Sep 2, 2024 – 3rd Day of JTS Workshop in Bhutan, Lecture at Yebilap High School
Hello everyone. Today is the third and final day of the JTS workshop on ‘Sustainable Development’ held in Zhemgang, Bhutan.
After completing his morning practice and meditation, Sunim left the accommodation at 7 AM and headed to the event venue where the workshop was being held. He arrived at the Zhemgang Startup Center after a 30-minute walk, breathing in the fresh air.
After breakfast, the final schedule of the workshop began at 9 AM.
First, Sunim added a few words about the content discussed yesterday.
“Thank you for actively proposing many projects for your village yesterday. Since residents’ participation is the most important aspect of sustainable development, please include only those projects in the pilot program where residents have expressed their willingness to participate.”
Then, one by one, participants stood up to share their thoughts on what they had experienced over the past two nights and three days.
“I felt that the projects carried out by the UN and the Asian Development Bank are fundamentally different from those carried out by JTS. Other organizations just provide support and end there, but with JTS, the villagers all participate together and create it together.”
“I felt that the sense of community is coming back to life. I’m so grateful to Sunim, and I will show my gratitude through the results of this project.”
“I felt that JTS’s principles are really amazing. Until now, we had a strong mindset of just waiting for the government to do things for us. We will change our mindset and now, instead of waiting, we will make our village beautiful ourselves.”
When the atmosphere became subdued while sharing thoughts, Sunim would request a song. Anyone could casually sing a song with ease.
Sunim said with a smile:
“Don’t be too determined or resolved to do well. Do it lightly while smiling, just like singing a song.”
“Yes.”
They continued to present their reflections.
“I didn’t know much about the Buddha mentioned in the scriptures, but I felt that Sunim is just like the Buddha. Thank you so much for coming to this rural village and giving us such a good Dharma talk.”
“Whether all the people of Bhutan can receive Sunim’s grace depends on whether we succeed in the pilot project. We want to repay our gratitude by making the pilot project successful.”
“During the workshop, I felt hope that the JTS project could become a global model.”
“JTS’s principles always make us think of ‘us’ rather than ‘me’. Thank you so much for making us realize the importance of working together.”
After listening to the reflections of all participants, Sunim provided closing remarks.
“I have listened carefully to everyone’s thoughts. I sincerely thank you for deepening your understanding of our work through our conversations over these past three days.
There is a Korean saying, ‘Sincerity moves heaven.’ It means that if you put your heart and soul into something, even the gods will be moved, and everything will be accomplished. If you move forward with faith in rebuilding our villages and our country, without too much hesitation or fear, everything will naturally fall into place.
Those of you who were born and raised here, and will continue to live here, should be at the center of this effort. It’s not about those who graduated from prestigious universities, studied abroad, or made a lot of money being in charge. Rather, it’s the people living right here who should be at the core. This movement might not succeed if it starts in places like Thimphu or Paro, but it can be successful precisely because it’s starting in places like Zhemgang or Trongsa. Let’s not think that our conditions are difficult; instead, let’s believe that our conditions are the most suitable for this kind of movement.
Although it’s not an easy task, I’m grateful that you have understood to some extent and have opened your hearts to it. Buddha will respond to your sincere hearts and bestow blessings upon you. I hope for your health, harmony with your families, and peace in your communities.”
After a short break, Sunim gave a closing Dharma talk to wrap up the workshop.
“When you return to your villages, you will immediately start the projects that have already been approved, and for future projects, you will submit proposals and begin after receiving approval. However, as the harvest season is approaching, I hope you won’t rush things. Please proceed with consideration for the residents so as not to burden them too much. Also, I hope you won’t be too fixated on results. Always ensure that residents can participate voluntarily and feel a sense of accomplishment. For those who have left their hometowns and are far away, it would be nice if they could contribute even just snacks and show their support. And it would be great if you could sing songs together and have fun while working. (Laughter)
With Volunteers from Korea
In the second half of the year, while carrying out pilot projects, we should also plan for the main projects that will take place in the first half of next year. In March next year, we need to discuss and improve upon the issues that arise during the pilot projects. However, since the projects will only begin in earnest after this busy farming season, volunteers from Korea will likely be able to participate around the end of October. The content of the projects may change slightly depending on the skills of the participants. If we have excavator operators or civil engineers joining us, it will greatly help with road construction. If we have carpenters or plasterers, we can expand more on house repairs. I think if many people come from Korea to volunteer and help improve the lives of the poor, the villagers will also participate more actively.
