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An Invocation in Time

15 August 2008

This is an invocation and not a short broadside to being Bhutanese in the spinning wheel of time. When rapid changes keeps churning out a state of constant flux, how does entrenched thinking reinforced by time, balance itself? Our clergy – the Dratsang is actually lighting the way ahead here. The ban on meat/alcohol consumption and offerings resonates well with the socio-economic realities of time. Due to imports and new agricultural practices, there is abundant availability of meat-substitutes. Beyond just the bans, it is an expression of creative bravery and inherent richness.

In this light, if the Dratsang banned the offering of inorganic offerings as “tsok” in all pujas – it would create a vast movement of environmental consciousness. After all, in our deeply spiritual land, they are the “rock stars” of the day.

This may sound trite but our politicians could learn tremendously from the Dratsang. The entrenched thinking of policy formation from ‘top-down’ must be abandoned or fine-tuned by exhibiting more initiative in including relevant stakeholders.

The main rationale is that they are the treasure-trove of ground realities. Ground realities must dictate policy and not insidiously, vice versa. The bad news is that keeping in step with the nuances of time is a complex process. The causes of our conditions as compared to our forefathers are dynamically different.

In our complex set-up, we have different groups having widely divergent aims and interests. The good news is that we have a heritage of a timeless wisdom culture to meet the generative complexities of our time. However, to manifest that, we need to invoke a radical level of creativity and bravery.

Our plans and responses should not read like abstract recitations of pre-digested ideas. Rather they should be: systematic – without being piecemeal and divided into silos; participative – involving many people’s ideas, energy, talent and expertise (e.g. civil society); and finally emergent – able to move and adapt nimbly in a minefield of uncertainty (e.g. natural disasters).

As part of our survival apparatus, we adapt easily to small-scale, incremental change. Yet this capacity is a real handicap when it comes to dealing with “slow-creep” problems like disaster management, youth issues, urban malaise, cultural disconnect et al. All of a sudden, there’s a non-linear shift and we find ourselves in a crisis. In our land of GNH, we are increasingly sealed within a hermetic and sometimes illusory world. This narcissism weakens our receptivity to critical signals that warn us against any impending hubris.

Socially, the dewy-eyed, mushy promise of individualistic salvation is manifesting in the growing heights of walls enclosing private homes in urban areas. Academically, this is called a break-down in ‘social capital’. Whereas our rural life still presents a sane picture in stark contrast and refreshing relief. As time spins on, we are now moving away from a world created by community to a world created by privilege.

Historian Arnold Toynbee cautioned that civilization is a movement, not a condition, and the rise of uniformity consistently marks its decline.

In the context of Bhutanese civilization, it cuts both ways – movement without culture is reckless and abusive and culture without movement is sentimental and anemic. So, of course our architects must learn the latest technologies in Japan. However, once back, they must ensure that the cost of construction of the foundation should not be the erstwhile cost of the whole building. Also, how come none of them thought of ridding those super-expensive ‘head-hazard’ chandeliers in place of more simple and elegant lighting?

As times goes by, let us invoke the saying – “We cross the stream by feeling for stones.”

By Phuntsok Rabten

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