Destination Bhutan! (with daily updates)
As my altered-ego Harry the Human reported (http://harrythehuman.harrythehumanpoliticalthoughtsfrombeyondthepale.com/), my wife and I are traveling to Bhutan, leaving Thanksgiving day. I had not intended to bombard readers with boring descriptions of how beautiful Bhutan is, but Harry's desert companion Robert the Telepathic Gila Monster has intervened -by designating himself our traveling companion - to make this a challenging trip, and I'll need to write and post about it just to maintain internal stability. It seems I'm expected to smuggle Robert through various airport security systems and flights, then, upon arriving in Bhutan's capital city, Thimphu, transport him through mountain valleys (far north of the pre-set itinerary of our tour) to Gangkhar Puensum, at 24,000 feet Bhutan's highest peak, which is ruled by an ancient pre-Buddhist mountain god named InsertHere (don't ask), to whom Robert will convey greetings from InsertHere's cousin, Tab B (Harry explains the odd nomenclature), who as it happens is the god of our own Funeral Peak in the Black Mountains outside Death Valley. Recently Tab B came to Robert in a dream and told him that he, Robert, must accompany me to Bhutan to give greetings to his estranged cousin and commune about the world situation. There will be a lot to commune about, as it will be the month after America's fateful 2024 Presidential election, and we will know a little more about which way the world is turning. I can't say I understand how I'll be smuggling a live gila monster through multiple airport securities, not to mention two nights of preparatory clubbing in Bangkok, but Robert assures me that anything is possible when a mountain god is on your side. All I know for sure is that I'll be posting updates assiduously on this journey, as it promises to be something beyond the typical Instagram mediated show-off vacation. Stay tuned, readers!
Update, 11/27/24: The U.S. presidential election is over and, speaking of which way the world is turning, lately after reading the news I wonder if this is the moment when the sidewalk prophets climb on their crates and shout:
Arrrrmaggedon! For the Seventh Horseman spake, saying 'Lo, the liars and cheats shall flail about, but heed them not, for the mighty hand of the Lord shall be upon them...in fact it shall be upon all of you- tough luck, I guess.
No wonder you walk away from these guys (they're mostly men) not as euphoric as you're supposed to be: they never explain why you're being punished. Not that I can explain it. I did want to mention that my trip to Bhutan seems oddly timed, almost as if, by leaving on Thanksgiving Day (tomorrow!) we will enter a space-time vortex to arrive at the spot where the Bhutanese culture- a band of wise, strong, practical and nature loving people- figured out how to live squeezed between India and China with no fear of either. They did this by planting themselves in the highest reaches of the Himalayas and greeting every visitor who could figure out how to get there with disarming irony and grace. Though 60 Minutes revealed that in the last 30 years modernity has arrived and Bhutan's young professionals are leaving for the more exciting but less beautiful outer world, Bhutan retains its spirits and gods (they have no interest in leaving).
FYI, the plan is still that Robert the Telepathic Gila Monster will accompany me (I don't say "accompany us" because there's no way my wife will accompany this guy), though it remains unclear how I'm getting him through 10 separate airport securities. This promises to be an adventurous trip, but if you're thinking, "This is just right for Doug; he's so adventurous!", I only like adventure in my head; actual adventure I don't care for. Nevertheless, I remain your faithful retired guy/influencer, D.L.
Day 1
It's actually happening: I'm sitting in the terminal at LAX with my wife, Susan; it's almost Thanksgiving dinnertime, of all times [Booking the flight on Thanksgiving was caused by a distracted agent and our not noticing; we had to convince a skeptical family to congregate early], waiting for our flight to Taiwan, with a two hour wait for a connecting flight to Bangkok- 48 hours spent, I guess, drinking and getting massages- then on to Thimphu, Bhutan's capital, our final destination and the start of a 10-day tour of a country as exotic and remote as you can find on the planet.
Did I mention that in my carry-on is a live gila monster, a telepathic one, named Robert? Out in the Mojave he goes by the stage name, Robert the Telepathic Gila Monster and is surprisingly well-known in some realms. He stumbled into my acquaintance through our mutual friendship with Harry (who goes by Harry the Human and whose journal you can read at http://harrythehuman.harrythehumanpoliticalthoughtsfrombeyondthepale.com/). Robert twisted my arm to take him on this trip, which was supposed to be an easy-going stroll through fabulous beauty followed by bragging about it on Instagram. Now it's about sneaking away from our National Geographic tour to trek far to the north, through twisty Himalayan glacial valleys and passes, to the world's highest unclimbed mountain, Gangkhar Puensum, on the Tibetan border. How are we going to do that? TBD.
