You have way too much free time, especially on Sunday when there must be a gazillion questionable on-line sermons.

Dude! I think this is a GREAT idea. why would anyone diss it?

Why not focus on mutual happiness? The Greek philosophers talked about living a balanced and complete life.

Indeed, a Christian community should be the one place where concern for each other should raise the happiness quotient.

I guess I must be missing something. Sure, Bhutan is mainly Buddhist with a smaller but vociferous/angry Hindu population. It isn’t Christian. Point taken.

It isn’t a perfect place to live (is there one?). There are the haves and the have-nots. These are mostly divided by terrain, the haves living in the central vale near water, roads and power supplies.

There are the royalists and the autonomists, the former wanting a return to full monarchy while the latter want anything from a constitutional monarchy to a republic. At the moment it’s a parliamentary monarchy. There’s a faction gaining some steam to turn the country into a theocracy.

In short, Bhutan pretty much resembles most countries around the globe when it comes to their desires. Different people want different things. They frequently compete with each other. They have to work through their conflicting goals for the betterment of all. Kinda reminds me of the USA.

The GNH, about which I know just a little because I’ve been to Bhutan twice to help design networking systems, is pretty much what we call “Quality of Life” but they like to call attention to it formally and officially. We quietly ask our real estate agent, “how’s the quality of life there?” when we are considering moving. Bhutan puts it out in front so everyone can see the good in their society, and yes, raise issues about things that still need improvement.

Again, I could be missing the point of this post, but it seems like it’s meant to be a diss. I’ve never actually been in Bhutan while one of these celebrations was going on, but everyone I’ve ever met says they are grateful for them. If nothing else it gets the rival factions to calm down once per year.

If they’re really just concerned about happiness as such, I guess that means that ideally, they should give out free dope. I think Mr. Johnson’s point is not to diss or denigrate, but to point out that getting people to rejoice in a false pain reliever might convince them to rationalize not going in for surgery, which is a bad thing.

And what if circumstances make some of their standards for happiness, such as ‘environment’, ‘health’ and ‘living standards’ impossible? What then? Curse God and die? We support such things because of charity, but it’s scary when happiness become foundational. “Why are you morally virtuous?” “Because I happen to be in a good mood at the moment.”

Smurf Breath,

You mean like in the same way our 4th of July fireworks celebrations might turn people violent and encourage them to make and use bombs?

Or our Thanksgiving celebration might encourage people to be overeaters, causing themselves heart problems?

Or our Valentine’s Day celebration might encourage wild, unrestricted public orgies involving adults, children, horses and chickens?

Or our Labor Day celebration might encourage people to become lazy and develeop bad work habits at the office?

If indeed that was CJ’s point, and yours, I think perhaps we might want to look at our own celebrations in that same light and see what kind message we might be sending to our own society, especially our children.

Otherwise, I’d suggest this is simply a “lost in translation” misunderstanding of this event in Bhutan. The people do not laud their “Glorious Leader.” They don’t go around calling each other citizen or comrade. They don’t have a “Five Year Plan.” Except for the Hindus who can’t tolerate a non-Hindu in their presence and wish everyone else would leave, no group in Bhutan feels oppressed or that they owe loyalties “to their own kind.” At least no more so than we have here in the USA–poor wanting more, rich wanting more, one religion pointing fingers at another religion, etc. I see that all over the world in my travels, and I see it in my own backyard here in Texas.

This would seem a case of a huge misunderstanding as seen through anti-TEC-colored lenses. It’s not my blog, I realize that, and I’m thankful for CJ’s work and the fact I can comment. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean Mr. Johnson gets it right 100% of the time. Neither do I, for that matter.

This was certainly not intended as a slam at Bhutan and if it came off that way, I’m very sorry. Given my father’s experiences in Asia during the war, I’d love to visit the place some day. When I read this story, it struck me that the concept of GNH seemed to be something that an Episcopalian would think up, not a Buddhist, since most Buddhists in that part of the world are, well, spiritually serious people.

yes, I just meant that at least holidays such as Valentines and Thanksgiving have an underpinning that would prevent such distortions. As they lose their Christian underpinnings, maybe we should abandon them . And it is odd – wouldn’t Buddhists say that happiness is part of the ‘maya’ that prevents us from getting off the endless merrygoround of ‘samsara’?

I think, Christopher, that you may have a point there; in the same way that “Shalom” and “Indaba” became buzz-words, if someone high up in TEC sees this, then the notion of “Gross National Happiness” will be hijacked and worked into every sermon (probably in combination with the MDGs).

Whatever the people and government of Bhutan may mean by the notion, it will become a vaguely ethnic-flavoured cliché in the hands of the enlightened ones.

Thank you for the clarification, Mr. Johnson.

As to visiting Bhutan…

Unless you want to stay in a very small area (like, at the inn and within walking distance), you had best be the adventurous sort if you’re going to enjoy your visit. Travel on donkeys is pretty much the available way to get into the foothills, though if you’re lucky you might find a jeep-like vehicle for hire (and if you’re even luckier, you might find some gasoline to put in it).

In towns and along the main connecting road cars are the norm. It’s just getting into the foothills that’s the problem. You’ll also need to be comfortable in sleeping in a tent on the cold, hard ground and eating dried meat and vegetables.

Around the towns you’ll find wonderful inns and restaurants. There are parks and entertainment venues. They even have banks which can handle getting you some local cash off your Visa card. Cell phones work in the central vale. Most “hotels” are 2-star. There are a couple of 3-star that bill themselves as 5-star. I found on my 2nd trip that staying at an inn (B-and-B) with an English-speaking family is much cheaper and you get better food and service.

But you’ll also need a host or guide. This can be done with a commercial outfit or an ad hoc arrangement with one of the locals who is willing to take you someplace. English is spoken by about 10% of the population, so you’ll need someone to assist, at least a little. Someone will have to direct you to a place and arrange travel, write your wishes onto paper so you can show it to the people where you go visiting, etc.

The airport is quaint and spread out. It sort of reminds me of Cozumel. There are several ways to get there, but they all involve short hops from either India or Indo-China. Both my visits took me through Bangkok (a place that may be fine to live in but isn’t so great for visiting, IMO). I think you can also go through Bangladesh. My only advice is to keep your eyes closed as you come in for the landing at Paro airport. You’ll be skimming over, around and through some peaks and hills, at some points only a 100 feet above them. There’s nothing like envisioning yourself smashing into solid rock at 300mph!

It is a very, very picturesque place. You’ll love it, all the more if you get out of the towns and into the foothills to visit some of the villages and historical spots.

Be aware it is extremely expensive if you have to pay yourself and want full-time expert, reliable guidance. The government sets the daily commercial tour charges (each tourist company charges the same rate). I think it’s in the $200+ per day range, but that’s only for the days you want someone else to guide you, supply equipment, tavel, food, shelter, etc. If you’re just hanging at the inn or footing it on your own, you just pay the inn’s rate. My travels were paid by the companies that hired me to go there so it was all a freebie for me. I wish I could afford to go back on my own time.

And thank you for the information, Antique. But I doubt that I’ll ever scrape together enough money to actually make the trip. It’s one of the many places in the world that I’d love to visit(Tibet’s another and Mongolia’s a third although my nephew recently completed a Peace Corps stint there) but probably never will.