MEMORY OF MY LEGEND- MY ROOT TEACHER

Today is the 8th birthday anniversary of Lama Chime Dorji’s Yangsi( Rigdzen Lhubdrup Dorji). 

Lama Yangsi was born to a Yab Drupthob and late Yum Kuenzang Yangden in 2013 in Gedu Bhutan. 

At the age of three, Yangsi was officially recognized by his Holiness kyabje Dudjom Sangye Pema Shepa Rinpoche, as a reincarnation of Lama Chime, following signs and indications of his birth. 

Yangsi Rinpoche is currently residing at Durpin monastery in Kalimpong, studying under the tutelage of Trulku Rinpoche, the principal at Durpin Goenpa.

Trashi Deleg Yangsi La. 

1. Biography of previous Lama Chime.

Lama Chime Dorji (1920—2012) was a very close disciple of Dudjom Jigdrel Yeshi Dorji Rinpoche. 

Born in the Ngari area in Tibet, close to Mount Kailash, he was trained in Dudjom Tersar lineage by Degyal Rinpoche, a direct student of Thraktung Dudjom Lingpa, the predecessor of Dudjom Jigdrel Yeshi Dorji. 

Lama Chimi was 15 years old when he met Dudjom Rinpoche at around 1935, and had become Rinpoche’s primary student, and also a chat master. He follows Dudjom Rinpoche to Lama Ling.

Lama Chimed oversaw the construction of two Zangdogpelri monastery in Tibet. He traveled to Tso Pema, in India along with his teacher, Dudjom Rinpoche and few years later became incharge of Zangdokpalri Monastery, in Kalimpong. Lama Chimi, although an accomplished practitioner remained a recluse for many years. 

2. Receiving teachings from Degyal Lingpa

First, he received instructions on the Dudjom Tersar Ngöndro from Degyal Lingpa (1873-1933), an extraordinary main disciple of Dudjom Lingpa who had settled in Namkha Khyung Dzong.

Lama Chimed Rinpoche was fortunate to have received all the empowerments and oral transmissions of the Dudjom Tersar lineage from Dudjom Rinpoche himself, teacher of his teacher Degyel Rinpoche. 

3. Practices and teachings

Following this, Lama Chimed Rinpoche he gave rise to the vast motivation to complete all the accumulations and purifications of the ngöndro in retreat. His accomplished was little known until Dujom Rinpoche asked of him to begin teaching in his absence. Dudjom Rinpoche was traveling to the went then and empowered Lama Chimed to actively benefit sentient being and Buddhadharma.

Lama Chimed was also referred to as Togdhen Chimed by his peers and forebears. Many of the accomplished Ngagpa Lama from Bhutan and Tibet, and aged practitioner Tshampa were his disciples.

Lama Chimed was extremely disciplined, rarely taught and feared for his temperance. His thunderbolt fierceness was like lightning that cut through arrogance and ignorance of his few disciples. Lama Chimed was one of the very few teachers who was the sublime authority to teach and train fortunate disciple exclusively in Throma Nagmo Chod practices, the Phowa and Semthrid.

Lama Chimed had begun to teach to fortunate people from Bhutan, Tibet, India and the west at the peak of his age. It is said that Lama began to receive disciple more readily when he was around his seventies. Lama Rinpoche always denied of any accomplishment to teach. He lived a life of recluse, in absolute modesty and quietitde.

4. Becoming disciple to Lama Chimed

Owing to my immeasurable karmic deeds and past life connection, I met my Tsawai Lama in 2003. I had taken into practicing Throma Nagmo Chod along with community of beginners at Gedu immediately after a devastating divorce. The sanctuary I sought was the beginning of my spiritual journey that would take me to Kalimpong for the next several years to receive teachings, directions, commentary and practices from Lama and Khandro Ani Kuenzang. Kalimpong then became by spiritual home.

My father is also disciple of Lama Chimed and had received teachings several times before Lama became my teacher. When I was small, studying in primary school, I remember receiving Chaag wang at the Khaling Muenseling school principal’s residence. My father, the principal and few teachers had invited Rinpoche. I didn’t know that the man who I saw with white Chuba was Lama Chimed then. When father told me that I had received Wang from Lama many years ago, I realised, I had the fortune to have become his disciple.

The Throma practitioners from Gedu began receiving teaching, from preliminary Ngondro to Dzogchhen, taught directly by Lama himself. The first group of people were either members, officers of Tala Hydroelectric Project Authority officers, their spouses and lay people. When I joined the group, they had begun to practice Tersar Throma Chod and were practicing every evening in a group.

From 2003 onwards, Lama began to teach increasing number of devotees from Gedu, led by Lopen Tshering Tashi, and from Thimphu and other parts of Bhutan. It was the beginning of another era of teachings of Throma teachings for many people of Bhutan. 

