Yoeja

Yoeja is a Bhutanese Buddhist tradition of voluntary offerings of money, food, materials or services made to Buddhist masters, practitioners, temples, monasteries and monk bodies, which sustain the religious community.^[1][2]

Since October 2026 the name has also been used for yoeja.com, a digital prayer platform on which users count their recitations of the mantra Om Mani Padme Hung. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck offered the first prayer on the platform at Simtokha on 22 October 2026, and its international launch was set for 1 November 2026 to coincide with the raising of the 108 chortens of Project 108 in Gelephu.^[1][3]

The tradition

Writing at the time of the platform's launch, Dasho Kinley Dorji described yoeja as distinct from charity or donation. The offering is understood to generate merit that is shared with all beings, and its worth is judged by the giver's intention rather than its monetary value. He linked it to tendrel, the auspicious connection between those who pray, those who make the prayer possible and the purpose of the prayer.^[1] Daily Bhutan likewise noted that "charity" or "donation" does not fully capture the term.^[2]

According to the same account, the tradition reached Bhutan in the 7th century with the founding of Kyichu Lhakhang and Jambay Lhakhang, the country's oldest temples, and was given institutional form in the 17th century when Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal established the Zhung Dratshang, the Central Monk Body.^[1]

The digital platform

On 22 October 2026 the King became the first person to enter the platform's digital prayer room, using his mobile phone, and recited Om Mani Padme Hung while turning an on-screen chyem (rosary).^[1] Each touch of the screen advances the beads and adds one recitation to the user's count, and individual counts feed a continuously updated global total. The site also carries a calendar of the prayers held by monks at Tashichho Dzong and Punakha Dzong, and a section for making financial offerings, which it says will be "kept intact to help sustain monastic activities over successive generations". Daily Bhutan noted that the counter does not judge pronunciation or intention and works as a record-keeping tool.^[2]

Users register with a phone number and do not need an email address. Recitations made while a device is offline are recorded once the connection returns, and people without smartphones can count with ordinary prayer beads, with arrangements made to collect their records.^[3]

Uptake and international launch

In the days after the national launch, BBS reported that more than 150,000 users in Bhutan had registered and more than 214 million mani recitations had been logged. Lotay Tshering, the Governor of Gelephu Mindfulness City, said he expected the count to grow into the billions over time.^[3]

The international launch was timed for 1 November 2026, the day of Lhabab Duechhen and the raising of the 108 Jangchub Chortens in Gelephu, and the platform was opened to everyone, including those attending the event.^[3][2] Daily Bhutan observed that, as contributions from abroad grow, clear information on how the offerings are administered and reported would matter.^[2]

See also

• Project 108
• Buddhism in Bhutan
• Zhung Dratshang
• Gelephu Mindfulness City

References

1. "Bhutan's Living Tradition Goes Global with Yoeja". The Bhutanese, October 2026.
2. "Bhutan Takes the Yoeja Tradition Online with a Global Prayer Platform". Daily Bhutan, 26 October 2026.
3. "Yoeja to go global tomorrow". Bhutan Broadcasting Service, October 2026.