The Bhutanese Leading the way.
In Dr (Phd) Karma Phuntsho’s seminal work, “The History of Bhutan”, the back jacket of the book has Dasho Karma Ura, writing about the book, saying, “Unmatched in scope, clarity and insight into Bhutan of yesterday for understanding it today. It demonstrates how superb Buddhist learning complements Western scholarship.”
This compliment by Dasho Karma Ura best captures Dr Karma Phuntsho, a man well versed in both the spiritual Buddhist world of Monastic teaching and Western research at Oxford and other places.
Dr Karma was born in Ura, Bumthang and had Buddhism infused into him at an early age. Though his father was a farmer and his mother a housewife, they enjoyed religious prestige with his mother from the Gaden Lam family tracing its origin to Phajo Drukgom Zhigpo, and his father was of the Tsakaling Choje, a religious family claiming descent from Pema Lingpa and the Tarshong Chukpo house of Ura.
His father who doubled as a farmer and also as a religious practitioner taught him his first Chokey alphabets and prayers. Karma studied in Ura primary school till class three and after that moved to Jakar school where he studied till class eight.
He fondly remembers cooking for his teachers, working as a health assistant, loving biology with a strong desire to become a medical doctor, and running the school bookstore, cultural clubs, and annual fetes although he was often bullied by others due to his small stature.
He moved to a school in Thimphu in class nine in 1986 where things did not go well for Karma, as he was bullied and also fell out of favor with his teacher. Dr Karma said that around the same time, His Majesty The Fourth King wanted school students to become monks, and so he saw his chance and left the school and joined Chagri Monastery to become a monk and study Buddhism.
Dr Karma said that although he was 16-years-old, he had to learn everything from scratch including basic grammar, and here, his early introduction to Chokey by his father and primary education helped a great deal.
Talking about his monkhood education, he said, “I would say it was tough, but on hindsight, it was the most celebrated and most productive time in my life with very rigorous education.”
After a year in Chagri, Karma continued his monastic education for the next 10 years in Mysore, India where he spent a year at Sera Monastery and then ten years at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute. From 1994 onwards, he taught there and in 1997 he joined the University of Oxford, and finished in 2003 with a Doctorate in Philosophy in Oriental Studies. While studying at Oxford, his monastery wanted him to manage a center in the US, but since Karma wanted to continue his studies, he gave up his vows of a Buddhist monk.
In Bhutan, he has founded the Loden Foundation, a charity to promote education and entrepreneurship in Bhutan as well as the Shejun Agency for Bhutan’s Cultural Documentation and Research, which later was merged with the Loden Foundation.
Dr Karma said he was surprised when he got a call about the Ramon Magsaysay Award, as he did not know who nominated him or how he got nominated.
However, he does recall that around five months ago, two researchers from the Philippines had come in the guise of research, and wanted to interview him.
Dr Karma said, “When they visited, they wanted to see me, but I was away in my village helping with a local festival, and so I instead gave them the names of other people they can talk to. However, they insisted they needed to see me, and even offered to come to the village and interview me there.”
Dr Karma had arranged a farmhouse stay for the two ‘researchers’ who had come as tourists and also took part in the local festival. Their questions were regarding his work on social transformation, with follow up questions later online.
The two researchers said they have a last urgent question and their President would like to ask it. This was when Dr Karma received a call from the President of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Susanna B Afan, saying he has been chosen for the award, and if he would like to accept.
“I had heard about the award a long time ago, but I did know enough and did not agree right away, as I thought it may also be one of those awards where you give some money and they give you an award, and so I said I need some time,” said Dr Karma.
When Dr Karma did look up the award and asked a couple of friends, he realized the award was not only real, but essentially one of the most prestigious in the world.
This time, a different hesitation set in as he questioned himself, if he could accept such a major award given to other major global luminaries, and moreover, since 2021 he moved away from the media and public spotlight, and was engaged more in spiritual and meditation pursuits at his Bodhitse Centre for Study and Contempation.
After five days of contemplation, Dr Karma decided to accept the award for the sake of Bhutan and also for Loden Foundation and his other works.
He said the award would now take away his privacy, as along with accepting the award, he has to agree to give a four-hour long interview, deliver a long lecture to former laureates and receive the award on 16th November, and it is clashing with a busy schedule he had planned before.
He said he is traveling soon to Tibet for some research work, and after that in October he is getting the Dam Nga Dzo (Treasury of Meditation Instruction transmission of Jamgon Kongtrul) that Drigung Chetsang Rinpoche is giving in Kathmandu to the public for two months. He has been asking for some rescheduling possibilities for the other award activities.
Dr Karma said that he is following his life as per the Buddhist tradition in two paths. One is learning and the other part is practicing. He said given his age (55), he in a way is preparing for his own death and also giving time to meditation, mindfulness and contemplation.
“At the same time, even in this I am always trying to solve problems and since meditation and mindfulness is a need for Bhutan with mental health issues, and now His Majesty’s Gelephu Mindfulness City project, I feel in 10 years time, I will have learnt enough to be able to contribute.”
He said his ability of being able to decipher and analyze old texts and translate them is a niche that can also be helpful.
While Dr Karma is more focused on the mind, he is also active in Loden Foundation with the attrition rate due to the migration and staff moving to better opportunities in the country too, and so he is hands on supporting the young leadership there.
On the award, Dr Karma said, “Let me say this. I don’t consider this as an honor for me, as a person, but it is recognition of the teamwork and all the support and good wishes people have shown to a shared vision in the projects mainly through Loden and also other social initiatives. It is part of the much bigger picture of Bhutan’s pursuit of GNH. It is not just for me, but for a remarkable country and the goals it has set.”
On what he would do next, given the award, he said the important goal is GNH or the balance of external material development and the inner culture of possibility.
“I see the award as blessing, and it is so encouraging because it will help me join a network of extraordinary citizens and their human resource, and I hope their courage blessing and wisdom will rub on me so that I can be a better servant of the country and use the network to help Bhutan,” he added.
The award is already bringing in benefits. Dr Karma said that his friends in France did a Google search and found the prize money for the award is USD 50,000 and so they have collected and donated Euro 50,000 to Loden foundation to celebrate the award.
He said that there are a lot of wishes from Bhutanese in the country and outside and friends of Bhutan and he has been able to connect with a lot of people.
The award citation says, He is being recognized for “his invaluable and enduring contributions towards harmonizing the richness of his country’s past with the diverse predicaments and prospects of its present, inspiring young Bhutanese to be proud of their heritage and confident in their future. Beyond his immediate horizon, his work engages all peoples and cultures around the world facing the same challenges, reminding them to look back even as they move forward.”
It says Loden’s accomplishments have been impressive and life changing. In education, it has established five preschools, funded 219 students through school, awarded ninety-eight college scholarships, and held sixty-three Bhutan Dialogue Sessions for public education.
In entrepreneurship, Loden has addressed the problem of youth unemployment in Bhutan by helping them to become social entrepreneurs through loans, mentorship, and capacity-building.
Loden funded 295 entrepreneurs (ninety-seven of whom are women) creating 860 jobs, with 5,750 more aspiring entrepreneurs trained since 2008.
Acutely aware of the need to preserve and promote Bhutan’s rich cultural traditions, Loden has focused on documenting and digitizing its oral and written heritage. This has so far resulted in 3,348 hours of recordings of intangible culture, 4.55 million pages of digital texts from seventy-six libraries, 150,000 pictures of old art and artifacts, and sixty-one culture projects.
