Grounding in Wisdom

The early part of our week in Bhutan began with a deep dive into the country's spiritual wisdom.

On our first morning, we drove to a centuries-old temple where we received blessings from the monks, who chanted for our wellbeing. The blessings were organized by our local leader, Dorji Wangchuk, PhD (Dorji’s personal blog is great), who was once the Press Secretary to the king. He explained that these rituals are an essential part of any journey’s beginning. When they’re not chanting for us, he said, they pray for all sentient beings.

The next day, we hiked to Tiger’s Nest Monastery, which sits perched on a cliff, 3,000m above sea level. The sheer drop falls away beneath the monastery walls, and the thin mountain air turns the climb into a silent meditation. There, the head Lama welcomed us for a long-life ceremony in the holiest room. We learned about the Bhutanese concept of moelam: aspirational prayers or intentions voiced to shape reality. Unlike karma, which looks backward, moelam is forward-facing. Every moment is a chance to set a new trajectory.

Moelam is also a way to acknowledge the incredible coincidence of meeting anyone in this world; the trillions of things that had to go right for you to share an experience with any other being. Dorji says that he treats the people he sits next to on the plane with reverence, given how unlikely it is to meet them at all.

Paro Taktsang, or “Tiger’s Nest”. Guru Padmasambhava is said to have flown there from Singye Dzong on the back of Monmo Tashi Khyidren, whom he transformed into a flying tigress.

Bhutan and the Blueprint for a Wise City

Did you love this capsule?