Bhutanese Community in Iowa (BCI)
Bhutanese Community in Iowa (BCI)
  • Home
    • Bhutanese Refugees
  • About Us
  • Faith- Groups
    • APBHI
    • KSI
    • BABSI
    • Ray of Hope Inc.
  • Programs
    • Projects >
      • BLCEP
      • Adult ESL
      • Citizenship Classes
    • Services >
      • Green Card Filing
      • Income Tax Preparation
      • Citizenship Applications (N-400)
      • Job Applications & Resume Writing
      • Translation & Interpretations
      • Benefit Applications
  • Publications
    • The BCI Update >
      • BCI Update Special Edition
      • Vol 11, August 2018
      • Vol 10, July 2018
      • Vol 9, June 2018
      • Vol 8, May 2018
      • Vol 7, April 2018
      • Vol 6, October 2017
      • Vol 5, August 2017
      • Vol 4, July 2017
      • Vol 3, June 2017
      • Vol 2, April 2017
      • Vol 1, March 2017
    • The Bhutan Observer >
      • TBO Blog
      • December 2018
      • November 2018
      • October 2018
      • September 2018
      • August 2018
      • July 2018
      • June 2018
      • May 2018
      • April 2018
      • March 2018
      • February 2018
      • January 2018
      • December 2017
      • November 2017
  • Home
    • Bhutanese Refugees
  • About Us
  • Faith- Groups
    • APBHI
    • KSI
    • BABSI
    • Ray of Hope Inc.
  • Programs
    • Projects >
      • BLCEP
      • Adult ESL
      • Citizenship Classes
    • Services >
      • Green Card Filing
      • Income Tax Preparation
      • Citizenship Applications (N-400)
      • Job Applications & Resume Writing
      • Translation & Interpretations
      • Benefit Applications
  • Publications
    • The BCI Update >
      • BCI Update Special Edition
      • Vol 11, August 2018
      • Vol 10, July 2018
      • Vol 9, June 2018
      • Vol 8, May 2018
      • Vol 7, April 2018
      • Vol 6, October 2017
      • Vol 5, August 2017
      • Vol 4, July 2017
      • Vol 3, June 2017
      • Vol 2, April 2017
      • Vol 1, March 2017
    • The Bhutan Observer >
      • TBO Blog
      • December 2018
      • November 2018
      • October 2018
      • September 2018
      • August 2018
      • July 2018
      • June 2018
      • May 2018
      • April 2018
      • March 2018
      • February 2018
      • January 2018
      • December 2017
      • November 2017

how long is the search?

12/1/2018

Comments

 
Swami Ananda Prabhu's measuring rod for the realization and the end of search for truth can be depicted in these lines below.'As long as you do not know the truth, keep moving ahead. Once you know the truth, there will be nothing left unknown. If you feel there is something, however little, yet to be known, know that the knowledge of truth has not happened.'

Read More
Comments

READY-MADE SPIRITUAL GEMS

11/1/2018

Comments

 
​The Bhutan Observer accomplishes one year of uninterrupted publication in November 2018. It is being seen that increasing number of my friends are attracted to this spiritual bulletin. I have always said that we are all human beings first and then whatever assumptions we take. Human well-being is the central theme of my pursuit and I am trying to contribute in whatever small way possible to raise awareness at least to my level of knowing. Given the scenario where we have tried all exclusive approaches to bring peace in the world and failed primarily because of the divisions, the only hope for us is an inclusive spirituality which alone can bind humanity  irrespective of religion, caste, creed, color, language, gender and any other distinction.  

Read More
Comments

illusion and reality

10/1/2018

Comments

 
The most deluding factor that over shadows our normal perception is the illusion of things that appear to be. In our society there has always been such importance given to what is an illusion and what is a reality. But most of the time we tend to overlook this reality and continue to be falsely satisfied with an illusion which appears as true vision. Illusion is something which appears as real, but it is not. I have tried to describe in the lines below as to the distinction between the two situations.

Read More
Comments

DEATH IS A COSMIC JOKE

9/1/2018

Comments

 
Birth is unknown while death is known as we all know from our experience. Our senses open as soon as we are born and all along the way we know we are heading for our death. Is death really as scary as we think? I remember Anup Jalota singing in his hymn that when you are born the world laughs and you cry. But at death the world cries and you laugh. Does this truth hold some water in it? It appears that death is a time for celebration because you are leaving the tattered body for a new one. Yogis say that there is no death as such but life, life and life. It is said that the tendencies of the karma go with you when you obtain a new life. One needs to pursue knowing this truth through contemplation and yogic practices.

Read More
Comments

seeking the ultimate

8/1/2018

Comments

 
How can I attain Mukti or liberation? This is a million-dollar question in our minds. This implies you want total emancipation and achieve that sublime state of being. 1000 lies cannot make a single truth. Hence the journey begins with truth which is characterized by complete submission from the fathoms of your heart. Here submission means you surrender to the source of creation free from assumptions and seeking from your inner self to know the ultimate truth. Your pathways will slowly broaden and take you to the realms of realization.