What’s More Important Than Achieving Results
While it’s important for us to achieve results, what’s truly crucial is awakening the community spirit where villagers voluntarily take on the work of their village. When people face despair and frustration, they often turn to drinking or gambling. But when we drink a little or sing songs while working like this, it becomes a source of energy. This can be considered healthy play. I think it’s good to dance and sing not just during festivals, but also to share the joy after completing tasks like building irrigation canals or paving roads.”
Taking Sunim’s Dharma talk to heart, we all prayed together in the Bhutanese style.
Then, Sunim distributed gifts he had bought in India on his way to Bhutan.
“As I’ve been traveling abroad continuously before coming to Bhutan, I couldn’t bring good gifts from Korea. Please accept these as a token of my sincerity.”
After distributing gifts to everyone without exception, we all went outside to take a commemorative photo. Everyone beamed with bright smiles, basking in the warm sunlight.
“Kadrinche!” (Thank you!)
Lunch was served at 12:00 PM. After finishing the meal, Sunim said goodbye and headed to Yebilap School.
This was Sunim’s third visit to the school. The previous visit was to deliver school supplies and sports equipment, and this time he came to give a lecture to the students. Recently, a student in Zhemgang committed suicide after failing to get into a higher-level school, so the governor had asked Sunim to give an encouraging talk to the students.
The principal, vice principal, and teachers welcomed Sunim from the school gate.
“Kuzu zangpo la!” (Hello)
Sunim arrived at the school at 1:30 PM and had tea with the principal.
“How many students will be attending?”
“285 students from grades 7 to 10 will be attending. Students below 6th grade couldn’t attend due to lack of space. We hope you can share many good words with the students.”
After the tea, Sunim moved to the auditorium with the principal.
As Sunim entered the auditorium, male and female students stood up on the left and right to welcome him.
First, Sunim introduced why he came to Bhutan and talked about the path humanity should take in the era of climate crisis.
“Let me tell you how I came to Bhutan. There are many global issues right now, but what do you think is the biggest problem facing humanity?”
The students gave various answers.
“The war between Ukraine and Russia.”
“I think it’s global warming.”
Sunim continued:
“If we limit ourselves to human world problems, we could say that the biggest issue is the power struggle between the United States and China, or the war between Russia and Ukraine, which is essentially a military conflict between NATO and Russia. There are large and small conflicts happening all over the world. Some people are facing extreme poverty. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening more and more.
What Is the Biggest Threat Facing Humanity Right Now?
However, a far more threatening problem than all of these is the climate crisis. The climate crisis has been caused by the excessive carbon dioxide emissions resulting from humanity’s high energy consumption. As CO2 accumulates, it creates a greenhouse effect in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing the global temperature to rise. When the temperature rises, it’s not just a matter of the weather being hotter. The temperature of the ocean water also rises, changing ocean currents. As more moisture evaporates from the oceans, we see weather anomalies like heavy rains and droughts. The jet stream that surrounds the Arctic and protects the cold air in the polar regions is breaking down, causing sudden shifts from hot weather to extreme cold. Amid numerous natural disasters such as heat waves, heavy rains, and wildfires, many living beings on Earth are facing an ecological crisis.
You living in Bhutan might not feel these climate changes directly. However, the impacts of climate change are gradually approaching you as well. The Himalayan glaciers are melting and shrinking. This will lead to a decrease in the water flowing into Bhutan’s rivers. Especially during the dry season, there might not be enough hydroelectric power generation, and you may need to import electricity. I heard that electricity export is the largest part of Bhutan’s exports. But in the future, you might end up importing more electricity than you export. In this way, climate change brings great calamities to our lives.
It’s estimated that humanity has been living better and better in the 300 years since the Industrial Revolution began in England. Since the Industrial Revolution, human material production has increased dramatically. As a result, our lives have become much more convenient. Thinking that producing a lot and consuming a lot is living well, we measure the standard of living by the amount of material consumption. Even now, when comparing which countries are well-off, we use material production indices such as GNP (Gross National Product) or GDP (Gross Domestic Product). So people in all countries around the world are gradually increasing their material production and consumption.
The population of the so-called developed countries in the OECD is only 15 percent of the world’s population. It’s about 1.2 billion people, and their economic development has caused a great calamity of climate crisis for the entire planet. Thinking this is development, China is following the same path. But China has a population of 1.4 billion. India, another country with 1.4 billion people, is also going the same way. In this situation, the Earth’s climate crisis has been worsening at a faster pace in recent years. Now, the climate crisis is no longer a story of the distant future, but a reality we are already experiencing.
