On its 118th National Day today, Bhutan celebrates as a nation riding high off the successful Global Peace Prayer Festival and ongoing news of Gelephu Mindfulness City’s (GMC) progress.
The official Facebook page of His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is the monarch’s preferred platform for social media and mass communication. It shared a photograph by Stephan Gladieu (IG: @stephangladieu) from Bhutan: Portrait of a Kingdom (IG: @bhutanportrait), portraying His Majesty the Fifth King, His Majesty the Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, and Crown Prince Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck looking contemplatively outside a window of the historic Lingkathang of Wangduechhoeling Palace in Bumthang.
It is here, at Lingkathang, that His Majesty will address the kingdom later today. The district of Bumthang is the spiritual heartland of the Himalayan kingdom.
The Global Peace Prayer Festival was unlike any massive ecumenical gathering in Bhutan’s history, combining a simultaneous Jabzhi and Global Peace Prayer with a Kalachakra empowerment and bhikshuni ordination. Its significance was given further weight with the Fourth King’s 70th birthday anniversary and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit on 11 November, along with the exposition of holy relics of the Buddha from New Delhi.
And in the eyes of some commentators and journalists, such ambition, scale, and breadth are a rehearsal for the pan-Buddhist, pan-spiritual character of GMC, which will function as a Special Administrative Region with its own unique pro-finance (particularly cryptocurrency), pro-tourism, and pro-pilgrimage policies that encourage renewed and increased inbound investment and talent.
GMC is, without a doubt, the Fifth King’s grandest policy, and consciously builds on the transformative reign of his father. On the day of the Fourth Druk Dyalpo’s birthday anniversary, Buddhistdoor Global published “The Great Fourth,” an article chronicling the significance of His Majesty’s life and accomplishments. The Fourth King’s leadership effectively transformed what was a Himalayan feudal principality into a constitutional monarchy with a democratic parliament, a guiding strategy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), and an outward-looking diplomatic corps. It also modernized the monarchy itself, putting into place a constitutional retirement clause at age 65 and strengthening its relationship with the Central Monastic Body, which is led by His Holiness the Je Khenpo and has served as the highest monastic institution since 1621.
Bhutanese leaders under Their Majesties have struck a balance between the nimbleness needed to balance environmental conservation and stewardship of Bhutan’s unique culture and heritage with development and economic growth. This National Day, the last Buddhist-led kingdom in the world and a beacon for sustainable development celebrates its extraordinary position in a volatile and fractured world—a contemporary Shambhala that points the potential way out of our global tribulations.