Many folks call just call me Phobjib. So much so that, “Phobjiba, Thimphu nam wong dho”? has become quite the standard question I get asked when I talk to some Thimphu friends over the phone.
To be sure, I am happy about it all. After all, I get to represent an entire race of good, hard-working folks in the eyes of several chums.
I am not sure if I really do deserve this moniker though; keep it I shall, but have I earned it?
I take solace in the fact that to my more urbane friends, I do have one intractable habit that, in one narrow sense or another, puts a crowning jewel of the rustic, high-land Phobjib identity on me: my fondness for, and tendency to litter my normal everyday conversations with, drubi chaytams (Bhutanese proverbs).
And to be very, very sure, and fair, I do ardently believe that these maxims exude much wit and wisdom, and sound just right when I sprinkle an opportune few here and a few there.
So, bear with me, my very many few and far-in-between reader(s); I did write a very similar post in the past, but here I write yet again to share a few age-old Bhutanese maxims to live (and possibly die) by.
སྟ་ཕོག་གཅིག་གིས་ཤིང་མི་གག། གྲོས་ཕོག་གཅིག་གིས་བཅུད་མི་འཐོན།
In the most literal sense, it says that a log doesn’t (usually) split open with a single hit of the axe. And neither is a single meeting enough to come to a good final decision.
On a metaphorical sense, I think these beautiful saying expresses that notion that good things take time. However, I reckon it’s important to not stretch it too far to think that it says all things that time are good.
རང་གི་སེམས་འདི་མདའ་བ་ཕྲང། རོགས་གི་སེམས་དེ་གཞུ་དེ་བཀུག།
The arrow being the epitome of integrity and honesty, this saying is advising one to remain as honorable and with as much integrity (no crookedness whatsoever) – just like an arrow. And just like a masterful archer gently yet firmly bends and strings a bow without breaking it, one must do so with the other’s minds.
To be sure, I don’t think this saying condones manipulation of the others in any way. Afterall, it advises one to be as honest and as straight as an arrow. However, it pragmatically teaches one that it is important to artfully bring others attain one’s (honorable and mutually beneficial) goals.
ཕྱི་གི་དགྲ་བཏུལ་བ། ནང་གི་གཉེན་སྐྱོངམ་དྲག།
Now, now, isn’t that apt enough?! It is far more productive to tend to ones loved ones around us than to pursue the outside enemies. Some say revenge is a dish best served cold, but the truly wise ones say the best revenge is massive success. And now, is domestic joy not the best success? It has to be; after all, history is littered with the weathered carcasses of those who only wrought destruction and suffering on teeming thousands with their fixation on revenge and conquest.
གཡུས་ཆུ་འཐུངན་གཡུས་ཁྲིམས་བསྲུང་དགོ།
This proverb says that if you drink from the communal water source, you have to defend the communal laws (rule and regulations). Equivalent to the phrase no free lunch but more because it points out that one needs to be responsible custodians of the systems we live by – be it our families, our organization or our national institutions. For a harmonious and prosperous society, we should do our duties well, pay our dues and taxes in good faith, hold each other accountable, and abide by the highest of ethical and intellectual values.
འབད་ཤེསན་རིམ་གྲོ་རང་གིས་འབད། འབད་མ་ཤེན་འགྱེདཔ་ཆ་རོགས་ལུ་སྤྲོད།
Acerbic but as true as steel. “If you know the remedy (to a problem/illness), do it yourself. But if you can’t, pay the fees to a friend (and let him/her) do the needful.” While it is not super specific on whether the friend should be an expert for you to entrust him/her with the task, one can only surmise that it advises the listener to let the more knowledgeable/the experts handle any job that requires skill and learning to finish. Sometimes you do need experts to solve the more thorny problems at work and in life. Afterall, a Jack of all trade is a master of none, right?
རང་གི་རྐྱབ་པའི་ཟམ་ལས་རང་ཐལ་དགོ།
“The bridge that you build must be able to carry you across.” This expression curtly expresses the primacy of doing a job well – with responsibility, ownership, and accountability – so that the result doesn’t come back to bite us. In the end, we have to live with the consequences of our actions – that is, we reap what we sow, isn’t it?
ཁ་དང་ལགཔ་རྟགས་མཐུན་འགོ།
Something similar to the English phrase, “Action speaks louder than words”; This advises one to make sure that the mouth (word/speech) conform to the hands (action). It clearly recognizes that empty speech and promises are subordinate to action and results.
ཤེས་རུང་མི་ལུ་དྲིས། མགྱོགས་རུང་རྟ་ཁར་བཞོན།
This proverb advises one to not be too haughty about one’s own knowledge and abilities but instead to seek wise counsel. “Even if you know, ask others. Even if you are a fast walker, take the horse,” it says. There is a similar aphorism to that tune: འཛོལཝ་བླ་མའི་གསུང། ཆདཔ་གཟར་ཁའི་ཆུ། – It is possible for the Lama (teacher) to err. It is possible for the village fountain to run dry. And if that is the case, then one can only surmise that it’s always better to seek advice from others more knowledgeable/experienced. However, be careful to not become indecisive with too much counsel. As they say, འགྲོས་མི་ལུ་དྲིས། ཐགས་རང་གིས་བཅད། – Sure, do ask the other, but make your own decision.
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