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Tales from the Island of Serendip
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By a long-standing agreement, Indian and Bhutanese citizens may travel to each other's countries without the need for a passport or visa but only their national identity cards. Because of this, border checkpoints are sufficiently lax to allow foreigners access without an entry permit up to the first inland checkpoint a few miles beyond the border town which is called Jaigaon/ Phuentsholing depending on which side of the wall that divides it you are standing. The contrast between the crowded Jaigaon and the sedate Phuentsholing could not be more stark. So we piled into a car, crossed the border, and had lunch some way beyond Phuentsholing at a Buddhist Temple!

 

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In 2011, The UN General Assembly passed a Resolution "Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development" urging member nations to follow the example of Bhutan and measure happiness and well-being and calling happiness a "fundamental human goal". Of course, the UN is now fast running out of money, so thank goodness happiness cant be bought.

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Of course, the reason Bhutan is so sparsely populated is because it is full of mountains. Gangkhar Puensum ("White Peak of the Three Spiritual Brothers"), on the northern border with Tibet, is reckoned the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. Until recent years, maps of the region were not at all accurate and the mountain was shown in different locations and with markedly different heights. Indeed, because of inadequate mapping, the first team to attempt the summit was unable to find the mountain at all!

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Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity

May I be a guard for those who need protection
A guide for those on the path
A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood
May I be a lamp in the darkness
A resting place for the weary
A healing medicine for all who are sick
A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles
And for the boundless multitudes of living beings
May I bring sustenance and awakening
Enduring like the earth and sky
Until all beings are freed from sorrow
And all are awakened.
 - Shantideva, Indian Buddhist sage 700 A.D.  Prayer performed each morning by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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