth Anniversary of Gandhiji, the day is observed as the International Day of Non-violence starting 2007 according to the UN General Assembly Resolution. The resolution declares it as the moment to “disseminate the message of non-violence”.   It is of course a time for us to reflect on the lives of a great soul – Mahatma Gandhi who moved the world with his Ahimsa moment.   Back home, it is good time for us Bhutanese to reflect on beauty of living with Buddhist principles. It is time for us to treat others in a way we want them to treat us and extend our compassion on those suffering. Non-violence is not only about trying to stop fighting or killing. It is about being compassionate and kind to others, treating others as our own kith and kin. Of course all these are fancy concepts. But let’s admit being poor farmers in a remote village is never a crime. But it is if we insult them for being poor. I...