Gangkhar Puensum is unclimbed because mountain climbing is illegal in Bhutan, as it would disturb the deities who reside on and rule each mountain. Notwithstanding, Robert's quest is to disturb Gangkhar Puensum's deity. I'll let Robert explain that to you. I'm busy explaining it to Susan, whose first question was, "How will you get him past airport security?" This question, at least, has been answered: Robert sent out disorienting brain waves in the security lines that made him in effect invisible to both human and X-ray vision. He is now smugly curled up in my carry-on, beaming his own account of our travels to Harry's blog, where you can read them at the link above.
I want to forget about Robert for a moment and concentrate on the timing of this trip. Yesterday President-elect Trump's choice for Special Envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellog, said, "The world is on the precipice of World War III." Is this a good time to soar off to a far away place for two weeks? What if the world goes over the precipice while I'm sampling yak cheese that I could have got at Trader Joe's?
Sorry for my cynical mood. Hopefully when we take off I'll feel uplifted. Yuk! Yuk! (or should I say "Yak! Yak!"?).
Day 2
We just finished the 12 hour flight to Taipei and my sense of time is screwed up. Is it Friday or Saturday? Waiting for the connecting flight to Bangkok, I watch dawn appear out of the terminal window and ponder the long flight over the Pacific. It was filled with strange elements, as you might expect if you stuffed a metal cylinder with random people coerced by modern life to sit huddled within while it shoots through the sky. For instance, studying a lady across the isle who was watching a World War II movie about American POW's being tortured by Japanese soldiers, produced a twisted sort of hope. In a true totalitarian state the movie would have been censored because it presents Japan as an enemy, not the current narrative. The censor board would replace it with an anti-Chinese movie because in Taiwan we're supposed to fear a Chinese takeover. I'm not sensing anyone in this airport thinking about China- except for me. Dawn lights up downtown Taipei through the terminal windows. Maybe someone over there is worried about China. We're still living in the archaic World War II world. If anyone is thinking about existential threats it should no longer be about countries or ethnicities, because these will be re-written. We're all on the same side now, against AI designed Humanity 2.0. By the way, if you're wondering what Robert the Telepathic Gila Monster makes of the trip so far, though he appears to be asleep in my carry-on, for all I know he's recording his thoughts on Harry the Human at this moment. Let's take a look. I think that will do it for me until our hotel in Bangkok, where I will brush my teeth, take a shower and a nap. The booze and massage parlors will have to wait. That's just the kind of guy I am. Over and out. D.L.
Day 3
Forget booze and massage parlors, we spent Sunday doing a "Temple tour" with an engaging Thai guide named Sophia. As we left the airport hotel on the expressway into Bangkok, I was struck by the similarities to Los Angeles: a dry warm climate and urban sprawl. Both cities host about 10 million people. The differences soon became clear. In Bangkok one religion prevails: Buddhism. In Los Angeles all the religions of the world contend for recognition. In Bangkok there is a dominant ethnicity, "the Thai people," while L.A. is a jumble of the world's ethnicities. The Thai format seems more efficient, though exclusive. Thai people compensate for the exclusivity with an obeisance to visitors, expressed most frequently with the "wai," in which one presses one's palms together as if in prayer and bows toward the other person. The wai is everywhere constantly. It is indiscriminent, though quite pleasant.
The temples are overwhelming in their beauty and meaning, though appreciation of them is diminished by airport terminal-level crowds of tourists waving cell phones in the air, capturing the beauty and meaning not in their heads but in tiny gadgets.
Buddha had a positive message for humanity, involving acceptance of a universal soul and a cosmic view of things in which human suffering is diminished as one ponders an existence beyond temporal constraints. Most striking to me was the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, a gigantic golden statue, hundreds of feet long, of Buddha lying on his side, his head comfortably supported by his right palm, a slight smile on his face. I was surprised to learn from Sophia that Buddha at this moment is about to die, and is contemplating with joyful anticipation his death. He is joyful because he knows that death is part of a natural cycle in which the soul is reincarnated, rejoining the universe in new forms. I was struck by the contrast with my view of death as an entrance into something completely unknown, perhaps nothingness, or some terrible punishment for my shortcomings, or something else, who knows what? Could this uncertainty- itself a sort of punishment- be related to my culture's Judeo-Christian mythology, in which pain and punishment are the central elements of human awareness and evolution? The cross, the symbol of Christianity, is derived from a Roman torture device in which God's son was slowly killed as he experienced indescribable pain. I am Jewish, but Jewish mythology is no less harsh. I've always been especially horrified by the story of Abraham and Isaac, where God, our supreme source of wisdom and guidance, tells Abraham that he must slay his son in a sacrifice that demonstrates his obedience to divine authority. Abraham assents, after which God tells him it was just a test, which he passed, and the sacrifice is off. What exactly is the message here? I've never heard a reassuring explanation.
