It used to be a common sight in Tibet to come across Lama Mani, also known as Bhuchen, who would preach the Dharma with the aid of scroll paintings. The stories were attractive to the illiterate mass as the Bhuchen would narrate the stories in a very colloquial language, and often intersperse earthy and irreverent jokes. Unlike the formal lamas, a Bhuchen would mix informally with the lay people thereby bridging the gap between him and the mass/listeners.
Since coming into exile, this practice has decreased to the point that there are only two Bhuchens left in the entire community of 130,000 exiled Tibetans. With the initiative of Tibet Fund and support of The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, one of the two surviving Bhuchens, Gyurmey, in his 70’s, was invited from India to teach the art to some young nuns in Thukje Choling Nunnery in Nepal.
