536
profane. In Bhutan, with its 14,824 mi
2
and 755,000 denizens, the greatest tensions
erupt between these two profound interferences on the path to survival and toward
that which has for many decades been characterized as a nation devoted to “Gross
National Happiness” as the fullest measure and modus operandi (pillar of strength)
of good governance.
2
At Taktsang Palphug Monastery gracing a series of ledges high upon a startling
black and white and magnetic 3000-foot granite cliff just eight miles north of
2 See Sanctuary: Global Oases of Innocence, by M. C. Tobias and J. G. Morrison, A Dancing Star
Foundation Book, Los Angeles, CA; Council Oak Books, San Francisco and Tulsa, 2008, pp. 289–
322. See also, Bionomics in the Dragon Kingdom – Ecology, Economics and Ethics in Bhutan, by
Ugyen Tshewang, J. G. Morrison and M. C. Tobias, Springer Publishers, New York, 2018; and
Bhutan: Conservation and Environmental Protection in the Himalayas, by Ugyen Tshewang,
M.C. Tobias and J.G. Morrison, Springer Publishers, New York, 2021.
Fig. 57.1 Taktsang Monastery, Bhutan. (Photo © M.C. Tobias)
57 The Geography of Contradiction
profane. In Bhutan, with its 14,824 mi
2
and 755,000 denizens, the greatest tensions
erupt between these two profound interferences on the path to survival and toward
that which has for many decades been characterized as a nation devoted to “Gross
National Happiness” as the fullest measure and modus operandi (pillar of strength)
of good governance.
2
At Taktsang Palphug Monastery gracing a series of ledges high upon a startling
black and white and magnetic 3000-foot granite cliff just eight miles north of
2 See Sanctuary: Global Oases of Innocence, by M. C. Tobias and J. G. Morrison, A Dancing Star
Foundation Book, Los Angeles, CA; Council Oak Books, San Francisco and Tulsa, 2008, pp. 289–
322. See also, Bionomics in the Dragon Kingdom – Ecology, Economics and Ethics in Bhutan, by
Ugyen Tshewang, J. G. Morrison and M. C. Tobias, Springer Publishers, New York, 2018; and
Bhutan: Conservation and Environmental Protection in the Himalayas, by Ugyen Tshewang,
M.C. Tobias and J.G. Morrison, Springer Publishers, New York, 2021.
Fig. 57.1 Taktsang Monastery, Bhutan. (Photo © M.C. Tobias)
57 The Geography of Contradiction