Jaipur, Jan 31 (PTI) “Philanderer, womaniser, and drunkard” are the words used to inaccurately describe 16th century Buddhist monk Drukpa Kunley in foreign journalistic and tourist writings, author Needrup Zangpo said at the Jaipur Literature Festival here.
Zangpo argued that Kunley was a far more complex personality who was an “enlightened being who transcended all mundane monastic establishment related associations”.
“He was very different, unconventional, fiercely anti-establishment and he lived part of his life in Bhutan, wandered around different villages and left behind numerous stories of him liberating individuals, women, men and children,” Zangpo said in a session titled “Drukpa Kunley: The Mystic Madman” on Thursday.
Kunley, who was also known as Kunga Legpai Zangpo, Kunga Legpa, the madman of Druk, and Drukpa madman, was a monk, missionary and poet in the 15th and 16th century.
He was known for his unconventional methods, termed “crazy wisdom”, of teaching and a way of living that led him to be described as “carefree Kunley” in his biographies.
Born in western Tibet, Kunley is mistaken to be of Bhutanese origins because of his name Drukpa. The term Drukpa was first used to define a person from Bhutan three centuries after Kunley’s death.
Even though his life in the Himalayan country includes wandering, drinking and sleeping with women and girls, Kunley’s way of conducting life and imparting his teachings have led western journalists and foreigners at large to misunderstand him.
Author-researcher Zangpo said most of the women he slept with went on to become “enlightened nuns” and are called “rainbow bodies”.
The executive director of the Bhutan Media Foundation and former journalist has come out with a book, “Drukpa Kunley: Sacred Tales of a Mad Monk”, which retells 33 stories about Kunley from biographical and oral sources.
“In his autobiography he said, ‘the marketplace may be full of girls but the girls I desire are rare’, meaning he did not go around philandering, he chose and picked girls and women who had spiritual inclinations in them and many of them became nuns. Most of them in Bhutan got enlightened,” Zangpo told the gathering at the JLF
Kunley was also regarded as a saint of fertility, the symbols of which can still be found across the landscape of Bhutan in the form of phallus paintings on doorways, sculptures and figurines that are popular among tourists and locals alike.
The mad monk lived a simple life without a plan for the future and was strictly against hypocrisy, Zangpo said.
“He said ‘I don’t have two things that others have and these two things are lack of hypocrisy and lack of future plans. He did not have inhibitions, he did not have hang ups. When he liked to drink he drank, when he wanted to move around he moved around. He said whatever came to his mind, he had no inhibitions and he was totally without hypocrisy.”
Kunley writes in one of his biographies, “Any behaviour or conduct without hypocrisy is worth prostrating to.”
The Buddhist monk is still loved in Bhutan through his philosophies and symbols.
“He is still loved in Bhutan because he left behind a huge cultural legacy and he taught Buddhism, dharma through simple deeds, without using religious and spiritual jargons. He used his humour, sex, and alcohol to teach. He is perhaps the most popular religious figure in Bhutan till today,” Zangpo said.
“The moment his name is mentioned in Bhutan today, it brings a smile to everybody’s face.”
The monk, who authored several books, including a number of autobiographies, would say life “should not be serious and stressful”.
“In his autobiography he says, if my stories are full of licentious talks, take it easy. Do not try to dissect it, do not try to analyse it through a moral lens. Take it easy,” Zangpo said.
JLF this year features a lineup of over 300 luminaries such as Nobel laureates, Booker Prize-winners, journalists, policymakers, and acclaimed writers. The participants include Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Dufflo, Amol Palekar, Ira Mukhoty, Geetanjali Shree, David Hare, Manav Kaul, Javed Akhtar, Rahul Bose, Yuvan Aves, Shahu Patole, and Kallol Bhattacharjee.