In this article you will find an English language interpretation of “СЭТГЭЛ БУЛААХУЙ”, a beautiful poem by the contemporary Mongolian scholar-poet Zava Damdin (b.1976-). Interpreting notes and suggestions for further reading are also included (see below).

___________________________________________

THAT WHICH STIRS THE HEART

She, who nurtured insignificant me for ten months,

a Dakini descended from the heavens, stirs my heart.

* * *

My noble father, who with perfect gaze

always cared for and taught me, stirs my heart.

* * *

My elder sisters, who cradled me weeping in their arms,

stir my heart.

* * *

She, who recounts ancient legends

that even elders can no longer tell, stirs my heart.

* * *

My grandmother, who hid our ancient reliquary

beneath her chest, stirs my heart.

* * *

She, who descended with exalted Vajradhara and

came to dwell before the venerable bogd, stirs my heart.

* * *

Sacred scriptures, rich in meaning, rare in expression

stir my heart.

* * *

Ancient songs that ripple through the chest

like ocean waves, stir my heart.

* * *

The one who gazes deeply, awakening reflection

from the very depths of mind, stirs my heart.

* * *

The one whose outer form and inner beauty

merge in perfection, stirs my heart.

* * *

The humble and compassionate being

who labours for others, stirs my heart.

* * *

Dreams of past, present and future,

wordless yet vivid, stir my heart.

* * *

Songs and spontaneous lyrical verse,

each a fleeting image, stir my heart.

* * *

Luut Uul Hermitage

15.11.2025

____________________________________________________________________

Translation is always an interpretation into another culture.

_____________________________________________________________________

СЭТГЭЛ БУЛААХУЙ

Өчүүхэн намайг арван сар тээж агсан тэнгэрээс буусан дагина бээр сэтгэл булаамуй

Өв тэгш харцаар үргэлж дор намайг хайрлан сургасан арвист эцэг мину сэтгэл булаамуй

Өжин дороон уйлан ахуй дор асарсан эгч нар мину сэтгэл булаамуй

Өвгөд хэн дор ч өгүүлж эс чадах хуучны домог түүхийг хуучилсан ану сэтгэл булаамуй

Өнө эртний их шүтээн юүгээн чингэлэг дороон нууцалж агсан ажаа мину сэтгэл булаамуй

Өндөр дээд Очир Дара цаг лугаа бууж өвгөн богд дор заларсан ану сэтгэл булаамуй

Өвөрмөц хийгээд утга тунамал эрдэнийн судар бичиг нүгүүд сэтгэл булаамуй 

Өр зүрхийг долигсуулан далайн давлагаа мэт мэдрүүлэгч эртний дуулал нугууд сэтгэл булаамуй

Өвч сэтгэлийн гүнээс бодрол асаан гүн харцаар тольдогч тэр бээр сэтгэл булаамуй

Өнгө үзэмж хийгээд дотоод гоо сайхан төгөлдөр нэгэн өнцөгдөн харахуй ану сэтгэл булаамуй

Өрөвч нинжээр бусдын тусыг бүтээгч эгэл даруу гайхамшигт бодгальс сэтгэл булаамуй

Өчил үгүй зүүдлэгдэх эртэн, эдүгээ, ирээдүйн тухай сонин дуртгалт зүүдэн нүгүүд сэтгэл булаамуй

Өөрийн эрх үгүй яруухан шүлэг дуулал болон үзэгдэх үзэгдэл бүр сэтгэл булаамуй

Луут Уулын бядуу егүзэр

15.11.2025

_________________________________________________________

NOTES

A. Mongolian Nomadic Philosophy

• Zava Damdin’s reverence for kin, ancestors, and the natural environment reflects the inter-relational ontology of nomadic thought, where the self is never isolated but always embedded in kinship, lineage, and place (The Philosophy of the Nomadic Worldview 2013, p104; Kaplonski 2014, p77).

 

• His grandmother’s protection of ancient relics (“нууцалж агсан ажаа”) references the symbolic guardianship of the feminine elder, who holds spiritual power in Mongol family systems (Elverskog 2010, p165). This resonates with the notion of the sacredness of ordinary life, a common theme in Mongolian Buddhist thinking.

 

• Dreams referencing the past, present, and future can be understood not merely as personal but as cosmologically encoded visions recalling the Mongol notion of time as spiralling rather than linear (Batchelor 2004, p119; Соёмбо 2011, p34).

 

• Luut Uul (Луут Уул) literally means “Dragon Mountain.” In Mongolian cosmology, the dragon (luu) symbolises elemental power, protector spirits, and deep ancestral forces. Mountains are often sacred sites associated with spiritual retreat, pilgrimage, and visionary experience. Therefore, Luut Uul can evoke not only a geographic location, but a spiritually charged landscape – a place of contemplative power and esoteric resonance.

 

B. Mongolian Poetics

• Zava Damdin’s poem draws on traditional oral poetic forms such as magtaal (praise poems) and epic verse structure, especially through its use of repetition and parallelism. The refrain “сэтгэл булаамуй” echoes the cadence of the Jangar and Geser epics, forming a rhythmic invocation aligned with Mongolian poetic conventions (Bawden 1968, p213; Аман зохиол ба Монгол туульс 2015, p61).

