culture

12 May, 2016  by

In Search of Happiness: A Journey to the Last Shangri-la

Choki Nonprofit, for the benefit of all at the expense of none, is proud to sponsor Motivational Speaker, Photographer, Author, Fifa Agent and Spiritual Seeker, Donaldo Barros for a 21 day journey to Bhutan, one of the most inaccessible and unknown destinations in the world. Following the footsteps of Buddha’s teachings personally, Donaldo seeks the secret of true happiness to be used as an aid and inspiration to all. During his journey, Donaldo will be exploring some of the most sacred sites of Bhutan, while conveying his daily teachings of beauty and culture daily on social media with the world.

Barros believes that his visit to the land of the Thunder Dragon will encourage people to learn about the teachings of Bhutan for the world. “I feel that going to Bhutan is like having in my hands a proof of the statement: ‘The impossible exists until someone makes it possible’. With this opportunity there will be pages written that will be part of tomorrow’s history and that makes my responsibility even bigger. Do we want to change the world for good? This trip is my contribution in my efforts to do so, said Barros.”

During his journey, Barros will begin in the spiritual center of Punakha where he will visit the classroom supported by Choki at the Nalanda Buddhist Institute. There, he will spend several days learning from the lamas and interacting with the monks. Then, he will head north venturing to Gasa within the highlands of the Himalayas, where he will spend the next 19 days traveling by old footpaths to sites that are treasures of this world.

At Choki, we are excited to be collaborating with Donaldo Barros on this journey to benefit the Bhutanese community and the world. Through Donaldo’s vision and Bhutanese values, Choki hopes to express deep understanding of the Bhutanese people, by communicating the underlying causes of true happiness with the world.

Follow this amazing journey from Monday, May 16th through our Choki’s Fanpage or Choki’s Instagram @choki_org and stay tuned to discover what this great adventure might teach us.

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Donaldo Barros – Established Motivational Speaker, Photographer, Author, and Spiritual Seeker

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3 October, 2014  by

The Imprisonment of Cultural Programming

There is one truth that nobody can debate, and that is that we physically die at some point within the near future, relative to the life spans of everything else in the universe. However, it seems that many forget this fact of life and dedicate great amounts of time and energy towards icons, personalities, and ideas that are unconnected to their own day-to-day lives and do not matter in the grand scheme of things.

The intense (and sometimes violent) passion that sports fans experience as well as the immersion of oneself into the “sleazy” world of celebrities are some ways in which cultures and societies divert our thoughts away from things in life that matter the most; things which directly affect us and make lasting impressions upon our beings. By creating illusory focus points within reality for the masses to lock their awareness into, culture and those who have enough power to dictate or influence it becomes a hindrance to one’s own personal self-growth and self-actualization.

Think about the massive quantities of time that people spend on these things which have no direct connection to their lives…. all that time which could have been dedicated towards something a bit more constructive or positive in experiential existence.

The Prison of Cultural Programming

Our culture is an artificially-created box in which a seemingly-endless number of things exist, which attempt to entice an individual towards giving away massive amounts of his or her conscious lives towards the focusing in on trivialities or things which have no direct influence on his or her life and self-actualization. American author and philosopher Terrence McKenna had mused on the same thought-form, which is that humanity seems to be imprisoned by its cultural programming. This programming is so intense and strong, that it seems to be the most imprisoning factor within our lives. Culture does indeed appear to be a mass hallucination.

There are numerous boundaries that exist within culture have been erected by groups or individuals within society that (either knowingly or unknowingly) helped hinder any progress being made in peoples’ self-growth, self-actualization, and/or Self-realization. Things such as sports rivalries, clothes styles and various types of class systems are just a few of the boundaries that had hardly had any useful place in reality because they did not exist prior to us creating them.

Only by complete boundary dissolution can we revert to a more pure form of experiential existence, where the focus of one’s self was on one’s personal growth and of others’. Boundary dissolution refers to deconstruction and dissolving of boundaries that have been created by humans and which have existed as long as the ego has influenced humanity.

The purpose of boundary dissolution is to do away with these falsehoods that separate humanity rather than uniting it. Societal boundaries and other boundaries based on the self-ish nature of the ego can be said to be the cause of many of society’s ills and problems.

