TIBET - Tibetan Buddhist rites from the monasteries of Bhutan 1

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Tibetan Buddhist rites from the monasteries of Bhutan CD1





The first day of March marked a new era in Bhutanese history when

a nationwide ban on smoking in public places was enacted. The

current law, along with a prohibition on the sale of all tobacco

products (enacted two months earlier), was justified by the

country’s health ministry as a way of protecting both past and

future generations. Continued preservation of a distinct Bhutanese

way of life has been a mainstay of the current government, as found

in stringent tourist laws, mandates on the protection of forests

and in promotion of the idea of Gross Domestic Happiness.









Thirty years earlier, King Jigme Darje Wangchuck, imbued with a

similar spirit of conservation, invited ethnomusicologist and

Englishman John Levy to record and document the music of Bhutan.

While Levy died in 1976 � he was 66 � he left behind over 700

recordings, including songs from his native England, Iceland,

Sri Lanka, Taiwan, South Korea, China and Bhutan. A recent reissue

of Levy�s Bhutanese taped recordings, from 1971, have been

re-mastered and reissued as a two CD set entitled, Tibetan Buddhist

Rites from the Monasteries of Bhutan.





Four schools of thought dominate the religious landscape of Tibetan

Buddhism; they are the Gelukpa, Nyingmapa, Kagyu and Sakhya orders.

Each of the schools interact with one another and share similarities,

but they also differ in aspects of practice, certain teachings

(e.g. philosophical, epistemological), and musical traditions.





Bhutan shares a similar religious culture to that of Tibet. While

the Gelukpa school rose to political power in Tibet (1690-1959), it

was the Drukpa Kagyu (or more simply, Drukpa) order � a derivative of

the Kagyu order � that took political hold in Bhutan. The religious

and musical life of Bhutanese Buddhists is dominated by the

traditions of both the Drukpa and Nyingmapa orders.





The re-released recordings do well to present the clarity of Levy�s

thoughts, as well as the musical forms akin to both the Nyingmapa

and Drukpa. The two CDs are divided into three parts, with the first

presenting ritual music of the Drukpa. These songs were recorded in

the towns of Thimpu and Punashka, and draw upon dominant religious

forms, found throughout Bhutan, as well as folk elements particular

to region. The second section presents music from ritual dances from

both the Nyingmapa and Drukpa orders. Both monastic and public

ceremonies from two separate annual festivals are presented in the

third section.





While the music on the two-disc set is presented as Tibetan Buddhist

Rites, it is also distinctly Bhutanese. The opening track, a

propitiatory rite, serves as an invitation to Genyen: a protector

deity specifically associated with an area in Bhutan in the Thimpu

Valley. "Chham gi Serkyem gi Yang (Tune for Offering of Consecrated

Drink)" also calls attention to the particulars of Bhutanese Buddhism:

calling attention to specific protector deities of Bhutan and Serkyem,

a Bhutanese take on beer.





The recordings also serve to present a majority of the various instruments

used in both monastic and non-monastic song. The music of the shawm, a

double-reeded long horn, the silayen (cymbals), dramnyen (seven-string

long-necked guitar) and zurlim (flute) share space on these albums. Yet,

the most spectacular musical element on this CD comes from the individual

voices and polytonal throat chanting of monks. The most compelling piece,

in praise of the Nyingmapa scholar Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), is

performed by a manip, or wandering ascetic.





Levy did a remarkable job here of allowing the music to be played and

presented in its natural state, not as the subject for recording, but

as an extension of the performance of everyday life.





By Corey Bills - 2005





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