Stepping into 2026 with an unfinished book

Gazing through my window to a vast snow canvas and my thoughts travel back to the same time last year. I am half way through my current reading and I can’t help but smile at the irony of entering a new year with an unfinished book. As much as I want to complete the book, I also don’t want it to end. It comforts my heart to carry the same story, along with the same good memories to a new year. I don’t want to remove my warm jacket from this year. 

I am also checking my new year resolutions and for once my heart feels at ease. I neither had any strong commitments nor ambitious targets and even if there were some I feel like I can still continue with this coming year. No massive achievements but there were some losses along the way, just to remind me of the lessons I have been learning every time. Even so, my emotions were stable and the year unfolded itself beautifully free from chaos and dramas. 

Slight escape to home from Japan was my fondest memory of this year. For I have felt what it means to miss home and to be home after staying away from it for so long. As much as it’s adventurous to be in a foreign land, the heart always yearns for the home as the day ends. Still I am aware that I will be missing being away from home the same time next year.

There was a time when I was all about new year and fresh promises but this time I feel reassured to go with the same old book with the same stable emotion with the determination to complete all my unfinished commitments. 

So here I am stepping to yet another year with a heart full of gratitude for a stable memory and with the hopes for more beautiful memories in the year 2026.

 

From Okinawa to my Diary

One lesson that still lingers in my heart from the book Ichigo Ichi is that not to retire living your life just because you are getting old. It says people in Okinawa do not retire even at 90s, fascinating, isn’t it?  

I finally got to be there to see it for myself. The streets were illuminated with lights, restaurants and bars filled with people moving to the rhythm of living one’s life. It is really unusual especially to see Japanese people laughing loudly and even shouting without any reservation and I saw it there. 

It is a thematic place of blue symbolizing peace and every corner has made sure to carry a tint of it. Yet its serenity grew from blood. Okinawa was a war torn island back in the days. The place and the people have seen the worst tragedy where not even a child was spared. The greed and hunger of the country led to the sufferings of Okinawan people and it took years of war until the final battle of Okinawa in 1945 to put an end to it. Even after the war there was no magic to put everything in place with a snap of a finger. The struggles continued for years. It is these struggles that shaped today’s Okinawa, a tourism hub and the messenger of peace.  

Detached from mainland Japan, geographically and historically, it carries its own rhythm. From the facial structures of the people to the architecture of the houses, it carries it off differently. The modest single to two storied houses filled the outskirts of the place while the pine and the palm trees filled every walking aisle. As a cherry topping the moderate temperate lifts the mood of every visitor for any kind of adventure and exploration. 

Okinawa just felt like a warm hug on a cold snowy Christmas Eve. Joining the people here to share their message of peace- from Okinawa to the world through this piece of memory. 

Midnight confession

Have you all ever experienced a love so deep that it makes you want to cry and your chest feels like it is almost about to burst? I had my share of these volcanic emotions during my prime days, and at that time, I was so overwhelmed and happy that I could feel that way. At some point, I was even egoistically proud of it. Some of my most sensitive and emotional phases have been exposed, lived, and now remodeled for better acceptance and understanding. 

I have gradually come to love without expectations. Give without always expecting the return favors. To be there for the people who stood by me even when I was a shitty person. I am no saint here, but I have come to accept things in a more gentle way. Well, that is because if it's really love, would we ever want to suffocate our loved ones with our expectations? If giving others always comes with the hopes of return favors, can it even be labelled as something genuine and pure?  If relationships come with a price tag, why not just buy from a supermarket and maybe even wait for a Black Friday discount?

I have experienced these emotions through the relationships I have built over the years of living as per the expectations of society, family, and friends. I was becoming someone what others were hoping for me to become, and not what I should have. While doing so, I have turned into someone I am not proud of. I have shouted at my loved ones when they failed me. Dozed myself to sleep, drank until dawn and cried until the last drop of tears. I slowly turned out to be the person I despised the most. My love turned into toxicity and even drove away the ones I cared about the most. I was racing towards negativity, even to the point of hating myself.

Having confessed that, I don’t regret or want to change even the slightest bit of my history. You know, even if I were given a second chance to write my story, I would have chosen the same path because if I didn’t, I would not have reached where I am right now. I didn’t win a lottery in terms of financial assets, but I surely won a lottery in terms of self-love and acceptance. I rebuilt myself for the best, and I assure you I am still trying to be a better person than I was yesterday. 

I wasn’t even religious enough until I hit my rock bottom. I only started seeking refuge in Jetsuen Drolma (Green Tara) after I was shattered. My perspectives have changed since then, and my life has become calmer and happier. Having come this far, I can now celebrate it and even laugh about it without tears this time. I just hope I can earn more positivity and be able to share the same with the people around me. 

