| BAE NEY GONPA IN TRASHIYANGTSE
Since the place was blessed by Guru Rinpoche and Tshe Pa Mey, it had come to be known as Bae Ney. However, the people have tended to mispronounce the name and is known as Ba Ney today.
The Bae Ney Goenpa was started by Lopen Damchen Rinchen. Lopen Daamchen Rinchen was originally from Kheng region. He completed his Buddhist studies in Trongsa and practiced sangdrup tshe pa mey thro lhamo yidam. He had come to Trashi Yangtse on pilgrimage as well as to meet his relative who was residing there. During his travel to Trashi Yangtse, he happened to meditate on the mountain behind the old Trashi Yangtse Dzong. It is said that the Bae Ney could be seen on the eastern side of the place he was meditating. He could also see a huge fire burning every night at the site of bae ney. So one day he went to see the place to check what it was that burnt every night. But when he reached there he could not find anything except the ruins of an old house. But he found the place very beautiful; so he built a hut and started living there. Very soon he had about ten disciples. One day he told his disciples that he was expecting a guest. He told them to take good care of the guest. Although the disciples waited whole day for the guest, no one turned up. However in the night, one old Tibetan lady, carrying a bag made of cow hide, arrived out of nowhere. She presented the monk with one statue of Tshe pa mey made of shali. Since there was no tshe bum (long life vase) in the hand of the statue which is actually supposed to be there, the meeting of the old woman was believed to be inauspicious. It is said that he died soon after. When he was cremated, his ashes were known to have formed a small mount where his own bones had turned into Tshebum and were seen mounted on top of his ash hill. Later, when the monastery was built, the Tshebum was put inside one of the statues as zung, or inner relics.
One of his disciples called Tsampa Chime from Punakha Shengana happened to become court official at a very young age. During the course of his service, he was sent as Ja Drung in Dungsum. One day he happened to go to Tsari Rongkor in Tibet. On his return from Tibet, he came to Trashi Yangtshe to meet his elder brother, Dawa Samdrup, who was then Trashi Yangtse Dzongpon. While he was in Trashi Yangtshe, he happened to meet his teacher again. When his teacher died, he dismantled his teacher’s hut and built a palace like house and stayed there. It is said that he chanted one billion baza guru in the new house.
Later, His son Samten Wangchuk studied under the tutelage of Shacha Tenzin of Berteng. He also studied rituals and ceremonies with his teacher. Since his ancestors were skilled carpenters, he was also good at it. So he built the present day tsug la khang. Since then his descendants had been looking after this Goenpa. However, the house was later deserted and it almost turned into ruins.
One village elder appealed to H.E. Gyeltshen Trulku to take over the Goenpa. Considering the request, the Rimpoche revived the Goenpa by enrolling 12 monks. It was also named as Tsheringjong. The Goenpa continues to be a center of learning/retreat for the practitioners.
There are about 16 monks today. The cost of supporting the Goenpa is being borne by H.E. Gyeltshen Trulku himself. |
