A hailstorm destroyed more than 10 acres of corn crops and damaged chili plantations in a town in the East of Bhutan last week. Quensel, the government paper reports that locals believe that someone probably visited a forbidden lake nearby. It reports that a local resident told them, “if somebody has visited the lake, they are solely responsible for the misfortune.”
If it’s possible that a butterfly in Brazil could cause a typhoon in China, then why isn’t it possible that movement near a lake causes a hailstorm locally? But I still wonder how this fits in with the Buddhist beliefs. Surely everyone affected had their own karmic debt to pay and was personally responsible.
This kind of superstition isn’t limited to a few people. One of Marie’s colleagues wrote a book of folktales based on his experiences growing up. It’s full of stories like the one in the paper and while I don’t think he believes in the supernatural in this sense, he’s writing to keep the culture alive. Perhaps I’m reading too much into comments like the one above and that person has the same motive.
It will be difficult to find, but if you can track down a copy of Rinzin Rinzin’s ‘The Talisman of Good Fortune and other stories from rural Bhutan,’ it’s well worth the effort.