 

• The list-like enumeration is not merely aesthetic. It reflects a ritual cataloguing used in Mongolian long songs (уртын дуу) and ceremonial blessings (Heissig 1966, p45). This aligns with the nomadic tendency to organise the world in relational cosmological categories (Humphrey and Sneath 1999, p93).

 

• The metaphor of songs as “waves” (далайн давлагаа мэт мэдрүүлэгч) connects directly to the performance style of Mongolian epic bards who “sing the soul into being” (Зүрхний толь 2020, p88). The English term ‘bard’ refers to a specific type of ancient poet or to a famous writer, like William Shakespeare. 

 

C. Gelug Buddhist Epistemology

• This poem could also be seen as reflecting core Gelugpa concerns with cognition, valid knowledge, and the path to awakening. For example:

 

• “The one who gazes deeply, awakening reflection from the very depths of mind” may align with pramāṇa theory; valid cognition through inference and perception (Dreyfus 1997, p221; Монгол дахь буддын логик 2016, p55).

 

• Descriptions of “outer form and inner beauty” merging, could be interpreted as evoking the doctrine of the two truths (conventional and ultimate) found in Je Tsongkhapa’s Speech of Gold (Thurman 1984, pp134–37).

 

• The line referencing sacred texts, “rich in meaning, rare in expression” may be an example of engagement with Mongol-Tibetan scriptural hermeneutics, where both revealed scripture (āgama) and reasoned analysis (yukti) are valued (Цонхов ба Монгол Буддизм 2012, p72; Wallace 2001, 57).

 

• The poem’s final reference to phenomena appearing as, “spontaneous lyrical verse” echoes the idea that appearances are mind-dependent and ultimately empty, a core theme in Gelug Madhyamaka thought (Samuel 2012, p163; Recognizing Reality 1997, p201).

 

• Vajradhara (Очир Дарa) is considered to be a tantric embodiment of the Buddha’s highest truth in Vajrayana Buddhism. This line, “She, who descended with exalted Vajradhara …” expresses a deep reverence and spiritual admiration for a divine or enlightened being who arrives in harmony with Vajradhara and appears before a great teacher or leader — and in doing so, stirs the heart and mind. And finally, if there are any errors of judgement in this article, they are of my own making. For these, I humbly apologise.

 

REFERENCES

English Language Sources

Batchelor, Stephen. Living with the Devil: A Meditation on Good and Evil. New York: Riverhead Books, 2004.

Bawden, Charles R. Modern Mongolian Literature. London: Oxford University Press, 1968.

Dreyfus, Georges B. J. Recognizing Reality: Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations. Albany: SUNY Press, 1997.

Elverskog, Johan. Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.

Heissig, Walther. A Lost Civilization: The Mongols Rediscovered. London: Thames and Hudson, 1966.

Humphrey, Caroline, and David Sneath. The End of Nomadism? Society, State and the Environment in Inner Asia. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999.

Kaplonski, Christopher. The Lama Question: Violence, Sovereignty, and Exception in Early Socialist Mongolia. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2014.

Samuel, Geoffrey. Introducing Tibetan Buddhism. New York: Routledge, 2012.

Thurman, Robert. Tsong Khapa’s Speech of Gold in the Essence of True Eloquence. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.

Wallace, Vesna A. The Inner Kalacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Mongolian Language Sources

(Translated from Cyrillic)

The Philosophy of the Nomadic Worldview. Нүүдэлчдийн ертөнцийг үзэх үзэл. Улаанбаатар: ШУА, 2013.

Buddhist Logic in Mongolia. Монгол дахь буддын логик. УБ: Гандантэгчэнлин хийд, 2016.

Ancient Songs and Epics of Mongolia. Монголын эртний дуулал ба туулиуд. УБ: Соёмбо, 2011.

Gelug Doctrine in Mongolian Commentary Tradition. Гэлүг ёсны тайлбарын уламжлал Монголд. УБ: Бурханы Шашны Их Сургууль, 2018.

Oral Literature and Mongolian Epics. Аман зохиол ба Монгол туульс. Улаанбаатар: Монголын Үндэсний Музей, 2015.

The Mirror of the Heart: Mongolian Poetry Today. Зүрхний толь: Орчин үеийн Монгол шүлэг. УБ: Утга зохиолын хүрээлэн, 2020.

Tsongkhapa and Mongolian Buddhism. Цонхов ба Монгол Буддизм. УБ: Гандантэгчэнлин, 2012.

Zava Damdin’s Collected Teachings. Зава Дамдины сонгомол сургаалиуд. Улаанбаатар: Хүмүүн Бичиг Хэвлэл, 2019.

FURTHER READING

• Soundscape 07: Coming Home: on Country
• Artscape 08: Revitalising the life of social objects
• Artscape 07: During the socialist times
• Landscape 05: Living Voices
• Letter from Mongolia 01: Eej and the new lam
• Vignette 09: Narantsetseg
• Out and About 02: Celebrations in the Gobi