Read More
Comments

different aspects of truth compared

7/1/2018

Comments

 
It is very important to be abreast of spiritual concepts if one is to understand the deeper dimensions of reality. From simple words to their broad concepts, it requires our perception to enhance the realization of the one the only truth. Once you realize this, you are on your own. It should be remembered that technique of calculation would not work rather your intelligence in the form of your devotion can easily gear you to the goal. The good news for everybody is that this divine knowledge is easily achievable to all provided you strive in earnest.
​

​What is seen in the entire cosmos are just two things. There could be so many ways to compare and understand the nature of these two entities. But one of the most distinctly comprehended reality is that one is made and the other has always been there – never made. It is the basis of all that is there and by itself does not have any basis. In other words, it is baseless. Grossly seen what is baseless is the creator and the entire physical manifestation is the creation.  

Read More
Comments

some deeper truth to know

6/1/2018

Comments

 
Realization of truth cannot be determined by the parameters you set to something you want to know. In the process you cannot condition your intellect to what you like or don't like. We are not discovering anything new here rather realizing what has already been there all along. Therefore, Sadhguru mentions time and again, that when you reach a point of 'I do not know' only will then seeking begins. In my case besides being a devout disciple, I did study, practiced yoga, asked questions, discussed spiritual matters with friends and relatives and I also had the opportunity to visit many places of spiritual interest in Nepal and India.  In all these endeavors I realized that humility is a great asset of a seeker and it is the mother of devotion.    
  
The emotions that our body generates like joy and misery, happiness and sorrow, pain and pleasure, agony and bliss, love and hatred, sufferings and ecstasy are all a result of chemistry that goes on within our body. Yogis observe that our body is capable of producing the required chemicals for a certain emotion. It is known that after a lot of research in the last couple of decades a scientist found millions of cannabis receptors in the human brain. It is because the human body produces its own narcotic that feelings of peace, pleasure and joy happen within you without any stimulus from outside. When the scientist wanted to give this chemical an appropriate name, he came to India after a long search and found the most appropriate word Ananda or bliss. So, he called it anandamide. Generation of sufficient amount of anandamide in your system can make you drunk all the time but fully awake, wide awake like the yogis.  
 

Sath Chith Ananda is a household word in the Indian culture and it means Truth, Knowledgeand bliss, the highest state of human achievement. It is worth mentioning here that Pragya  Purush Om Shri Ananda Prabhu in his publication 'Swabodh Bhajanamrit' cautions everybody that 'Very few know my sath chith ananda roop. He is not talking about himself but he is referring to you and me in these verses. He observes – I am the seer of the universe, very few know me as the witness of all. There is no sin or virtue nor do I have I have any action. I have no birth nor death, I am untainted by all these, very few know my sath chith ananda roop. I am the heat in the sun or moon and the fire and I am the radiant bright light, very few know my sath chith ananda roop. What is seen is the seer, I am that non-dual form very few  know my sath chith ananda roop. Suffering and happiness is my doing  and so is bondage and liberation. I am away from mind and intellect, easily achievable with the Guru's grace, very few know the indescribable, nameless and the formless roop.   
 

There has always been a talk in the town about praying and meditation. Usually we pray whenever we have a difficult situation or in front of a deity or in a place of worship. Essentially what happens in a prayer is that we ask God for something in other words we do all the speaking and expect God to be listening. But the reverse of the same is true in case of meditation where we listen and God speaks. For all our senses to be active and realize the presence of God we need to awaken the Gyan, Bhakti and Vairag. We have seen in the Bhagavad how the Bhakti Mata is helpless without her two ailing and unconscious old sons – Gyan and Vairag who needs to be awakened. 
  
This would certainly be something new to know for most of the readers that there are four states of being [Awastha]. First is the jagarat awastha or wakefulness where we are fully aware of what is happening around us. The second is the Swapna awastha or dream state during sleep when the mind is present, but we are not awake. The third is called the susuptiwhere you feel nothing, know nothing. There is no witness to the experience and it is just deep dreamless sleep. The fourth is called the Turiya awastha or state of trance where astral travel happens in the later stage of meditation. In my own experience, I felt I have detached from my body and travelled to some distant unknown places. Although I was fully aware, I can't describe how that journey happened. I came back and to my surprise I saw my own body like a dead body lying on the bed. After a while I woke up but could not figure out how I entered back into the body. I had three consecutive nights of these experiences which happened during brahma muhurta, hours before dawn. I can say for sure how it would be like when we are dead. I experienced this while in my hut in the refugee camp in 1998. I also hadseries of telepathic experiences with my Guru who spoke everything that was there in my mind during prabachan [discourse] and the devotees surrounded me to know what the Guru said. Today, I understand that when your devotion reaches a certain height the etheric content becomes dense which is why telepathy is possible. To tell you a secret, I was definitely themost devoted devotee which my fellow devotees would agree, and they would not hesitate to disclose what happened during those days. 
  