Marriage as a means of insurance

I was strongly  influenced by the fact that new generation people are way smarter than our ancestors based on the theory of evolution. However, it seems like otherwise in terms of using marriage as a means of insurance for various purposes. 

Well, that topic has been intriguing not because of the word marriage but I was in awe thinking how smart our ancestors were even in a technologically deprived society where they solely depended on agriculture for their every day survival. 

Our professor mentioned how a family in one village prefers to marry off their sons/daughters in a village far away from their village to prevent the risk of going hungry in terms of natural disasters, which is a form of crop insurance.  Well this is because the natural disasters will not strike the two different villages at the same time and these two families tied through marriage can save each other in times of crisis. It’s amazing how the concept of insurance existed even before the actual insurance companies were born and my stupid brain thought the family wanted to handover the burden to the in-laws when they marry off their children. I am embarrassed to admit this though. 

This made me think about the arranged marriage systems which are still in practice in some parts of the world. Can this also be a kind of indirect insurance and if so what form of it? 

Even in Bhutan I believe some far flung parts of the country practices some sort of marriage insurance. I remember when I visited Laya a few years back my host shared the story of two brothers sharing one wife. They narrated how one husband goes to herd the yaks in the mountains and cannot return home for months. Hence,  the other brother stays at home doing other works to earn the income and particularly for the Layaps providing the porter service. They were even joking about the equivalency of their horses to Prado car. I didn’t realize it back then but now I can say this was also a form of insurance through the marriage especially to keep the flow of income and also the wife’s risk of becoming a widower is reduced with two husbands. It is also said that marriage within the family retains the wealth within the family only. I wonder if we still practise this kind of marriage or is it just a history now?

Would you agree that our grandparents who had a higher number of children compared to today’s generation took in marriage as an insurance to increase the number of workers to work on the farm? 

Today, forget about getting insured through marriage, most don’t even get married and there are many countries silently facing this issue. So my conclusion on this in relation to what I mentioned above is there are many insurance companies who are providing much better insurance options (hahaha). 

                        

                         

          Photo of my grandparents for they insured the family with
          8 children and now I am blessed with many cousins.

Science or religion or both

Oh how I love to take pride in being Buddhist and having faith in the existence of god. Even with such deep faith, I have no power to prove it to the eyes of people who questions it. This situation seldom occurs back home as we share the similar if not same path but it’s been different when I met someone who strongly questioned me about my faith. Challenged me with science being the ultimate answer and the ability of science to prove all most everything. 

I was taken aback because I never thought someone would belittle a religion or more so a faith because I wonder if someone even has a guide in life. The purpose of one’s existence is also questionable for someone like that(this is just my rant). At that very moment I was reminded of the words of Dzongsar Jamyang Khenste Rinpoche where he mentioned that people following the religious path tries to understand and learn science and but he has never heard of any science people trying to understand religion. 

Well, this encounter just validated Rinpoche’s statement and I chose to remain silent.

Maybe I am culturally prejudiced for having such a strong opinion but it’s also in my faith not to make fun of other’s beliefs even if I can’t accommodate their thoughts. Well even if I can’t add in more motivating comments, I fake it to be at least a quiet listener. 

People maybe educated through the count of certificates but what’s the purpose if one have not even learned to be a human, human in the sense a decent one. It’s confusing and all words I have acquired through my education can’t even express my dilemma here. Maybe I am just fumed because I couldn’t even explain my perspective. 

This was my first encounter with an atheists and I must say it wasn’t pleasing yet I am glad for the encounter for I got a differing perspective on things and I won’t be perplexed the next time. I may even be able to give a polite response.

Do you think perspectives are a mere reflection of one self?

Sado- the land of gold

To the land of Toki and gold. A small island detached from the mainland to the north of Niigata lies a tiny rich island. The land preserves the endemic bird of Japan- Toki. Although the actual Japanese breed is already extinct they have managed to bring in the species from China and breed it. The birds are also released into the wild and mostly they are inhabiting the paddy fields. In honor of this rare bird, everything around the town is Toki. They have Toki art, Toki hall and every visitor is made sure to remember the name Toki.

It is not just this endemic bird that makes this island rich but is the gold and silver mine. During the 12c to 19c the villagers started mining the gold from the Aikawa-Tsurushi golf and silver mines. People have dug down the hill as deep as 75m down and 30m apart. The treasure wasn’t an individualized property; rather every villager was given their share of gold and the magistrate’s share was used to mint the koban coins. 

