Eric Weiner's Life In 'Shangri-La Paradise'

The adventure begins on an airbus, overflying the clouds and the Himalayas. As the passengers admire the view, Eric is thinking about somewhere else. His thought, navigating in 1933 and about a beautiful, hopeful paradise, refer to a book by James Hilton called Shangri-La, an utopian world separate from the normal one and where only lucky soul can go. As a paradise, it contains abundance and comfort, plus it is governed by an High Lama. Some fortunate people want to quit this world, but so doesn’t Conway, a British character to which Erik relate and envy. Eric Weiner lived in India in the 1990s as he was working as a National Public Radio reporter and covering many countries, such as Bhutan, which he calls the closest place to Shangri-La paradise. A local businessman then asks him if it was it’s first time in Bhutan. Hopefully it is and it’s during the tse-chu, a festival. Arrived on the ground, Erik realise that the airport consists in a small terminal different from other airports. He is welcome, as

The next day, the husband of Sangay (the hotel owner), Barba Tulky or the honorific Rinpoche, welcomes him with a « good morning. » Then, he explains to Eric how they know he was the reincarnation of Dalai Lama’s brother. Also, he tells him about the story of Divine Madman, Drukpa Kunley. This man teased women and his mother wanted him to pray like his brother did. However, Drukpa didn’t want to because he knew that his brother wasn’t praying but looking for a toilet. So, this famous story claims that people can be judged by what they’re doing, but only by why they’re doing it. Understanding this is essential to understand Bhutan. Curious, Erik finds an English translation of Drukpa texts to read it. According to him, happiness is located below the navel of woman body. So, it explains that these emotions, such as desire, don’t have to be remove, but to be