The Royal Matchmaker
The union of Jigme Namgyel and Pema Chokyi
The Matchmaker Part I
 Lam Changchub Tsongru |
| Lam Changchub Tsongru Photo: RGM |
Perspective 2 October, 2011 - "You are a young man and it is natural to be attracted to the opposite sex,” Lam Changchub Tsongru (1817-1856) is believed to have counselled Desi Jigme Namgyel (1825-1881). “But, in the interest of the greater good, you have to refrain from seeing any other woman. It is imperative that you court only the girl that appears in your dream. ”
According to the late Dasho Karma Gayleg (1942-2008), an expert on the royal family of Bhutan, the Lam was instrumental in the union of Jigme Namgyel and Pema Chokyi, parents of the first king.
According to late Dasho Karma Gayleg, the Lam justified the significance of fidelity to his disciple, by saying that Ugyen Padmasambhava had prophesied that he would be the father of Ugyen, who would one day rule Lho-men [Bhutan].
Other historians also have attested this. “The lam prophesied that the Ponlop would have a son, who would benefit the kingdom.” This quite clearly referred to Ugyen Wangchuck, later the first king of Bhutan. (Christian Schicklgruber, The Tower of Trongsa).
Dasho Karma grew up listening to stories from the first king’s grandson, Dasho Phuntsho Wangdi, who authored one the first written history texts on the country.
Jigme Namgyel used to have recurring dreams of an unidentified girl. As the story goes, a voice resonated in his dreams, introducing her as his wife, but she stayed a mystery for a long time.
It is possibility that the Lam met Pema Chokyi before Jigme Namgyel. In 1849, Pema Chokyi’s mother, Rinchen Pelmo, invited the teacher to her family estate in Bumthang.
In her article, The Fascinating Life of Lama Changchub Tsongru, Francoise Pommaret quotes from the Lam’s collected works (kanbum) that, “Rinchen Pelmo invited the Lam to her family estate of Tashi Peling, in upper Chokor valley.”
At that time, Pema Chokyi could not have been more than 10 years old (assuming she was 17 when she gave birth to her first child Thinley Tobgay in 1856).
The kanbum is silent about the details of the visit. It is not clear if the Lam met the young girl, but it is clear that her parents left a lasting impression on the visitor.
Rinchen Pelmo’s husband, the Trongsa Penlop Ugyen Phuntsho, had already retired by then. He was the Lam’s first lay patron and the couple hosted him occasionally.
While the Lam was in Tashi Peling, Jigme Namgyel visited him. According to the kanbum, Jigme Namgyel was the Trongsa Zimpon at that time and was on his way to Lhuentshe. This was the first time that the Lam and Jigme Namgyel met. The Zimpon also received his first teaching from the lam, and later would accept him as his tsawai lam or root teacher.
According to late Dasho Karma Gayleg, years later when Jigme Namgyel shared his dream with his root teacher, it is said that the Lam immediately identified the girl, “as Pema Chokyi.”
From a very young age, the mother of the first king, Pema Chokyi, showed strong spiritual inclination. Therefore, it was not surprising to learn that she had moved to Tibet to live with her brother, Kunzang Tenpai Nyima (1843-1891), the 8th Peling Sungtrul Rimpoche. They lived in the monastery of Lhalung. It was there that she met Jigme Namgyel.
Source: kuenselonline