Presentation by Lama Trømtsal at the 5th Vajrayana Conference in Thimphu Bhutan

This is the fifth consecutive year of the Vajrayana Conference at which an Aro gTér Lama has presented a paper. The first photograph shows Lama Trømtsal with Mr Karma Namgay of Mercury Bhutan Travels. Mr Karma has arranged all our Aro gTér pilgrimages in Bhutan — including this November when Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen accompanied by Mé-tsal Wangmo and Ja'gyür Dorje and 25 members of their ordained gö kar chang lo sangha.

Lama Trømtsal is from Finland where there is a thriving sangha Drala Thang with students of five different Aro gTér Lamas.

The Aro gTér has a close connection wth Bhutan. gTértön Aro Yeshé visited Bhutan with Jomo A-yé Khandro and Jomo A-shé Khandro in the mid 1940s with a view to the Aro Gar re-settling in Bhutan. Khyungchen Aro Lingma had premonitions of the Chinese invasion of Tibet and so a reconnaissance pilgrimage was made. Unfortunately gTértön Aro Yeshé died in an avalanche and the re-settlement was delayed too long for anything to be arranged before the Chinese takeover. Members of the Aro Gar therefore each made their individual escapes from Tibet into India, Bhutan, and Nepal.