Wonder List goes to Bhutan to find the key to happiness

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Pretend you’re a king.

Pretend that you reign over the Land of the Thunder Dragon, a happy little nation high in the highest mountains, cut off from the wars and worries of the modern world.

You are a nice king. You do your best to improve the lives of your subjects, one road, school and hospital at a time. Instead of gross national product, you measure your country’s success in gross national happiness, and your subjects love you dearly.

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But one day, you decide you don’t want to be a powerful king anymore. Because you believe there shouldn’t be powerful kings anymore.

“Democracy?” your subjects wail. “A constitution? What the hell are those? We don’t want to vote! We want you to take care of us! You’re smarter than us! You’re kinder than us! You know what we need to stay happy forever!”

You’re the king. What do you do? What kind of society do you build?

These are the questions that sent me scrambling into the Himalayas for “The Wonder List,” because this is not a fairy tale. It is the story of Bhutan.

Inspired by a 1,200-year-old Bhutanese prophecy, the recently completed Thimphu Buddha is one of the largest sitting Buddhas in the world. Bhutan is the world's last independent Buddhist kingdom.

Workers at the Punakha Dzong temple prepare portraits of Bhutan's fourth and fifth kings as part of the fourth king's 60th birthday celebration. Known as "K4," Jigme Singye Wangchuk introduced democracy and the concept of Gross National Happiness.

Monks sing a celebratory song at K4's celebration. Bhutan is one of the only countries to place humility and compassion at the center of its constitution.

Children find a better vantage point at a music festival outside the capital city of Thimphu. Recent advances in technology have introduced Bhutanese artists, including a rapper inspired by Eminem, to more modern forms of music.

Prayer flags like these on top of a grassy hill in Dochula Pass carry prayers for the alleviation of the suffering of all sentient beings.

Butter lamps flicker in the mountain breeze near the iconic Tiger's Nest temple high above the city of Paro. The temple is the most popular attraction in Bhutan.

Visitors circle clockwise, reciting prayers, around the Memorial Chorten Stuppa of Thimphu. Whether students preparing for a test or farmers hoping for a fruitful harvest, people regularly visit the Stuppa to receive blessings and pay their respects.

Backed by snow-capped mountains, gold-painted Dakinis -- the angels of the Buddhist world -- perch high above the capital. Himalayan snowmelt and monsoon rains power Bhutan, which is among the world's leading countries in clean energy.

With a population of just under 100,000, Thimphu is a quickly growing capital. Bhutan is half the size of Indiana, and two-thirds of it is covered by pristine forest. Its constitution insists that it must stay that way -- forever.

Guide Karma Lotey takes a call on his cell phone. Bhutan is in the throes of a technological revolution (television didn't arrive until 1999) and is fighting to find a balance between traditional culture and modern technology.

Bhutanese musicians play at a music festival on the outskirts of the capital as part of the country-wide celebration of the 60th birthday of the fourth king.

The Dochula Pass, a mountaintop gateway from Thimphu to the valley of Punakha, sits among the clouds at over 10,000 feet. A monastery and shrines to Bhutanese soldiers killed in combat are among its attractions.

Bhutan: A real-life Shangri-La

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While America has been wrestling with democracy for 240 years, this little land sandwiched between India and China just learned to vote in 2008.

That’s when Jigme Singye Wanchuck stepped off the Golden Throne and gave the Raven Crown to his eldest son and his power to the people.

Like Thomas Jefferson, this founding father of modern Bhutan underscored the pursuit of happiness as a God-given right.

But as the last independent Buddhist kingdom on Earth, the way they chase happiness is very different from the American way. To preserve their one-of-a-kind culture and pristine nature, they have created a rules-and-manners society unlike any other.

The hillsides are covered with wild marijuana, but there is no smoking. Anywhere.

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Their movies are all G-rated, and plastic bags are forbidden. There is a national dress code and a Cabinet-level minister of gross national happiness.

But the outside world is closing in. Just a few years after the arrival of television and tourism, the most popular show in Bhutan is American professional wrestling.

So how long can “The Last Authentic Place on Earth” keep it real?

And when it comes to happiness, what do they know that we don’t?

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2016.