542
peak over 6000 m/19,685 ft has been deemed to be sacred and inviolate since 1994,
and technical mountaineering banned entirely in the country as of 2003, much in the
spirit of the Buddhist closure of all climbing on Kangchenjunga in Sikkim, and the
regional Aboriginal ban on any outsiders hiking up the iconic Uluru. Similar restrictions have long been in place on volcanoes sacred to Muslims in Indonesia, on at
least one major peak in Nepal (Machhapuchhare), Tibet (Kailash/Su-Meru), and
throughout a myriad of Native American landscapes.
57.3 The Contradictions Inherent to the Mahāyāna
Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
Ethical bubbles and burred margins persist. For all of Bhutan’s successes with preserving habitat for elephants, tigers, snow leopards, black-necked cranes, even the
Yeti, for which an entire wildlife sanctuary was created far in the East, at Sakteng,
the vegetarian ethos throughout the Buddhist nation is anything but 100%. As in
India, meat remains a highly contentious issue in Bhutan. Despite ancient Buddhist
prohibitions on the taking of life, and a national Agriculture and Food Regulatory
Authority policy of formally prohibiting and/or discouraging all meat production,
import, export, and consumption for at least two months (the auspicious first and
fourth) out of each year, the other ten months are ignored, and as of 2017 Bhutan
was “the highest consumer of meat per capita in South Asia.”
20
It is not simply the
tourists who are eating meat. And despite one of Gautama Buddha’s final sermons,
the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, in which he urged followers to abstain from
harming or consuming any animals, in 2019 meat importation from India to Bhutan
increased by 16% over the previous year
21
—the paradoxes of enlightenment.
And meanwhile, the understory throughout the Blue Pine forests leading up to
Taktsang has become increasingly polluted, a sacrifice area for tourist trekkers.
None of these contradictions are actually contradictions, but the essence of what
one economist, Richard Easterlin, termed in 1974 a distinct (earlier referenced)
paradox (“The Easterlin Paradox”) which asserts that, over time, per capita increased
income does not correlate with increased per capita happiness.
22
20 “Why Bhutan’s ‘Hardline Vegetarian Right’ Wants Everyone In The Country To Stop Eating
Meat,” by Sarah Reid, Independent, March 3, 2017. https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/asia/
bhutan-hardline-vegetarian-right-stop-eating-meat-travel-tours-holiday-a7608141.html.
21 See “Meat Import from India Shoots Up By 16%,” by Thukten Zangpo, Business Bhutan,
September 4, 2019, https://www.businessbhutan.bt/2019/09/04/meat-import-from-india-shootsup-by-16/. Accessed May 30, 2020.
22 See “The Easterlin Paradox,” Economic and Social Research Council, n.a., https://esrc.ukri.org/
about-us/50-years-of-esrc/50-achievements/the-easterlin-paradox/. Accessed May 30, 2020. See
also, “Wellbeing measurements, Easterlin’s paradox and new growth models: A Perspective
through gross national happiness,” by Sriram Balasubramanian, February 17, 2019, https://voxeu.
org/article/wellbeing-measurements-easterlin-s-paradox-and-new-growth-models, COX CEPR
Policy Portal, Accessed May 30, 2020.
57 The Geography of Contradiction
peak over 6000 m/19,685 ft has been deemed to be sacred and inviolate since 1994,
and technical mountaineering banned entirely in the country as of 2003, much in the
spirit of the Buddhist closure of all climbing on Kangchenjunga in Sikkim, and the
regional Aboriginal ban on any outsiders hiking up the iconic Uluru. Similar restrictions have long been in place on volcanoes sacred to Muslims in Indonesia, on at
least one major peak in Nepal (Machhapuchhare), Tibet (Kailash/Su-Meru), and
throughout a myriad of Native American landscapes.
57.3 The Contradictions Inherent to the Mahāyāna
Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
Ethical bubbles and burred margins persist. For all of Bhutan’s successes with preserving habitat for elephants, tigers, snow leopards, black-necked cranes, even the
Yeti, for which an entire wildlife sanctuary was created far in the East, at Sakteng,
the vegetarian ethos throughout the Buddhist nation is anything but 100%. As in
India, meat remains a highly contentious issue in Bhutan. Despite ancient Buddhist
prohibitions on the taking of life, and a national Agriculture and Food Regulatory
Authority policy of formally prohibiting and/or discouraging all meat production,
import, export, and consumption for at least two months (the auspicious first and
fourth) out of each year, the other ten months are ignored, and as of 2017 Bhutan
was “the highest consumer of meat per capita in South Asia.”
20
It is not simply the
tourists who are eating meat. And despite one of Gautama Buddha’s final sermons,
the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, in which he urged followers to abstain from
harming or consuming any animals, in 2019 meat importation from India to Bhutan
increased by 16% over the previous year
21
—the paradoxes of enlightenment.
And meanwhile, the understory throughout the Blue Pine forests leading up to
Taktsang has become increasingly polluted, a sacrifice area for tourist trekkers.
None of these contradictions are actually contradictions, but the essence of what
one economist, Richard Easterlin, termed in 1974 a distinct (earlier referenced)
paradox (“The Easterlin Paradox”) which asserts that, over time, per capita increased
income does not correlate with increased per capita happiness.
22
20 “Why Bhutan’s ‘Hardline Vegetarian Right’ Wants Everyone In The Country To Stop Eating
Meat,” by Sarah Reid, Independent, March 3, 2017. https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/asia/
bhutan-hardline-vegetarian-right-stop-eating-meat-travel-tours-holiday-a7608141.html.
21 See “Meat Import from India Shoots Up By 16%,” by Thukten Zangpo, Business Bhutan,
September 4, 2019, https://www.businessbhutan.bt/2019/09/04/meat-import-from-india-shootsup-by-16/. Accessed May 30, 2020.
22 See “The Easterlin Paradox,” Economic and Social Research Council, n.a., https://esrc.ukri.org/
about-us/50-years-of-esrc/50-achievements/the-easterlin-paradox/. Accessed May 30, 2020. See
also, “Wellbeing measurements, Easterlin’s paradox and new growth models: A Perspective
through gross national happiness,” by Sriram Balasubramanian, February 17, 2019, https://voxeu.
org/article/wellbeing-measurements-easterlin-s-paradox-and-new-growth-models, COX CEPR
Policy Portal, Accessed May 30, 2020.
57 The Geography of Contradiction