When I arrived back here after my time in Vietnam, I right away felt the fresh air, I saw the mountains, the lovely decorated houses, and I knew I was back in Bhutan, but all this also reminds me of Switzerland, Austria,
places I also do call my home…Mountains, fresh air, nice wooden houses, …..but most of all what makes Bhutan so unique are all these prayer flags dancing in the wind,
Every bridge, every “holy” place, every cross
road, threshold, everywhere, prayer flags are dancing and rejoicing in and with the wind.
It is October, autumn is starting here, the apples are ripe and some leaves change their colours. It is also getting cooler, especially at night.
And there is often a nice soft wind,
All these prayer flags are a constant reminder of the spirit! Of devotion and of all the prayers for the well being for all those we love, for all beings, floating in the wind,
reaching them where ever they are, joyfully and light.
Like horses galopping in the wind....
Seeing these colourful prayer flags we feel fulfilled and happy! We feel “elevated” from our daily preoccupations. The prayer
flags are like a mindfulness bell, a reminder...
When I was child in Austria you would find a cross all on top of a mountain, little chapels on the way…
I remember as a child climbing with my father up to some
mountain peaks, arriving at the cross and feeling my soul widen and rejoice at the communion with nature. I remember praying in my own words inspired by the beauty of the mountains, the sky…and that which makes all this alive.
In
modern culture what are the “signs” that elevate our souls and that you would find getting out of a cable car up at some ski resort? …Commercials of sun protective lotions? Of a high performing Swiss watch? of chocolate or energy drinks?…reminding
us that we actually always need more and that we are “devoted” to consumerism?
When rereading my blog, I find these words a bit harsh...but still it is so good to be for a time in a place where priorities are set right, where
our vulnerability is fully aknowledged! We need protection, and our prayers are not "superstition" but a simple human necessity to connect with our deeper aspirations and the spirit in and around us!
Yesterday we went
to a talk on Rabindranath Tagore in the Indian Centre in Thimphu. It was very interesting. Tagore tried in his time, the time of industrialisation, colonisation, to keep the “spirit” alive, to have the human being with his/her richness at the centre
of all his creations. He brought “spirits” together and lighted fires in many of those he met. He was not afraid to affirm what might seem "not modern", crafts, traditions, spirituality, arts, as totally ahead of time,
I had
to think of the GNH Centre and its role of “bringing spirits together”, of cultivating a lively spirituality adapted to the needs and questions of our time. Of its task to have the human being and all living beings in its centre and to light “fires”
far beyond Bhutan.
For sure I will bring many prayer flag back to the Swiss alps and make them dance in unison with the wind of the spirit! The wind of the spirit that is free to blow anywhere....