Explore Buddhism in Bhutan

Buddhism is inscribed into the very landscape of Bhutan – fluttering prayer flags, gleaming white chortens and portraits of Buddhist saints carved into the rock dot the countryside. Whether you are visiting a dzong or chatting to your guide, if you want to understand Bhutan, it is essential to have a basic understanding of Buddhism. In essence, everything from festival dances and monastery art to government policy serves the same purpose in Bhutan: to encapsulate and promulgate basic Buddhist teachings.

Other Religions

Not all Bhutanese are Buddhist. Many of the Lhotshampas, the descendants of Nepali migrants, are Hindu – as are the majority of the casual labourers from Assam and Bengal. There are still traces of animistic pre-Buddhist beliefs in the countryside and there’s a small number of Christian converts. Bhutan is tolerant of all religions but does not permit proselytisation. The constitution upholds freedom of belief and does not make any religion the official religion of Bhutan. It does, however, recognise the importance of Bhutan’s Buddhist heritage to the country’s cultural identity.

Schools of Buddhism

Buddhism is perhaps the most accommodating of the world’s religions. As Buddhism has spread, it has adapted to local conditions and absorbed local beliefs and aesthetics, creating new schools of thought. Over the centuries two principal schools of Buddhism emerged: Theravada and Mahayana.

Theravada, sometimes referred to as Hinayana, focused on pursuing liberation for the individual. Mahayana took Buddhism in a different direction, emphasising compassion and the liberation of all living beings. The Theravada teachings retreated to southern India before becoming established in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Cambodia. The Mahayana teachings were developed in the new Buddhist universities in northern India before being transmitted northwards in a huge arc along the Silk Road to China, Tibet, Bhutan, Japan and Korea. It is the Mahayana teachings on compassion that permeate the religious beliefs and practices of the Bhutanese.

Despite these differences, the basic tenets of Buddhism have remained the same and all schools of Buddhism are united by their faith in the value of the original teachings of Buddha.

Tantrism (Vajrayana)

A new school called Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle) emerged from the Mahayana in about AD 600. Both the Theravada and Mahayana schools studied the Sutras that recorded the teachings of Sakyamuni; however, the followers of Tantrism believed that he had left a collection of hidden esoteric teachings to a select few of his early disciples. These were known as Tantra (gyu).

Over the centuries Tantric Buddhism in Tibet gradually divided into various schools, each with their own philosophical, spiritual and political emphasis. In central and eastern Bhutan, the oldest school of Himalayan Buddhism, Nyingmapa, is most popular. The Nyingmapa school was introduced during the earliest phase of Buddhist propagation and experienced a revival through the discovery of terma (hidden texts believed to have been buried by Guru Rinpoche at various sites across Bhutan). In other parts of Bhutan, particularly the west, the Drukpa Kagyupa school is pre-eminent. The Drukpa school was founded in Ralung in Tibet by Tsanpa Gyare (1161–1211) and spread to Bhutan in the 13th century.

Tantra (Sanskrit meaning ‘continuum’) most often refers to the literature dealing with tantric teachings. Tantrism relies heavily on oral transmission between teacher and student, as well as the practice of identifying with a tutelary deity through meditation and the recitation of mantras. The two most well-known mantras are om mani padme hum of Chenresig (Avalokiteshvara) and om vajra guru padme siddhi hum of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava).

In Bhutan ritual objects such as the dorji (thunderbolt), drilbu (bell), skull cup and hand drum are all derived from tantric teachings, as is much of the imagery on the walls of monasteries and temples. They display the many different aspects of enlightenment – at times gentle, at other times wrathful.