Phuntsho Karma | Who is Bhutan’s latest Magsaysay awardee?

Among the five winners of the Ramon Magsaysay award this year is Phuntsho Karma, former Bhutanese monk and scholar dedicated to conserving Bhutan’s unique cultural heritage and leading it into the future.

A Bhutanese thought leader with a profound understanding of Bhutanese tradition and an Oxford-educated scholar who seeks to bring Bhutan into the 21st century in a mindful and culturally sensitive way. These are merely two of the many descriptions mentioned by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation in its citation for Phuntsho Karma, one of its five awardees for this year.

Mr. Phuntsho is a former Buddhist monk, academic, social worker and author. With extensive research into Bhutanese and Buddhist studies, and also working for the future of Bhutan through the social initiatives of the Loden Foundation, Mr. Phuntsho has been credited with harmonizing the past, present and the future of the country in its quest for progress.

Bhutan— cultural challenges meet development challenges

Bhutan has been widely regarded as a Shangi-La, a modern day oasis of quiet and beauty. The Himalayan kingdom is known for its pioneering concept of Gross National Happiness, a concept of development which is holistic and takes into account multiple aspects of human wellbeing. A majority-Buddist nations, it has rich history and cultural traditions.

But along with its charms, Bhutan faces many developmental challenges, It is a remote, landlocked region which opened up to tourists in 1974. A developing country, Bhutan faces issues of unemployment, lack of infrastructure and a paucity of social services. About 12% of its population live below the poverty line.

Preserving Bhutan’s unique cultural heritage while tackling real world issues of progress is a concern for the country— and this is the realm in which Karma Phuntsho works.

Phuntsho’s work

Karma Phuntsho was born in Bhutan in 1968. He finished his monastic training in Bhutan and India, and later studied classical Indian religions. Post this, he earned a Doctor of Philiosophy In Oriental Studies from Oxford. He followed this up with research stints at CNRS, Paris, Cambridge University, and the University of Virginia.

At present, his work centres on social and cultural issues in Bhutan and Buddhism. An important figure in Bhutan’s academic circles, he regularly gives talks and has written six books pertaining to this domain, including History of Bhutan and Mipham’s Dialectics and the Debates on Emptiness.

In 1999, Mr. Phuntsho founded the Loden Foundation, an educational charity with its headquarters in Thimphu “committed to promoting education, nurturing social entrepreneurship, and documenting Bhutan’s cultural heritage and traditions.” Loden literally means “possessing intelligence”, but it is “grounded in the Buddhist belief that knowledge has no owner, and that empowerment through education is the greatest gift.”

Initially a programme to support poor students in Bhutan, Loden has now grown into a civil society organization with many staff and partners across the globe. The Foundation has projects in all twenty administrative districts of Bhutan. Till 2008, it was entirely managed by Mr. Phuntsho and volunteers.

Loden has established five preschools, funded 219 students through school and awarded 98 college scholarships. It has held 63 Bhutan Dialogue Sessions, which see conversations with thought leaders to glean insights from their work for development and progress.

The Foundation also works in the sector of employment and job creation. It aims to move away from a traditional approach to business, engaging in ethical and responsible business practices, prioritising social value over profit. It seeks to address youth unemployment through encouraging social entrepreneurship, offering loans, mentorship, and capacity-building. Since 2008, a total of 295 entrepreneurs, including 97 women, have been funded by the programme, which has also created 860 jobs and trained 5,750 others in the field of entrepreneurship

The Foundation also focuses on documenting and digitizing Bhutan’s oral and written heritage, with 3,348 hours of recordings of intangible culture, 4.55 million pages of digital texts scanned from 76 libraries, 150,000 pictures of old art and artifacts, and 61 culture projects achieved so far.

Phuntsho has called himself a “pracademic”—he practices what he preaches, and his work is guided by his spirituality Other socio-cultural initiaves undertaken by him include the Bodhitse Center for Study and Contemplation, currently under development, and the Tsadra Foundation’s “Buddha-Nature“ project— a resource hub for teachings about the concept of buddha-nature and associated teachings. Mr. Phuntsho is also an active participant in local activities. He is part of his village solidarity group and has helped organise the Yakchoe festival in his village in Central Bhutan for almost 20 years.

The Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay award noted in its citation for the award that it “recognizes his invaluable and enduring contributions towards harmonizing the richness of his country’s past with the diverse predicaments and prospects of its present, inspiring young Bhutanese to be proud of their heritage and confident in their future.”

It adds, “beyond his immediate horizon, his work engages all peoples and cultures around the world facing the same challenges, reminding them to look back even as they move forward..”

What is the Ramon Magsaysay Award?

The Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered one of Asia’s top honours, is awarded in recognition of “greatness of spirit shown in selfless service to the peoples of Asia.”

The award was instituted by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in 1957 in honour of the late President of the Philippines Ramon Magsaysay. It was first awarded in 1958. Till 2008, it was awarded in six categories: government service, public service, community leadership, peace and international understanding; emergent leadership and journalism, literature, and creative communication arts. Except for emergent leadership, all the other categories have now been discontinued.

To date, 322 people and 26 organisations hailing from 22 Asian nations have been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award. Spiritual leaders have previously received the award, such as the Dalai Lama (1959). In addition, many contributing to the progress of society and the nation in various domains have received the Award, including Indian social activist Jayaprakash Narayan, Indian artiste and social worker Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Sri Lankan activist Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne, who founded the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, and Thai feminist Nilawan Pintong.

The other awardees this year are noted Japanese filmmaker and co-founder of Ghibli studios Hayao Miyazaki, Vietnamese doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, who works with the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA); Indonesia’s Farhan Farwiza, the conservationist-founder of Yayasan Hutan Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh (HAkA), dedicated to preserving the Leuser ecosystem; and the Rural Doctors Movement from Thailand.

The 2024 awardees will be honoured in a ceremony in Manila this November.

Published - September 12, 2024 02:16 pm IST