On 4 November last year, under clear Lhuntse skies, visitors and local community members gathered at Darchen Goenpa ahead of a full-moon tsok (feast offering) dedicated to nine long-term retreat participants. The offering was held on 5 November, coinciding with the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, an auspicious date in the Bhutanese Buddhist tradition.
The tsok was organized by a family from Trashigang who travelled specifically to make the offering. Although the retreatants remained in strict seclusion, their presence was deeply felt, creating an atmosphere of quiet devotion and reverence throughout the gathering.
Reconstruction and cultural preservation
Darchen Goenpa, historically associated with the previous Gyaltsen Tulku (Gyaltsen Marpo), is currently undergoing extensive reconstruction. The original temple structure is being dismantled and a new one is now under development. The goenpa has been formally offered to the present reincarnation, Kunzang Tenpé Gyaltsen, or better known as His Eminence Gyaltsen Tulku Rinpoche.
Supporting the reconstruction are more than 25 nuns from Jasharung Nunnery in Pema Gatshel, a nunnery founded by Gyaltsen Tulku Rinpoche, who is famous for being the retreat master of our country. Their involvement reflects their spiritual commitment and dedication to preserving the lineage and its sacred sites.
25,000 tsa-tsas for the new stupa
One of the most significant ongoing projects at Darchen Goenpa is the preparation of 25,000 tsa-tsas, small sacred clay stupas that will be enshrined inside the new stupa once completed. According to the nuns, producing these sacred objects will take nearly a month of continuous work.
Creating the tsa-tsas is a meticulous, labor-intensive process: clay is pounded into a fine powder using a large wooden hammer, mixed with water, and kneaded before being moulded into miniature stupas. Among the nuns assisting are very young practitioners, many of whom work long hours with unwavering dedication. Visitors, including those present for the feast offering, were also invited to join in the work and contribute to the collective merit.
Community effort and volunteer culture
Local villagers made frequent visits to help with various tasks, reflecting the strong culture of volunteerism and shared responsibility that characterizes rural Bhutanese life. Meals were prepared and offered to everyone engaged in the work. Gyaltsen Tulku Rinpoche’s consort personally cooked for visitors and also participated in the tsa-tsa preparation, embodying the humility and community-centered spirit of the reconstruction effort.
Throughout the visit, the atmosphere remained warm, inclusive, and cooperative. The work was carried out quietly but efficiently, and visitors noted the sense of connection and welcome they experienced.
Rinpoche’s guidance, retreat selection, and lineage work
When asked about the nine retreatants, the Drubpöen (retreat master) explained that His Eminence personally instructed each of them to enter retreat according to their individual Buddhist training, experience, and capability. Many completed eight to nine years of monastic study at Kurizampa (Ngakdra Dorji Choegar), demonstrating the maturity and discipline required for such long-term spiritual seclusion.
Gyaltsen Tulku Rinpoche is widely known in eastern Bhutan for his commitment to strengthening the Dharma through both practice and institution building. He has founded numerous drubdeys (retreat centers) and monastic facilities across the region, providing dedicated practitioners with spaces conducive to advanced meditation and ritual training. He also oversees Jasharung Nunnery in Pema Gatshel, where he actively promotes the empowerment and equal spiritual opportunities of nuns. Under his guidance, the nunnery has grown steadily, and many of its nuns have completed full three-year retreats, an accomplishment that reflects Rinpoche’s emphasis on authentic practice and long-term discipline.
This broader context helps illuminate why so many nuns and practitioners were present at Darchen Goenpa: their participation is part of a lineage-wide commitment to service, devotion, and the preservation of sacred tradition.
A reflection of Bhutanese values
The full-moon gathering at Darchen Goenpa illustrated how spiritual life in Bhutan extends beyond ritual observance into meaningful acts of service and collective effort. The feast offering, the painstaking creation of 25,000 tsa-tsas, and the large-scale reconstruction all relied on generosity, collaboration, and voluntary participation.
Even without meeting the retreatants directly, visitors felt that their presence gave purpose and direction to the activities unfolding around the goenpa. The integration of religious practice, manual work, and community engagement reflects a deeply rooted Bhutanese spiritual culture, one where devotion is expressed as much through action as through prayer.
As one participant shared, the experience highlighted “simplicity, selflessness, and the way people care for one another,” values that continue to define Bhutan’s monastic and village life.
When tourists or pilgrims come to Bhutan, they often are shown the grandeur of the dzongs, or the regal pageantry of the royal family and the Zhung Dratshang. All these are things to be proud of for the average Bhutanese. But many attendees at this retreat said that their experience unveiled a rare glimpse into what the Bhutanese media and emissaries to the outside world proudly highlight: that devotion, community labor, and lineage commitment naturally come together in the daily spiritual life of Bhutan’s rural heart.
Related features from BDG
Buddhistdoor View: Values of Peace and Stewardship in Bhutan’s Leadership—The Great Fourth’s Legacy
Sacred Pilgrimage – Journey through the Magical Kingdom of Bhutan
Excess, Moderation, and Skillful Means: Bhutanese Dharma Leadership in a Changing World
