Page 53 - BHUTAN 2007

encouraged to work in the private sector whenever possible. At the National
Hospital for Traditional Medicine, treatment is provided and instruction in

the methods & processes of traditional medicine are taught to students so

that traditional medicine will continue to thrive. The Music School exists to

keep traditional folk music and song alive and a vital part of the culture.

The government also supports the monasteries, shrines and temples all over

the country for the encouragement of Buddhism as the state religion. The
monasteries keep cultural values current by practicing the religion for the

benefit of all the people, by preserving the rituals, prayers, chants and

festivals of the faith, and by caring for the physical properties inherent in

the religion. They also provide for the religious education of younger

generations through monastic training, Sanskrit literacy, and the molding of
new monks. Because Buddhism so intricately involved in the daily life of the

people, in the understanding of the history of Bhutan, and in its focus on the

natural world, the religion with all its trappings encourages the preservation

of the society’s values and norms.

A different program to preserve cultural values is the National Reorientation

requirement. All students who receive their education abroad must enroll in

the Reorientation Institute upon their return to Bhutan in order to be
reminded of their nation’s cultural values and to be updated on changes in

the national goals and objectives. The Institute also offers employment help

to the returning students to help them rejoin the economy more easily. The

Reorientation Institute offers its seminars at least twice yearly for these

returning students.

The world’s conservation movement organizations have long recognized

Bhutan’s commitment to the third pillar, the conservation of the natural
world. The strict government control of mining and timbering, the ban on

hunting or harming wild animals, and Buddhism’s own integral tenets