That’s why teenagers and young adults in their 20s in Europe are demonstrating to raise awareness about the seriousness of the climate crisis. They argue that we should declare a state of emergency for the climate crisis, as if it were a war, and that all countries should respond actively. One high school student wore worn-out clothes, old sneakers, and rarely took showers, which worried his parents. They asked me, ‘Please talk to our child because he doesn’t listen no matter what we say.’ When I met the student and heard the whole story, he said, ‘There’s a trend among students to not buy clothes, not buy shoes, and take fewer showers to prevent the climate crisis.’
If we continue in the direction of ‘living well means producing more material goods and consuming more,’ humanity may face extinction within 50 years, or at most 100 years. Therefore, to avoid this collective demise, we must reduce consumption. We need to create a new civilization where we can enjoy happiness while consuming less.
Why I Came to Bhutan
However, the 4th King of Bhutan had this awareness 20 years ago. He argued that the value standard of human well-being cannot be expressed by material production indices. He asserted that the criterion for living well should be based on a happiness index – ‘how happy a person is’. Thus, he proposed GNH (Gross National Happiness) instead of GNP. As a result, Bhutanese people, although poor, became known as the happiest people in the world. At that time, before the climate crisis emerged, Bhutan’s happiness did not receive global attention. But now that the climate crisis has become a reality, the idea that GNH should be an important criterion for expressing the value of our lives instead of GNP or GDP is spreading widely. For example, New Zealand has begun to consider the happiness index of its citizens as a criterion for government investment. Generally, when governments invest, the decision is based on how much economic production effect it generates. But now, thinking has changed, and we’re starting to see a trend where the criterion is how much the citizens’ happiness index will increase when a certain investment is made, that is, how much the GNH figure will change.
While the world is changing to value what Bhutan has taught, ironically, within Bhutan itself, we can see a phenomenon where people are being drawn into materialism. Now, if young Bhutanese people are good at studying, they all want to go abroad. They want to earn a lot of money abroad and build nice houses here. There is a prevalent trend that young people living in rural areas want to move to big cities like Thimphu or Paro, and those living in big cities want to go abroad, considering it the path of smart people.
I came to Bhutan to solve these very problems. If we continue to pursue material things like this, there is no more hope for the future of humanity. Only when we take the new path of emphasizing GNH, as proposed by the 4th King of Bhutan, can we have sustainable development for humanity. However, far from becoming a hope for humanity, Bhutan is showing a trend of being influenced by Western materialism. I visited Bhutan to prevent this phenomenon and to make Bhutan’s values a hope for the world.
After meeting with His Majesty the King and having many conversations, we chose Zhemgang, the least developed region in Bhutan, to create an area where people can be happy with less consumption in the era of climate crisis. There are three countries in the world that are CO2 zero or CO2 negative, and Bhutan is one of them. In other words, it can be said to be one of the least developed countries. In the past, from the perspective of values centered on material indices, ‘least developed’ meant ‘most backward’. However, in the era of environmental crisis, ‘least developed’ means the opposite – ‘most environmentally friendly and hopeful for the future’. Zhemgang is the least developed region even in Bhutan. From a GDP perspective, it’s the region with the highest poverty rate in Bhutan. Conversely, from an environmental value perspective, it can be said to be the region where the environment is best preserved. We shouldn’t be discouraged thinking of Zhemgang as an underdeveloped place. We need to shift our values to be proud of living in a region with the highest environmental value.
Of course, for human happiness to increase, living conditions shouldn’t be too poor. As you may have experienced when you were young, you can’t be happy when there’s no electricity, lack of water and food, and extremely poor housing conditions. Poor living conditions need to be improved. However, to what extent should development be considered sustainable? The development methods of advanced countries inevitably lead to climate crisis. Therefore, we need to have a new value of maintaining a CO2 zero state by not developing beyond a certain level. We need a new civilization that prioritizes the environment and can be happy while consuming less.
JTS aims to do two things in Zhemgang. First, improve poor living conditions, and second, maintain environmentally friendly values. We aim to improve residents’ living conditions through regional development while realizing a philosophy of cessation, accepting that ‘further development is not happiness’.
What Kind of Life Do You Want to Live?
You might wonder, ‘Why is Sunim telling this to high school students like us instead of adults?’ To have new values and start a new movement, you need to have that opportunity during your teenage years. That’s why I came to this school.