What is amazing is that how the workers were modern and organized even back then. So the well organization of Japanese is deep in their DNA. They mined the gold for almost 400 years until the operation ceased in 1989.

It wasn’t until June last year that this gold mine site was also recognized as one of the 26 world’s heritage sites in Japan. Now the mining tunnel serves as a live 3D animated  museum interacting its story with every visitor. It’s not just pictures and stories on the walls, it’s the miniature model of every person and every process lived by the people back then. You must see it for yourself to believe what I am writing. The extra sound effects and the damp surrounding almost takes you back in time where you are one of those workers mining the gold. 

The fact that the workers lived inside the tunnel for days without light and proper oxygen could tell the hardship endured by those workers. I guess even the precious and princely gold doesn’t grow in heavenly garden. 

Well well the richness in me could not afford to buy even a speck of real gold but definitely had my fingers get the touch of the heaviest real gold in my life. 

Four months passed since the visit and I am still thrilled thinking about day, particularly the gold that I could not afford.  

Mining created the cut in this mountain

A Loop of Joy and Adventure

A breath of warmth                      

A whisper of heat

And a dozens of golden leaves,

Filling the fall in IUJ

Hundreds of hopes flowed in,

Hundreds of love left behind, 

Hundreds of students gathered,

To learn, to strive and to grow.

The ringing of the bell

Startled everyone with excitement.

Nervousness swelled with,

The intensity of the classes

Golden turned into Snow White

For months to stay,

Stealing the color,

And sealing our smiles.

Echoes of loneliness crept in, 

Through the barricaded corridors.

A step outside,

Felt like miles away.

Blossoms of Sakura

Whisked away the stillness,

Awaked the laughter 

Long buried deep within.

A painting of pinks and whites                     

A walk along the cherry lane

Turned into a runway,

For the vibrant costumes and the shining smiles.     

We laughed until the heat returned

With beads of sweat upon our skin 

And shades of green upon the earth

For it was the summer again.

Soaked away the heat

With bites of watermelon,

The jumps into the waterfall,

And escapes into rooms of cool air.

An end of a loop

Round of Adventure

Yet to be unfolded again,

With the new and the old.

Inspiration from Japanese Garden (Nihon Teien) and Tea Ceremony (Sadoh)

How wonderful it is to find one’s meaning of life in a traditional tea garden. Meaning not in the admiration but in creating and crafting one. 

I had a slight idea about the tea ceremony but the Japanese Garden-Nihon  Teien was something new to me. I mean I know the literal meaning of a garden but the Japanese Garden is rather symbolic and is crafted to heal one’s soul. 

Gardens back home are usually beautified with flowers, plants, some benches and canopies to create a recreational place for the people, correct me if I am wrong here. I am sure it also gives a good relaxation to the visitors but would you believe me that in a Japanese Garden the arrangement of every stone has a meaning behind it. Usually the stones are arranged in the form of Shin-Soe-Tei which means main supporting complementary, where the tallest stone is kept in the center and is supported and complemented by each stone from both the sides. 

More so, even the arrangements of both the trees and stones matter when they have three inspiring methods, borrowing the background from nature, replicating nature and miniaturizing nature. Inspiration came from the fast growth of metropolitan lives where the building crawls into nature at a rate faster than Cheetah. It is created for their future generation to understand and feel nature and specifically the four beautiful seasons of nature. 

The three elements, stones, waterfall and greenery offer a healing power to all the fives senses of a human and this is not just a philosophy but has examples of people who were healed by the Japanese garden. 

Creatively, Japanese gardens are associated with the Japanese tea houses which is yet another powerful tool of healing. Not even before I came to Japan I wished to experience the Japanese Tea ceremony, inspired from the book ‘Memoirs of Geisha’. Gladly I got to experience it two times in 1 year and the count does not stop here though. It is done in such a meticulous process that you won’t even want to blink your eyes for the fear that you will miss something significantly healing. The hosts dressed in beautiful yet simple kimonos demonstrating the entire tea making process in front of your eyes and you get to drink that tea, how therapeutic is that?  It is not like in some kinds of restaurants when you cannot see the behind the scenes. Maybe that is the reason the tea ceremony is therapeutic and healing, it relaxes the eyes, taste and soul. 

Having bestowed the opportunity to witness both the garden and the ceremony yesterday I even dreamt about creating a therapeutic garden with the tea house back home. But in my dream it was Bhutanese Suja instead of match tea. I was connecting the history of Suja and was passing it to the younger generations.  Do you think it is a sign or just a hilarious dream? 

And here is the most precious tea