In 2012, when I was at Thailand, pursuing my masters in Educational management studies, I heard that my Tsawai Lama had attained absolute state of being. My Tsawai Lama then was 92 years of age. 

Lama Chimed was a very committed practitioner. He offered Luibjin Chod practice every night at nine to his last day. Lama was known to never sleep like common people do. When I stayed at Kalimpong, near Lama on many occasions, I have never seen Lama lying down to sleep for the night. His practices exemplify devotion and discipline very few practitioners can emulate today.

TODAY AS WE OFFER TRASHI DELEG TO THE INCARNATE YANGSI ON HIS 8th BIRTH ANNIVERSARY, I RE-LIVE THE TIMES FROM 2003 to 2012 and the years thereafter.

I offer my prayers for the king life and wellbeing of Yangsi Rinpoche and Ani Khandrola.

Read More

THE MESSAGE FROM A FORGOTTEN CHILD AND AN HONOUR TO TEACHERS

On 6th September afternoon, I received a heartwarming message on my Messenger. It made my heart go numb with nostalgia, flooding with joy and emotional tears of pride. I could guess a face in my years old memory, a plumb and a shy girls with pimples on her cheeks. I doubted if this message was from her. How many Tshering Eden’s we touch and change?

She wrote this: “Warm greetings after a very long time lah sir. 

Hopefully you still remember me. I wanted to reach you from a very long time but just couldn't seem to find that "just do it" vibe. 

Anyway, I wanted to thank sir for alot of things I learned during my school days. But I especially wanted to thank sir for noticing me  in the crowd in middle school.

Growing up I realized how much this small touch of yours have rippled and to this day still gives me the validation that I existed and that my teacher clearly made sure of that. I don't know how to put this but I wish alot of teachers did that or do that. To notice your students,  whether they are good or bad. But no children are bad, they all just trying to figure out what to figure out.  To call out their names. To let them know that you are aware of them. 

And I'm genuinely grateful that I learned a lot of values in my school days because now I know in my actions I feel the spirits of my teachers. 

Thank you for everything la sir. I wish you good health and may your spirit never die. Good day la.” 

I cried. But I celebrated too. To have a message like this from some forgotten child from school I taught touched years ago is like discovering ‘Ter’ again! 

To honour her words, I write this reflection to honour our teachers.

A teacher’s role doesn’t begin and end with classroom teaching. Teaching is a central focus, a primary role. But over the years teacher has become mother-like, with multiple other responsibilities. The work load has increased and become more demanding, with so many needs and wants to attend to. 

It gives me a hunch that there is little possibility to be innovative in the primary profession and that a teacher will be unable to inspire creativity in students. Teaching in itself requires much to reflect and plan, to be resourceful and reliable for every student. If a parent is challenged in how a child is brought up everyday, a teacher has to parent hundred of students from classroom to classroom. 

With every changing policies within the education system, often unpredictably fast, before one can sustain to another, teachers are the main pawns to play out the policies. Teachers are expected to know background and biodata of every child he teaches, aptitudes and ineptitude of every child in a class, and to connect to parents to enable proper guidance and support. The parents and people expect teachers to heal the wounded morality and psychological displeasure of a child from broken homes. Teachers are expected to make a child learned and literate with infallible excellence. There are so much more than we can talk.

With state of our nation’s future in the hands of our youth, it is impossible for teachers only to be depended on to make a child worthy of a future leader. A teacher may be capable of making a huge difference, but teachers need skills and space to plan and play his trade well. A teacher will need resources to teach a child the skills and knowledge a child can use in his time. 

A teacher may take a child to chemistry laboratory, but if a reagent was not supplied for, what science can we demonstrate. A teacher may teach about land surveys, but without a plane table to use, what skill will a child learn. A teacher may teach about Dzongs and Chortens from a book, but without field visit to make, will children learn better. A curriculum may demand for discovery and self-learning, but without adequate and relevant library resource, will it not frustrate a child? An ICT learning may be a priority, but with limited number of computers and laboratories, and weak internet signals, will there be productive learning experience? There are so many challenges, so many things to be met before quality performance can be asked for. There are changes needed within the systemic machinery, from policies to human element, from connectivity between agencies to to those upon the play fields.

In my almost two decades of teaching services, I have learnt that our teachers are innately obedient and loyal to whatever decrees and directives, policies and plans that comes from above. Even against the challenges and shortcomings, teachers always give their best time and energy. They have ‘never let down’ attitude when it is about teaching. There may be few who may succumb to hopelessness and bigger dreams, but there are many who do as much as they can. If “ good is not good enough” there is so much we must do.

For those teacher’s who give their time, heart and sacrifices to engage children, there are unbelievable birth of creativity. Each teacher has a story of surprises and successes. There are stories of indomitable sacrifices and selflessness, there are stories of pain being nursed to joy and stories of change. 