Note: Our excellent National Geographic docent told us that Buddha specifically cautioned against iconography as an expression of Buddha worship, that "he would have rolled over in his grave at the giant Buddha statues."
Both Buddhist and Judeo/Christian prominence developed as the Roman empire declined, filling in the gaps of religious authority. One was based on pleasure, one on pain.
And yet both approaches seem to have served the purposes of pain. Does it really make a difference which mythology a culture adopts? Humans, in their struggle with a world in which they do not fit, end up exploding with rage and sadism at regular intervals whatever the mythology.
What's coming next, as we are redesigned by AI and biotech? Will we end up without mythologies, like the much scorned "animal" world? Could we become like bees, for instance, who perform their functions in the hive without (as far as we know) fantasies about what happens to their souls after they die, where they come from, or what the meaning of life is? At the dawn of the AI/biotech age, we may be at a moment when we can take an active control of our future mentality and decide the relevance- or at least answerability- of such questions. [Note, 12/21/24: You wouldn't know we’re at this moment from our governance and its public expression, consumed as it is with stories about who gets how much money, who was mistreated by whom, or who gets to be on top of whom- nothing about the super-rapid evolution happening right in front of us. Of course, that’s what we want from government, that it be like a TV show, telling a comfortable story. I guess we like being surprised- like on the Titanic.]
It's 3 AM here in Bangkok. I'm in the lobby breakfast buffet, without the crowds that will appear in several hours, trying not to stuff my face and identify myself as a fat, over-privileged American. This blog is perhaps my penance.
Day 4 - Demons
You can't land in Bhutan's capital, Thimphu. It does not have an airport because it lies in the depths of a too-steep and narrow glacial valley, so we landed in Paro, a slightly more spacious valley, two hours drive through a rugged mountain road to Thimphu. I want to write about Paro's airport, because arrivers are greeted in the lobby by two 15 foot tall statues of demons. We knew they were demons because we were told they were, and because they had carnivorous teeth and facial expressions like rabid dogs. Bangkok too, in many temples, features demons with important jobs like holding up the universe that Buddha rules. The demons in the Paro airport were protective spirits, welcoming us to their land.
What gives? The word "demon" comes from a Latin word meaning "protective spirit." Satan started out in the Latin sense, not as a force for evil, but as a facilitator of divine intentions, as in the story of Job, where Satan's purpose is not to torment Job, but to challenge God's previously unquestioning designation of Job as someone who deserves his wealth and healthy family. God agrees with Satan that Job's devotion to Him should be tested by killing Job's wife and children, removing his wealth, then covering him from head to toe with boils. When Job loves God even after this, God is satisfied and provides Job with a new wife, wealth, and daughters so beautiful they all marry "rich husbands."
It seems Buddhism stayed with the earlier type of demon, often characterized as the animal part of us. That perhaps explains Churchill's claim that Buddhism is a "beastly" religion. But it also may point to a philosophical view in which good and evil are different sides of the same life force. Buddha is said to have conquered the demons and put them to good use, though they are still demons who would just as soon eat you for lunch as hold up your universe.
It's hard for a Westerner to accept evil as anything that could work with good. Consider our popular evil character, Hannibal Lecter, from the novel Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris, played memorably in the movie by Anthony Hopkins. Lector's sole purpose is, it seems, to torture and kill whomever he is able to- certainly demonic behavior. Strangely, in the sequel Hannibal, especially the more controversial movie version, a bond develops between Lecter and a female detective, Clarice Starling (played nicely by Jodie Foster), who is supposed to interview Lecter in prison in order to gain understanding needed to catch another serial killer. The bond is based on childhood traumas they each experienced: Lector, born in Lithuania, was forced by Nazis to eat his own sister, while Starling was traumatized by witnessing the killing of lambs on her uncle's farm. The bond disturbed many readers and movie goers, who were not ready for this alignment of good and evil.
Which view is correct? That's like asking, "How is the universe constructed," or "Is the universe good or evil?" The Judeo/Christain/Islamic religions have answered such questions with, "Good must destroy evil," while the Hindu/Buddhist tradition appears to state,"Good must conquer evil and coerce it to its purposes."
Does it matter? If you compare Hindu/Buddhist with Judeo/Christain/Islamic behavior, the incidents of serial killing and genocide seem about the same. It's a philosophical question, not a practical one.
