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SPIRITUAL LIGHT OF BHUTANESE EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENT

SPIRITUAL LIGHT OF BHUTANESE EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Dear Gyembo Namgyel Sir,
Though it has been almost a year I received your condolence message on my father’s departure for his heavenly abode, the soothing and recuperative effect of your sacred words still continues to comfort and renew my heart. I have realized how the love and compassion of a good friend and brother can restore and repair our damaged mind and rebuild us. According to Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, a good friend   is greater than a library. I wish and pray that you become a friend to all of that stature.

As my father’s 1st death anniversary is nearing (3 December 2017), I reminisce the spiritual splendor and grandeur of Bhutanese education and pristine Nature that had brought heaven down on the earth for my late father through my sacrifice of the Royal profession in order to be with him. Overflowed with joy at the sight of the rain of love, devotion and service that descended on my fortunate father in his last days through the hands of my family members one day I dazzled him with the remark: “Father, your luck has brought your heaven down to you.” In response, he nodded his head intoxicated with heavenly bliss. Such has been the impact of Bhutanese education and environment in my father’s life. Our attitudes and philosophies of life have been profoundly altered in Bhutan and a burning zeal dawned in us to live a righteous life. My father had saluted every Bhutanese visitor with the thought that I have been reshaped by the spell of the Bhutanese system and environment. And he was absolutely right in his thought.

In every child and every phenomenon I saw glow of spirituality. The great educationist and philosopher, Dr. Radhakrishnan believed that education that cannot develop spiritual feelings in students is not real. Still now the spectacular view of one afternoon in March 2006 flashes upon my mind when I was on my way from Nangkor to Pemagatshel, the students of Shumar Primary School on their way home, at my sight chanted, “Apchi sir ooncha! Apchi sir ooncha! ” Then in a hurry they lined up and bowed down to me with folded hands and profound devotion as I got closer to them on my scooter. After them I met several other groups of students of Nangkor High School and Pemegatshel Lower Secondary School who exhibited the similar gesture and spectacle. I felt ecstatic. That experience unfolded a new layer of my eyes and thought, and inspired me to call all children ‘Little Buddhas’ It was a day and event of my consecration. From that spark, a flame of learning, writing and investigating life from a different dimension began to burn in me.

It is mainly because of the spiritual ambience of the schools and education and pristine environment I always tried to refine myself to be worthy of the angelic students and the sacred education system. Frequently I reminded my wife, “Since we are living in the girls hostel ( Nangkor HSS: 1997 -2007) where we are being watched by hundreds of boarder girls and boys round the clock, we should live an ideal and exemplary life for the children to  learn good practices from us. And by God’s grace we were successful in our mission. All my Principals were my light to lead me and lift me to that sanctity. It was on the hilltop of Tsebar primary School, though remote and devoid of all modern amenities (1987-1997), my collection of scriptures and classical literatures began its journey. I owe a lot to the mail runners who so faithfully carried the loads of my books taking arduous walk for hours each time over the mountains without uttering a word of dissatisfaction.

Another strange experience! My wealth of YOGA whose root is in India surfaced in my life in the library of Tsebar Primary School and I got connected with my Yoga teacher, Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar in Pune. Yoga has a profound influence on changing my attitude and aptitude that enabled me to live and serve my students as I was expected of.

Our students in Bhutan are so well trained in spiritual plane. It is so thrilling to me to recall the spectacles of students praying before breakfast, before morning assembly, before lunch, after classes, before dinner and before retiring to the bed. At every night on the scheduled bed time when I had gone around the girls’ rooms at Nangkor HSS as the matron to ensure that everyone was in the respective bed, I found most of the girls immersed in prayer on their beds.The memory of those spiritual sights today brings tears of heavenly joy. Nobel laureate Dr. Alexis Carrel, the Medical Scientist, wrote: “ Prayer is not only worship; it is also an invisible emanation of man’s worshipping spirit – the most powerful form of energy that one can generate.”

 The auspicious days in the Bhutanese schools are observed with so much dignity, discipline and devotion. The memory of the classroom meditation in Wangchhu Middle Secondary School, Chukha, before beginning the lesson still injects in me a feeling of peace and bliss. It is rewarding to recall how enthusiastically dozens of students joined our cleaning campaigns in Chukha which is also an indication of spiritual inclination. By the honour and care to the trees and plants in Bhutanese education I felt so much stimulated and united with the Nature that with the patronage of the Chukha Hydro Power Plant and my Principal Sir and with the holy hands of the students we have developed a wonderful forest. The forest has become a holy place. Because at the centre of the forest where a meditation seat was designed by the students grew a Bodhi Tree which I regard as an answer to the students’ prayer. Unless we see it with our own eyes, it sounds unbelievable.

The meditation session for students accompanied with reading out of a holy text at the morning assembly of Wanchhu MSS had always a tranquilizing and consecrating effect on my mind. According to the philosophy of Maharishi Patanjali this kind of spiritual activity has a refining and divinizing effect on the entire human race as there erupts an invisible emanation of rays of light in all direction from the spot where it is practiced. In Sanskrit it is called Tanmatra. The sacred voice in reading of the meditation text by our Principal Sir, Mr. Dhan Singh Tamang always echoes in my heart. Through my inward eyes every morning at eight from my far away hometown I see the radiation of light from the assembly ground of Wangchhu School in all directions that reaches every nook and corner of the world and enriches, elevates  and enlightens our brothers and sisters everywhere.

May our spiritual light burn with brighter flame!

Thank you sir for being my stimulation to share my thoughts, feelings and experiences.

With prayer and best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Santosh Chowdhury,

Ex-teacher, Bhutan 

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