What kind of life do you want to live in the future? Is it considered living well to study hard, go abroad for studies, earn a lot of money, and come back to build a big house here? This is the path that humanity worldwide is currently taking. What other paths are there? There’s a path where you use your talents not just for yourself, but for the citizens of this country. There’s a path where you use them to change your hometown where you were born. You can also pave a new path where nature is well protected and people can coexist with nature. The direction of ‘which path of life to live’ is set at your current age. That’s why I’ve come all this way to tell you that there are other paths besides the one your seniors took – studying hard, going to a good university, and going abroad.
The path that humanity has been walking since Western modernization no longer holds hope. Bigger wars will break out due to ever-growing material desires. Natural disasters will worsen. Viruses with much stronger transmission and lethality than the coronavirus, which we haven’t experienced yet, will continue to appear. Humanity will reach a dead end where it can no longer go this way. At that time, humanity will rediscover the environmentally friendly life of the Bhutanese people.
I came here not just for Zhemgang and Bhutan, but to create new hope for the future of our humanity. Currently, JTS’s plan is to improve the poverty situation in Zhemgang and carry out sustainable development for five years. I hope you will also join the development of Zhemgang during your vacations, participating as volunteers in activities for residents such as repairing houses for poor people or fixing irrigation canals.”
Following this, students were invited to ask questions about any points they were curious about. Anyone could raise their hand and engage in dialogue with Sunim. Over the course of two hours, six students asked Sunim questions. One of them, referring to the concept of the happiness index (GNH) that Sunim had mentioned, asked how students should prioritize the happiness index (GNH).
How Can Students Live to Increase Their Happiness Index (GNH)?
Additionally, we shouldn’t seek joy from winning competitions against others. Instead, we should prioritize cooperation over competition. We should aim to help those who are less academically successful or less fortunate than ourselves, finding happiness together. This is the bodhisattva path that Buddhists should follow, and it’s the path that relieves tension and brings greater joy.
Furthermore, students must study these six areas: First, understand the origin of matter and the universe. Second, learn about the origin and beginning of life. Third, study how humanity emerged and how human civilization began. Fourth, know the history of human civilization’s development, or in other words, the cultural history of humanity. Fifth, if you’re Bhutanese, know the history of Bhutan. Sixth, understand human mental processes – when the mind becomes peaceful and joyful, and when suffering arises. Regardless of your future profession, you should study these six areas. Without this basic knowledge, human thinking can become narrow-minded or closed.
Just as people’s appearances differ, we must recognize that people’s thoughts, values, and beliefs also differ. It’s not about who’s right or wrong; we’re simply different. We need to adopt an attitude of understanding that from the other person’s perspective, they might act or speak in a certain way. Acknowledging these differences and understanding others is the path to inner peace and peaceful human relationships. This approach allows us to maintain a calm mind and engage in peaceful conversations with anyone we meet.”
The final questioner mentioned the conflicts occurring in the world today and asked about the possibility of a third world war.
Is There a Possibility of World War III?
In the past, when such power struggles occurred, they were mostly resolved through military force. However, we need to learn from past experiences and find ways to avoid war, knowing that armed conflicts bring great harm to humanity. If we know this and still leave things as they are, we cannot avoid a clash. That’s why I’m doing my best to promote peace movements, knowing that the probability of war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula is high.”
After the conversation, Sunim gave the students tips on how to study well and concluded the lecture.
The principal escorted Sunim until the end.
At 3:40 PM, we departed from Yebilap High School and headed towards Trongsa. We stopped at Zhemgang rest area to say goodbye to the Zhemgang officials.
After a 3-hour drive, we arrived in Trongsa at 7 PM.
We went to a restaurant at the bus station for a simple dinner and had a conversation with Bhutanese government officials.
The planning officer of Trongsa conveyed a message from the governor:
“The governor of Trongsa said he was very sorry that he couldn’t meet Sunim due to a sudden overseas business trip. He asked me to convey his apologies.”
“It’s alright. He must be busy with official duties, so there’s no need to worry about it.”
After saying goodbye to the Trongsa district officials, we moved to our accommodation.
We arrived at the accommodation at 8:20 PM. Sunim finished the day by proofreading manuscripts and handling various tasks.
Tomorrow, we will leave Trongsa early in the morning and move to Thimphu. In the afternoon, Sunim will give a lecture for college students at the Royal Thimphu College and have tea with the president. Then, he is scheduled to meet with officials from the Bhutan Tourism Board and the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as staff from the Tarayana Foundation.
