Moments with Chung Trulku Jigme Tsheltrim Wangpo Rinpoche

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Forging an Immaculate Link between your Body and Mind
Right at the center of Thimphu town, at the attic of one of the capital city’s hallmarks, the General Post Office, which is today Bhutan Post, is an activity that goes on everyday, open to all free of costs and which participants say soothes their mind. Unknown to many, it is the Dhyana Zhi Tshok, or the Dhyana Meditation Center. 
Established by Chung Trulku Jigme Tsheltrim Wangpo Rinpoche in 2018, the center began offering services in 2020. Time, lack of manpower, an appropriate location and other factors prevented the center from taking off immediately. Rinpoche says that the center has been established mainly to do something from his end for the country, King and the people. “There are many centers of the kind. But many have timings, which are not conducive for people and also located far off. Everybody in this world today are confronted with a battle within themselves; they need some help and Dhyana is doing just this,” Rinpoche said. 
Speaking about the location, Rinpoche said that hundreds of people walk along the Bhutan Post building everyday. “They see the Dhyana signboard and then know that there is a meditation center offering services free of cost. More than this, just by seeing the signboard, people are reminded of the Buddha Dharma and the role of meditation,” Rinpoche added. According to Rinpoche, it is also a way of conveying to people that one need not go for solitary meditation or far off places. “It can be done anywhere. All that is required is determination, belief and willingness.”   
Meditation at the Dhyana center is simple. There is a one week course that deals with emotions, loneliness and stress, after which people can practice at home. “It is all about building a precious knot or relation between the body and mind,” Rinpoche explains. 
Since establishment, 41 groups, with each group comprising of about 10 people have received the instructions. “The numbers may not be very huge. But every individual matters,” Rinpoche underscored, adding that though the meditation may not lead to the people achieving long term happiness, people are at-least awakened from ignorance .  
“They learn that through meditation one’s mind can be controlled. One becomes aware. They move away from distractions,” Rinpoche added. 
Dhyana is a Sanskrit word and a crucial and key point of Buddhism. In Bhutanese, there are 6 parameters and one (5th) is Samten, also called Samadhi, which is about focusing. That is Dhyana, and in Urdu it means alert (Dhyan). 
For the meditation center, Rinpoche pays about Nu 28,000 per month. “In 2019 I went to Australia and met close Bhutanese friends. At Perth I met the Dhyana group –all Bhutanese and a Yoga Professional. They have the Dhyana Yoga every week, on Sundays where a decent fee of 10 Australian dollars is charged. This reaches here and that is how we survive,” Rinpoche says. 
Meanwhile Rinpoche has a dream project, to take Dhyana global. Currently, works are underway to construct a Dhyana Village in Paro, above the Dzong. It was to be started in 2020, but the Covid pandemic affected it.
Rinpoche explained the need to establish the center at Paro. “Paro is very close to Thimphu and other regions. Those who want to get away from stress etc can visit the center. Nationals from other parts of the country can just fly in and return. Moreover, Paro is one of Bhutan’s most blessed regions,” Rinpoche explained. 
Dhyana also has a Board Directors and other office bearers. “Dhyana will go global – Australia, Indonesia, Singapore and other countries. Meditation is a global wisdom. But the main center will be here. We are Bhutanese,” Rinpoche added. 
Chung Trulku Rinpoche comes from an unusual yak-herding family with 7 sons, 5 of which have been recognized as Trulkus. He is the third son, and second Trulku of the family. He was born in Bhamarpo in Bhutan, very close to the sacred three-peaked mountain of Gangkharpunsum, which represents Manjushri, Avalokeshvari, and Vajrapani.  At the time of his birth, many miraculous displays were displayed, such as his house being surrounded by rainbows, the nearby black river Dhur turning milky white, and his umbilical cord covering him in the shape of a vajra.
When he was six years old, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche recognized his older brother Adzom Gyalse as a Trulku and also took him along. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche announced that the young boy would himself announce who his previous incarnation was in a week. In that timeframe, he was able to recognize the personal items of his previous incarnation. He was then ordained as a monk by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and studied at Shechen monastery in Nepal for 5 years. He was enthroned as the 3rd mind reincarnation of Trulzhik Do Ngak Lingpa by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche at Bodh Gaya, India during the Nyingma Monlam when he was 14. He then studied at Namdroling Institute in Mysore, South India, where he topped his class and received his Geshe degree. 
He was the chief abbot of Tharpaling monastery in Bumthang, Bhutan, the seat of Kunkhen Longchenpa, where Longchenpa composed The Seven Treasuries. The Longchen Nyingthig, or Vast Expanse of the Heart Essence, is the most famous Nyingma practice that lays the path for a practioner from ngondro, or foundational practices, to Dzogchen, or the teachings on the Great Perfection. It has been Chungtulku Rinpoche’s mission to preserve the Longchen Nyingthig teachings and practices in this modern age.
Rinpoche is the founder of Dhyana, a non-profit organization in Bhutan, which aims to bring the practice of meditation to people from all walks of life, in order to relieve depression, anxiety, and other modern day afflictions. He has been teaching all over the world, in Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Germany, Australia, and the U.S. in order to benefit sentient beings.