Have ever you slept under the open sky and wondered about all that you see above? I did that while in the Beldangi camp not from my hut though. To avoid the heat late evening, I used to sleep on a jhalla in the silence of the school ground and wonder looking into the sky. As a habitual sky-gazer, I gathered for myself that everything is nothing. This means all that is there is going to perish because everything comes with an expiry date and turn into nothing. Similarly, nothing is everything because it is from nothingness that creation will begin and everything will come about. Do not hesitate to imagine. We just have the faculty of memory and imagination to steer us on the road to our mission. Always remember it is not about knowing God. It is about becoming God.  
  
Comments

What are we looking for?

5/1/2018

Comments

 
Human society seems to be lost in a maze of desires for quenching their thirsts ceaselessly. But unfortunately,they are not able to define the very object of pursuit despite many years of experiences. While it is an established fact that we want emancipation and freedom from the clutches of sufferings, there is something missing in what we seek for in a daily basis. I have tried to put this human predicament in the lines below with a motive to portray the existing scenario as best as possible. This would hopefully enable us to determine what we actually crave for and achieve what we all aspire for - happiness.  Some of the thoughts put below has been derived from the divine discourses given by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.    ​

Read More
Comments

FOUR FOLD DIVISION OF SOCIETY OR CASTE SYSTEM?

4/1/2018

Comments

 
​If Shri Krishna, the exponent of the four-fold division of the society, were to descend on earth and see the state of the social structure, he would be shocked to see what people have done to this society. Evils have crept into the society because of vested interests, greed, lust for power and animalistic nature of some of the so-called guardians of the society themselves. Originally Krishna never proposed untouchability, discrimination, harassment and social violence. Even a layman can understand that Lord Krishna, who reigned in this world some 3,500 years ago, is much above these petty prejudices and no texts coming out of his lips ever spell anything otherwise. 

Read More
Comments

Truth behind Dharma and Design of Destiny

3/1/2018

Comments

 
​Historically, Bhutan was divided into petty kingdoms ruled by dharma rajas known as the desis who were religious as well as political heads of the state. Like elsewhere in the world, they engaged in constant battles with the neighboring kingdoms. Dharma was used as a tool to enhance their petty expansionist interest let alone promote spiritual progress. The residue of the spiritual side has come down to us in the form of the so-called dharma we see today. Here is a great need to comprehend what the real Dharma implies in the present context of universality, concept and practice and see spirituality as something distinct from the cultural hangovers.  I have taken insights from Swami Ananda Prabhu and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev to compile some of the ideas below with anticipation to broaden the horizon of the readers. 
 
There is a general tendency to equate religion with Dharma which is a serious mistake. Religions flourish with a belief system, an established leader, a defined code of conduct which comes in the form of a book or a set of teachings. In sharp contrast to this, Dharma encompasses much broader view of the entire human race not just the followers or believers. It does not demand your obedience nor does it propose belief to any god or a deity or a particular philosophy or scripture. While it can be perceived that religions came to this world undoubtedly with a motive for human well-being during different times in history, the dharma which is popularly known by the name Sanatana Dharma means it has neither beginning nor end. Here God is not the ultimate goal rather Mukti or Liberation is.  It is said that there were thirty-three million gods and goddesses but that was when the population was so much and culturally everyone had the freedom to make their own deity or Ishta Devta loosely translated in English as demi-god. It is essentially a Godless culture because there was not a single God we were following. And all we seek is the divine. In a nutshell it can be clearly said that what we want is to know the truth and realize our true nature. Given that we must discard the false identity that we attach ourselves and realize our pure humanity as a stepping stone.  

Read More
Comments
<<Previous
    Picture

    Author

    My name is Dilip Bishwo. I am a human rights activist from Bhutan. Now I live in Iowa, Des Moines. I am a naturalized US citizen. Besides writing about the human rights issues; I am also interested in delving with spirituality. You can reach me at bishwod@bhutaniowa.org.

    Archives

    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

    Categories

    All
    Human Rights
    Spirituality

Picture
Useful Links
​Type in Nepali
Iowa Secretary of State
Des Moines Public Schools
DHS Iowa
Bhutanese Organizations
Association of Bhutanese in America
Organization of Bhutanese Communities in America



​Quick Links
Home
Contact Us
Member e-mail
​Meetings & Appointments

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2020 | Bhutanese Community in Iowa | All Rights Reserved.
PO Box 36381 | 4121 SE 14th Street, Des Moines, IA 50320
Email: bci@bhutaniowa.org