Lam Drukpa Kuenley (1455-1529) was an enlightened Buddhist master who knew the true Vajrayana tradition, also known as crazy wisdom [1]. His followers have also called him the divine madman because of his unconventional and sometimes outrageous form of teaching. He wandered around like a vagabond [2], enjoying song and dance, alcohol and women, hunting and partying. In reality, this only meant that he acted beyond all norms and conventions of human society. But he was also a social critic and performed sacred acts with which he freed afflicted Bhutanese from a number of male and female demons. Now followers come from all corners of the world to escape their cycle of negative karma. Something similar can be read in front of the monastery precinct, from where a short trek starts up hill.
Chimi Lhakhang or Chime Lhakhang is located on a hill near the village of Lobesa in Bhutan [3]. The temple and monastery were built in 1499 by Ngawang Choegyel after Drukpa Kunley (Tibetan: འབྲུག་པཀུན་ལེགས་) had built a chörten there. He is also the founder of the tradition of paintings of male sexual organs on the walls of houses, which are supposed to ensure the blessing of children. The wooden original of the phallus that Drukpa Kunley brought from Tibet is kept here in the monastery. The erect sexual organ has also been intended to drive away the evil eye and malicious gossip. More about this and also about the furnishings and construction of the temple can be found in the Wikipedia article.
Women who want to have children are touched on the head by the presiding lama with an ivory, wood and bone phallus. We were told in the monastery, however, that the women then have to walk three times around the monastery clockwise with the phallus. There are plenty of happy couples from all over the world who have sent photos of their babies and these can be seen in albums.
Drukpa Kunley "was known for his crazy methods of enlightening other beings, mostly women, which earned him the title "The Saint of 5,000 Women". Among other things, women would seek his blessing in the form of sexual intercourse." [4] I don't want to quote any more here because I didn't find it myself, but you can read the article on Wikipedia.
In the village below the monastery, which is also part of Lobesa, you can see a change from agriculture to tourism. The town is full of shops selling thangkas, souvenirs and especially phalluses of all sizes and designs.
I deliberately formulated things carefully and tried to choose my images wisely so as not to be blocked by puritanical blog and platform operators.
Links and Annotations:
[1] This first paragraph quotes and condenses from an information board set up by th Tourism Council of Bhutan near the Monastery.
[2] Reminding me of Han Shan (寒山, Japanese Kanzan), his ame mean "Cold Mountain". Han Shan is a vagabond poet of the Tang (唐) period, who wandered through the woods, laughed a lot, meditated in nature, and wrote poems on rocks and trees. He was closely associated with the Guo Qing Monastery / Temple (国清寺). The monastery dates back to the 6th century and still exists today.
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimi_Lhakhang
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drukpa_Kunley
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