That's it for now. I'll be back soon with coming revelations!
Day 5
Today I feel we achieved the purpose of the effort it took to get to Bhutan. Our National Geographic guide took us over Himalayan foothills to the wonderful valley of the black-necked cranes, a strikingly prisitine environment. Bhutan has figured out how to preserve its beauty and independence, at least so far. On a stop at a cafe 9,000 feet above sea level we viewed the massive peaks to the north, beyond which is Tibet and beyond that its aggressive overlord, China, while to the south is restless India, ready on a dime to clash with China. What a clever people the Bhutanese are to have devised ways to maintain an independent, unaligned country in this environment. En route we sighted langur monkeys, yaks, and villages whose shops and homes feature pictures of their king. He appears loved in a real way, unlike the enforced love of most monarchies, mainly because he does not seem motivated by greed, hunger for power, narcissism or other distractions from governing. For instance, when electricity came recently to the valley of the black-necked cranes, the king agreed with the locals to accept the considerable extra expense of putting all the wires undergound, so as not to defile the ancient pre-human beauty of the valley with ugly poles draped with wires. The king also decreed that mountain climbing is illegal, to protect mountain spirits. In an act contrasting probably with every other monarchy in the world, he decreed that Bhutan would elect leaders, and that no king could rule beyond the age of 65. What, I'm wondering, is so bad about kings, as least good ones?
Day? (It depends how you look at it)
Early in the day we visited the primary monastery of Bhutan, the walls of whose temple are filled with beautiful paintings of enlightened Buddhas sitting cross legged staring into the philosophical void while young naked girls sit in their laps writhing in ecstasy. One of our party commented that the Buddha looked bored. I don't think so. Later in a breathtaking glacial valley three hours rugged drive away, we visited the monestary of the medieval "Mad Monk," who believed that sexuality was spiritual and who practiced what he preached by sleeping with women throughout the region. On the walls of buildings in neighboring villages were numerous depictions of erect penises, often squirting semen, and shops selling all manner of phallic statues, some with laughing faces, some in a rage, fighting evil. Our group was invited to attend an interview with the lama, who answered our many questions. Also in the room, sitting cross legged on the floor, were three young boys in training, 8-10 years old, draped in robes. They giggled and whispered to each other. One was chewing gum and popping bubbles. Later in the temple, where wonderful hypnotic music was performed, the lama joined us, chewing gum.
In the Mad Monk's temple is a photo album of children born of couples who came to the monestary to enhance their fertility. These children were from all over the world, their parents having traveled here for this purpose.
After we noted to her the phallic overload in village after village, our exceptionally knowledgeable National Geographic expert, a trained anthropologist, explained that though the phallic motif goes back centuries, it took off 20 years ago to attract tourists. Strangely, 60 Minutes did not mention it, nor do tourist agencies promote Bhutan: Land of the Sacred Boner!
News Flash!
Much to the surprise of our tour leaders, who have followed Bhutanese politics for 40 years, the king visited neighboring Nepal today, the first such visit in their memory. They had no information on the visit's purpose. There was speculation that it had to do with the new city planned for the south of Bhutan, near the Indian border, whose economy will be based on worldwide investment in IT, AI and biotech, supplemented by sales of Bhutan's ample hydroelectric power from melting snow and glaciers. One of the new city's purposes will be to lure back young Bhutanese professionals who have left Bhutan. It will be called "Mindfulness City," a reference to the spiritual theme of the country. Billions of dollars will be involved, something a lot of people will be mindful about. Interestingly, the new city will have its own currency, and Bhutanese citizens who are not residents of the city will need a passport to get in. We watched a Ted Talk in which the current prime minister (chosen by election per order of the king) depicted Mindfulness City as evolving into a spiritual and economic hub of the world. It's an interesting juxtaposition with Bhutan's traditional culture, a development worth watching.
[Updates, 12/24/24: It's Christmas and Hanukah eve on the same night, another of those endless "signs"? We've been home from Bhutan a week. The hellish 14 hours of flights over S.E. Asia and the Pacific have faded to a dull ache, while the charming friends we made on the tour stay fresh and real. Observation: Other than the recent spot on 60 Minutes, Bhutan is never in the news. No geo-political event is happening there. Bhutan is not "tilting," unless you cast the proposed Mindfulness City as a "tilt" towards financing, biology and AI. If research from this city produces a new human, it will have been conceived in a remote place, free of precedent. Caution: Mindfulness City will be on Bhutan's lower southern plain, across the border from India, where sea-level spirits - notoriously difficult to predict- often prevail!
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