With a good system come good results, and the results and outcomes of boundary dissolution indeed are many. You can try for yourself to see this as being a reality. Instead of giving into cultures’ aspects that are unhelpful in shifting your consciousness to a higher level, have the idea of oneness within your mind and immerse yourself in things that unite, rather than divide.

By doing away with the constructs that separate you from others or create any bit of hostility, hatred, or animosity between you and someone else and by letting go of the fear that hinders you from taking these actions, you will be freed from the overbearing grip of the ego. When you dissolve the boundaries that divide and separate you from others, you will have the ability to transform your world into one of serenity, tranquility, and peace. Oneness will not be just a philosophical or utopian concept but a reality that will be experienced by the totality of the human race.

We must always have hope that this will become a reality because the future is yet to be determined. Possibilities are endless.

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Author: Paul Lenda / Wake up World

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13 September, 2014  by

Interesting Facts about the last True Kingdom in the World.

Bhutan, a tiny country in South Asia is nestled in the eastern end of the Himalaya mountains bordered by India in the south, east and west and by China in the north. It’s regarded as one of the most isolated nations in the world mainly because the Bhutanese government has regulated foreign influences and tourism to a great extent in order to protect and preserve the nation’s identity, culture and eco-system.

Here are a few facts you may find interesting about this magical Kingdom in the Himalayas:

1. The United Nations recognized Bhutan as a country in 1974.

2. Bhutanese call their home “Druk Yul,” which means “the Land of the Thunder Dragons,” because of the extremely powerful storms which constantly roar in from the Himalayas.

3. Its capital is Thimpu with a population of about 742,737 (2012). It is the only capital in the world without traffic lights. In fact when traffic lights were installed the people objected and the city reverted back to the use of white-gloved traffic police.

4. Until the 1960’s it had no roads, automobiles, telephone, postal system or electricity. Bhutanese had no access to TV or Internet until limited access was permitted in 1999.

5. One of 43 landlocked countries in the world, Bhutan is about half the size of the state of Indiana. Buddhism is the official religion and Dzongka is the official language.

6. The first foreign tourists were allowed into Bhutan in 1974.

7. Bhutan has the world’s highest unclimbed peak, Gangkhar Puensum, a mountain so sacred by the Bhutanese that the government has banned mountaineering on any peak above 19,685 feet.

8. Bhutan is the world’s only carbon sink, that is; it absorbs more CO2 than it gives out. It sells hydro-electrical power, making it the only country whose largest export is renewable energy. 72% of the country is forested. In fact, it’s in the country’s constitution to keep 60% of its land forested. Respect for the environment, the eco system and all species is a serious matter in Bhutan. Anyone caught killing an endangered species, faces the harsh sentence of life in prison.

9. Agriculture is its major industry with rice, fruit and dairy industry. They are aim to be the first 100% organic country.

10. Rather than using the GDP as an economic index, Bhutan measures its overall “health” through the four pillars: sustainable development, environmental protection, cultural preservation, and good governance, which together form the Gross National Happiness or GNH.

11. Plastic bags have been banned in Bhutan since 1999.

12. Bhutan is the only country to outlaw tobacco (effective 2004).

13. The “takin,” a goat-antelope, is Bhutan’s national animal. There are no zoos in Bhutan, that is something unthinkable for them. Anyone found guilty of killing a highly endangered and culturally sacred black-necked crane could be sentenced to life in prison.

14. The country’s two national sports are archery and darts. But unlike a regulation dartboard, theirs is much smaller and the darts heavy and quite lethal which are thrown over 20 meters toward the target.

15. All citizens officially become one year older on New Year’s Day. This way, no one forgets anyone’s birthday.

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Source: Academic Exchange 

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26 August, 2014  by

Bhutanese Prayer Flags

For centuries, prayer flags have been part of Bhutanese people’s tradition, symbolizing the reality and pervasiveness of their belief.

Generally, in Bhutan, prayer flags are hoisted for happiness, long life, prosperity, luck, merit and to offer karmic merit to all sentient beings. After one dies, the benefits of offering prayer flags is believed to guide the soul of the dead away from the netherworld and to prevent it from being reborn in the three lower realms (Nge Song Sum, animals, pret and life in hell) of the six life cycles: Lha (god), Lha Min (demi God), humans, animals, pret, and life in hell, according to a Buddhist scholar, Dasho Lam Sanga.

