The revered Korean Dharma master and socially engaged Buddhist activist Venerable Pomnyun Sunim (법륜스님) returned in early September to Bhutan, where he has been conducting a wide range of community surveys and social development activities among remote communities, aiming to improve the quality of daily life and explore sustainable development projects that could serve as models to be replicated around the world.* During his latest visit, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim held a three-day workshop on sustainable development for rural communities in central Bhutan.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim’s undertakings in Bhutan are being implemented by the Buddhist humanitarian relief organization JTS Korea in cooperation with the royal family and the Royal Government of Bhutan. Ven. Pomnyun Sunim established Join Together Society (JTS) as an expression of the compassion of engaged Buddhism, and based on the principle that helping others is the best way to enrich one’s own life. Charged with bringing hope, empowerment, and self-reliance to underprivileged communities in developing countries, JTS is operated and manned by unpaid volunteers, who carry out relief work in countries suffering from humanitarian disasters. JTS has engaged in humanitarian projects in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. The relief organization has also earned Special Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
After several days of almost non-stop international and domestic travel, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim arrived in central Bhutan, where he was to lead the three-day seminar. Attended by civic leaders from five gewog** villages in Zhemgang and Trongsa districts, the gathering was aimed at providing a forum to propose and explore pilot projects for sustainable development in their communities. The workshop was attended by 34 central government officials, gewog leaders, and village leaders from Korphu Gewog in Trongsa District, and Bardo, Goshing, Phangkhar, and Nangla Gewogs in Zhemgang District.
Published by BDG on October 2, 2024
