A Terchen Pema Lingpa Day

It was somewhere in 2017 when I heard about the turquoise heart presented and talked at the mountain echoes by Mr. Pawo Choning Dorji. Terchen Pema Lingpa was a name I heard long time back in school and everyone knows he was such great treasure discoverer. Mr Pawo wrote to the then Prime Minister of Bhutan requesting for a day in a year to celebrate the great Bhutanese hero. A day dedicate only to Tertoen Pema Lingpa. Finally the cabinet has approved to name a day for this great Bhutanese hero starting next year whereby the third day of the first lunar month will be celebrated as a National Pema Lingpa Day in Bhutan. Isn’t it a great news for us?

“Pema Lingpa was the first Bhutanese figure and perhaps only the one, who effectively reversed the flow of religious offerings from Bhutan to Tibet” Dr. Karma Phuntsho from ‘The History of Bhutan’

Born in 1450 in Bumthang, this great treasure discoverer went on to have his first treasure extraction in 1476 at the riverine below the cliff of Naringdra on a full moon night. After this incident, the public speculation began whereby Pema Lingpa jumped into a lake with a burning butter lamp and returned back with a Buddha statue and a sealed skull with the butter lamp still burning. And this place, to this day holds as a most scared and a must visit place in Bumthang by the name Mebar Tsho or the Burning Lake.

Pema Lingpa then went on to have several treasure extractions via his divine destination and itinerary set up by the Guru Padmasambhava. He wasn’t a tertoen but a terchen: King of treasure discoverers. And there was only five terchens, destined to extensively reveal treasures of Guru Rinpoche. He is rightly described as the Bhutanese saint and cultural hero and it feels amazing to know that his importance are still felt in various parts of Tibet, Nepal and India (Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Spiti). In Tibet, he had a huge followers, patrons and students. It seems unbelievable when the history has it that at two of his religious sessions in and around Tibet, huge number (as huge as 9000) of people turned up for the Terchen Pema Lingpa’s blessing that he was placed on a throne and raised above the ground whereby the public had to walk under his throne to receive the blessing.

No doubt that Pema Lingpa too had rivals and contenders those days. Lama Namkha Samdrub of Nyemo in Tibet happens to have an interesting encounter with our Pema Lingpa. The former was said to have made malicious gossips about Pema Lingpa in various parts of Tibet. Pema Lingpa had received various baseless challenges from Lam Namkha. On a final face, Pema Lingpa challenged Lam Namkha back for an ordeal by fire, where both of them had to leap into the burning fire and the one who survived was to be the winner. Unable to face such a challenge, Lama Namkha was said to have fled to Tibet the next day.

Neither it is not going to be enough to write nor I be the right person to talk about this great Terchen of Bhutan. This is the few words that are emerging from my heart. To be frank even a day in a year falls short against his great doings in our country. Still I am very much rejoiced of the great news of his day from next year. Another reason I am so glad about a day for our Terchen Pema Lingpa is that, it came after my less than a week ago recent trip to Ganteng Sangna Choeling Monastery in Phobjikha that was built by the grandson of Terchen Pema Lingpa. The history has it that the Terchen visited Phobjikha where he predicted and foretold that his descendants would build a monastery on the hilltop where the Pema Lingpa tradition would thrive into the future. Gyalse Pema Thrinley built the Ganteng Goenpa in 1613 and became the first Gangteng Trulku.  The monastery houses various ancient and age-old nangtens with rich historical background. Being there physically, I couldn’t describe how blessed I was and really proud that Bhutan too had such a religious hero.

It was Pema Lingpa who had the divine dreams of various mask dances from Guru Rinpoche which are mostly performed in various tshechus in Bhutan today.

There is another great reason why we have to celebrate Pema Lingpa day in Bhutan. We all know that our beloved Kings from the Wangchuk Dynasty are the descendants of the great Terchen Pema Lingpa. Our kings belong to the Dungkar Choje, a subsidiary clan of Khouchung Choje founded by Kunga Wangpo, one of the sons of Pema Lingpa.

There are times when we question ourselves on our patriotism and this happens to one such incident. We never realized to celebrate our own home-grown hero. Thank you Mr. Pawo for taking such a huge initiative and opening our eyes.