The photo shows villagers and visitors walking across rice paddies to ascend to the temple of Chimi Lhakhang to receive fertility blessings.  Couples come from nearby; they also come from as far away as Japan and the United States.

The Divine Madman is not one of the three major figures who shaped Bhutan’s history, but he is very influential.  He is one of the unseen forces which must be included when trying to understand Bhutan.  I have put some notes on the three major historical characters at the end of this blog, in case you’re curious.

Drukpa Kunley, known as the Divine Madman, is in the tradition of many figures from different cultures who break the rules and who act as teachers through humor and magic (Kokopelli, Nasruddin).  He has interested a number of western writers, probably in part because his form of humor and magic are sexual.  He is reputed to have defeated a demoness on a high mountain pass who was oppressing the people of the valleys, by using his sexual power.  Dunno how that worked, didn’t ask.

One of the striking features in Bhutan of architectural decoration are phalluses, which appear hanging from the eaves of houses (at the corners, paired with swords), painted six feet high on the outside walls of many structures, especially at doors, or carved into decorations.  Their purpose is protective - to keep away evil spirits.  My guesthouse at Thimphu, the capital, had two of these flanking the main entrance and my guides, who have travelled a lot in the west, smiled and said, “You will be well protected”.  If this would offend you (not a chance, right?) then don’t read to the end where I’ve got a couple of photos.  (Don’t skip to the end either, darn it!)

I am a fan of sexuality, and think one of the lacks of most of the religions of the world is that they treat sex as something to be avoided instead of something to be embraced, as it were, in a positive way.  Often, this goes along with feeling women are to be confined or avoided instead of embraced.  Not to worry, not going into a long diatribe on this, only commenting that I viewed these symbols with interest and curiosity.  Which I think is pretty healthy.

It may be my bias, but I got the closest to capturing “gross national happiness” on film in the valley which is dedicated to the Divine Madman’s best known temple in Lobesa.  It’s pretty clear that humor, magic, and sexuality run very comfortably through Bhutanese agricultural society, and are closely related to religion.  I think it’s part of the happiness which you can indeed see, no matter how much you try to reason it away or qualify it with caveats.

I think one benefit of this element in Bhutanese nature is, maybe, that they get along better with their teenagers, because the great forces of teen years are incorporated into the culture instead of being treated as alien and suppressed.  How’s that for going out on a limb.  You’re not going to waste time trying to prove me wrong???

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Appendix:  The three recognized historic figures are Buddha, Guru Rimpoche, who brought Buddhism to Bhutan in the 8th century, and Zhabdrung.  Guru Rimpoche is supposed to have meditated at the site of the Tiger’s Nest monastery, where I went on my last day in Bhutan, after riding there through the air on the back of a tigress (which was actually his new consort, who transformed herself to help him). 

Zhabdrung came from Tibet in 1616, and helped to repel intermittent Tibetan invasions by creating a series of dzongs -- very handsome fortresses -- for each district.  At that time the districts were at war, a feudal society which became unified under Zhabdrung.  He created a dual system of national government, under which the monarchy and the Buddhist spiritual leader were coequals.  This shared authority exists in the present day, but in March 2008 the young king Jigme Khesar Namgay Wangchuk, with some resistance from the Bhutanese people who adore the monarchy, gave up his power to appoint ministers in favor of democratic elections.