Tag Archives: Nyönpa

“I’m Happy to Be a Free Yogi” by Drukpa Kunley [w/ Audio]

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I'm happy to be a free Yogi,
   growing evermore into inner happiness.

I can have sex with many women
   as it helps them find the path of liberation.

Outwardly I'm a fool
   and inwardly I live a clear spiritual path.

Outwardly I enjoy wine and women
   and inwardly I work for the benefit of all beings.

Outwardly I live for my pleasure
   and inwardly I do everything in the right moment.

Outwardly I'm a ragged beggar
   and inwardly a blissful Buddha.

PROMPT: Holiday Invention

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Invent a holiday! Explain how and why everyone should celebrate.

Mad Saints Day. In honor of all the crazy sages throughout history (e.g. Hanshan, Diogenes the Cynic, Ikkyu, St. Isadora, Drukpa Kunley, Nasreddin, Milarepa, William Blake, etc.)

It’s celebrated by violating some societal convention that doesn’t have direct adverse health and safety consequences (This is not “The Purge.”) Of course, violating even the most absurdly arbitrary societal convention will cause many people to freak out, so the other element of celebrating Mad Saints Day is just getting the f@$& over it.

Madman of the Empty Valley [Free Verse]

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Thang Tong Gyalpo,

They called him:
Maker of Iron Bridges, 
King of the Empty Plain,
"Excellent Persistence,"
& 
Madman of the Empty Valley

You might not like your bridge-maker
sharing mind & body 
with a madman,
but some of his 15th century bridges
are still in use today.

BOOK REVIEW: The Divine Madman by Keith Dowman

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The Divine Madman: The Sublime Life and Songs of Drukpa KunleyThe Divine Madman: The Sublime Life and Songs of Drukpa Kunley by Keith Dowman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

This book offers stories from the life of Drukpa Kunley, along with some interspersed poetry. Kunley was a “mad sage” (a Nyönpa, as Tibetan Buddhists call such individuals) / tantric yogi of the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition who lived during the 15th and 16th centuries in Tibet and Bhutan. Today, his most well-known legacy is the phallic graffiti that is common in Bhutan (encouraging it, not drawing it all himself.) Kunley’s approach was definitely tantric and ran counter to the mainstream. By “tantric” I mean that he did not eschew those activities that mainstream religion seeks to prohibit, but rather saw them as a means to master the mind through mindful practice. So, as the Bhutanese phalluses might suggest, he often comes across as sex-obsessed as well as being a drunkard, but the whole idea of this crazy form of wisdom is to rise above the programming of societal convention, and to be free of all the little niggling value judgements that culture and religion impose on the world in order to see life through a less distorted lens.

I’m not qualified to speak to how well concepts are translated, but the book is readable and thought-provoking, and that’s enough for me. There’s humor throughout, as when Kunley tells the monks of the monastery he’s visiting that he has a friend who is an excellent singer, and then proceeds to bring a goat in to bleat for them. That said, those who are attached to the mainstream religious approach and who place a high value on societal conventions are likely to find much to be offended by in the carefree discussions of sex and the wild statements designed to shock people out of their stupors.

I enjoyed reading this book, found it full of interesting ideas, and would recommend it for anyone interested in the person or philosophy of Drukpa Kunley.

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