Prayer flags are raised outside homes, hung on bridges, hilltops, and places of spiritual importance, for a very special reason, “By doing so, it gives the wind the opportunity to move them and activate the blessings. The wind is considered an expression of mind and mental energy which activates them,” said the scholar. When the shadow of the prayer flag falls on streams and rivers, it is carried to larger water bodies like seas and oceans and benefits the marine fauna.

There are generally three types of printed prayer flags : Lungdhar or Chudhar, Lhadhar and Mani or Baza Guru dhar which are inscribed with auspicious symbols, invocations, prayers, Ngas (mantras), prints of Buddhist protectors and enlightened beings.

Five visual expressions are used in the Lhadhar each with a symbolism. The Flying Horse symbolizes an accomplishment of positive works.  Garuda, Bja Chung, eating snake is meant to frighten-away evil wills and intentions. The Dragon symbolizes the removal of different threats from the sky like the thunderbolts and the spread of the dharma. The Tiger symbolizes success in each step of life without any hurdles, and the Lion, a front-runner in each step of life.

According to scholars, prayer flags benefit in four different ways: through sight (Thondroel), sound (Thoedroel) of the fluttering flags, thought (Dendroel) and touch (Regdroel). They are fastened to wooden poles vertically or sewn on to ropes horizontally (in case of chudhar). Yellow, green, red, white and blue colors are used in Lungdhar, depending on the element (fire, water, wood and earth) one belongs to.

One common belief while passing by the prayer flags is that one should keep the flags to the right. It is believed that prayer flags embody the Ku, Sung and Thu, (speech, body and mind) of the saints and circumambulating a prayer flag earns merit in the same way like when we circumambulate a Choeten, lhakhang or a dzong. When the prayer flag print fades, it should be properly disposed or burned. Tearing down the printed cloth or contaminating it is a sin.

Prayer flags are a common sight everywhere in Bhutan today symbolizing the ever flourishing Buddhism and ever growing faith of the people.

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Source: Ugen Penjore, Kuensel Issue 2003.

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12 August, 2014  by

Hi! We are Choki

Choki is a Local Denver non-profit organization founded with the mission of protecting the cultures and traditions of the most sacred places left in the world. Choki wants to accomplish a world of “I believe”, with the purpose of sharing the traditional arts from the world’s poorest communities, by revealing to the developed world the beauty that these secluded cultures have to offer. 

The Kingdom of Bhutan is the last true Kingdom left in the world. Bhutan is a small country located between China and India, counting on a small population of only 741,822 people. Also known as the “Land of the Thunder Dragon”, “Kingdom in the Clouds” and “The last Shangri-la”, Bhutan’s landscape is only rivaled by the beauty of its people. Bhutan’s culture differentiates from the rest of the world because it is the only one that does not measure its success by a percentage of economic growth, but rather by their commitment of keeping all citizens happy via its measurement of “Gross National Happiness” and inner development. Bhutan is a country where life is respected and honored, as well as it is a place of mystery and wonder where Monks are placed in high standing positions in government, giving strong moral and spiritual support to its people. 

Choki supports the only private institution in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan that offers training on traditional arts and crafts. In addition, the school serves as an orphanage providing free tuition, food and lodging to the most disfavored youths of the region. The limited resources make it difficult for students to continue their training. As a consequence, some of them cannot pursue their education and therefore strive to follow their dreams by going to work in local factories for low wages. 

Choki seeks to find economic sustainability for the school and its students. Beyond this purpose, the traditional arts will be valued and preserved by future generations. Pride in Bhutanese children artists is unequal to any other; heart and mind work together to create art that is beautiful beyond measure. Choki wants to create the invaluable opportunity of maintaining Bhutanese traditions alive, and to protect future generations of artisans while preserving hundreds of years of extraordinary culture. 

Choki believes that art serves as communication for the improvement of society, social relationships and consciousness, and that it contributes to a greater understanding of human experience. Our goal is to subsidize traditional artists from distressed backgrounds so they can do what they love, and to help raise awareness of their communities and cultures internationally through their creations. 

From cosmic mandalas of incredible measurement, to detailed wood carvings with local symbolism, and raw silk scarves made by hand by extraordinary women. These pieces are offered to the public with all proceeds returned to the artist’s communities for sustainable development projects. 

Art is the most beautiful invention of mankind; it is the universal language of life and a reflection of self for the artist. We believe in the creative powers of the people, as much as we believe that they must be supported. 

Choki Team.

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