The History and Development of Monastic Education in Bhutan

Abstract

Monasteries were the only centres of learning in Bhutan until the advent of Western-styled ‘modern’ education in the late 1950s, although the first modern school was opened in 1914. Down the centuries, monastic education had been responsible for the culture and spiritualization of the Bhutanese. Until recently, all the laws of Bhutan such as the Chayichhenmo – the Great Laws – were based on Buddhist principles and precepts drawn from the Vinaya, one of the three pitakas, or canonical texts of Buddhism. However, the introduction of ‘modern’ education has added tension and forever altered the previous dominant and prestigious position of monastic education. This chapter, therefore, will provide a glimpse of monastic education in Bhutan through an historical lens drawing examples from the Buddhist education system of ancient India.