If not in the classroom, there is no better place where a child has opportunity to become a man the nation can trust. Many of our students come from home that has no warmth of a fortunate child. These are students who teachers try and make school a home and teachers their only warm parent. This is one reason why teacher’s value cannot be measured in any digits on which he is assessed on. In fact, I do not see justice to have teachers rated in a numerical scale!

My teachers may cough and hiccup in silent reluctance to the burden of workload and never ending complexity of increasing challenges, but they remain hallmark of a loyal civil servant, disproving any doubts people may have. 

If we can make difference to one child in a class, we have made a difference to many as well. If we change a child, we change a community. If community change happens, country can progress. That we make a magic spell often on the ignorant child is a memory we never need to celebrate, for it will be cherished in them, looking at us as a shadow of hope away from home. Teachers are the hope and hallmark for every child in school.

Read More

THE HOW OF 'VISUAL NOTE-TAKING' ARTISTRY

 “Students were able to learn concepts better than before. Chemistry became joy for my class.” Lop. Karma, chemistry teacher confesses. We can never underestimate value of small things we do differently in our classrooms. Children grow up seeing words as images, understand words through imagery and makes meaning by connecting it to its description. Every adult is a child when it comes to artistic joy of experience.

If schools can take small steps to make learning an enjoyable engagement, differently and strategically, children will be able to learn more evocatively. I always believe that ‘small things matter’ in how teachers provide creative ways, even if incrementally, when engaging students in learning processes.  My teachers have begun to etch the information from meetings and talks in artistic ways, and it is the beginning of a livelier classroom.

His Majesty the King decreed within the Royal Kasho that, “In preparing our youth for the future, we must take advantage of available technologies, adapt global best practices, and engineer a teaching-learning environment suited to our needs.” It is a direction for teachers to employ adaptive learning opportunities for students to learn through varied differentiated learning models. The fervour of Visual Note-Taking is a small measure to fulfil part of the Royal concern, by bringing liveliness and variety in teaching methods.

Dechentsemo Central School teachers were trained in Visual Note-taking technique on 4^th September 2021. I have learnt about the Visual note-taking strategy during the training of School Leadership Development Programme at RIGSS in Tsirang.  Visual note-taking is one of the perfect skills for 21^st century learners. It is the translation of the words or information into recognizable pictures. This is where the student has creative space to characterize the concepts in an artistic form. “Sir, I am surprised when madam taught us how we can take notes artistically, and catch important messages. This is better than writing notes from teachers.” A class VIII students said, joyful.

It is used for effective and visually capturing for journaling, class lectures, conferences, and any other for retaining key information. This strategy is referred to as sketch-noting, graphic note-taking and visual mapping.

What is Visual-Note Taking?

·         It is the process of representing information non-linguistically through drawings or pictures.

·         It can be simple using sketches or doodles or more complex using Mind mapping or Concept Maps as representations.

·         It is created in real-time while actively listening to content, typically drawn using pen and marker and can also be drawn digitally. The composition is non-linear unlike the regular mind mapping and note taking processes.

The Process

•      Visual notes are not drawn left to right and top-down like traditional notes.

•      They are developed by making connections between content.

•      They use illustration as well as handwritten text to communicate information and represent concepts from presentations, meetings, class lectures, or anything, really.

•      This combination of text and simple illustrations create simple “bookmarks” in the brain.

Science of Notetaking benefits

Visual Note-taking has been widely researched areas that demonstrate evidences of scientific benefits for learners. This strategy aligns to multi-intelligence learning model that cater to diversity of learners. It is known to boost ability to process, retain, and recall information.

•      Researchers have found that color visuals increase a person’s willingness to read by 80 percent (Green, 1989) and sixty-five percent of people simply learn better visually (Yapton, 1998). The graduate students, Udomon, et al., (2013) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that visuals are more effective than audio at achieving higher memory retention. The study found that participants who viewed only text remembered 10 percent of what they read after three days.

Similar study by Lester, (2006) found that people remembered 80 percent of what they see, 10 percent of what they hear, and only 20 percent of what they read.

The scientific studies attest that the brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text (Semetko & Scammell, 2012). Children love images, and images when used with colours captivate children, drawing inner curiosity to read and engage in learning. It is often more enjoyable and enhances learning in the classroom.

Those who viewed text paired with visuals remembered 65 percent of the information three days later (Medina, 2008), indicating importance, not only of taking visual notes but also displaying visual notes for learning.In one of the recent researches, using visuals during meetings has been found to create more and better ideas, and increase recall capacity. (Averett, 2014).

The Visual Note Taking Strategy is an extension of mind mapping which is designed as an on-going activity with diagrammatic representation capturing vital learning points. It can therefore be used for teaching, learning and even evaluating students’ learning when in the class.

 

Note: This is written to inspire other schools to emulate practices for better learning journey.

Namgyal Tshering

Principal, Dechentsemo CS,

 

Read More