Outside an altar room, inside the most sacred Buddhist monasteries in the Kingdom of Bhutan, I respectfully place my battered boots next to a bright pair of red plastic Croc shoes decorated with yellow Pikachu cartoons.

The shoes belong to 26-year-old Tashi Lhendrup who lives in the monastery and has been a monk for nine years. The granite floor is freezing and Tashi’s cheeks are as rosy as the red fleece under his robes. He is the ideal person to ask the most important question in the world.

What’s the secret of happiness?

He smiles. Pulls his robes tighter and says… I’ll tell you what he says in a moment. First, let me set the scene.

We’re in Taktshang Goemba — better known as the Tiger’s Nest Monastery — impossibly perched on a vertical cliff, 3,000 feet above the town of Paro.

Founded by Guru Rinpoche who anchored it to the Himalayas with celestial hairs after arriving on a winged tiger, Taktshang Goemba is the photogenic cover star of every travel bucket-list you’ve ever read.

Inside, it’s the final scene of an Indiana Jones quest. The altar is populated with giant multi-armed golden statues and crammed with ornate wood carvings painted in dazzling colours. On the altar are giant silver plates incongruously overflowing with offerings of savoury crisp packets and tubes of sweets. Wintery light seeps through the incense-flavoured gloom, illuminating Tashi’s shaved head.

So, here’s the secret: “The secret of happiness is no secret,” he says. “Thinking about death all the time reminds us that life is impermanent. We might never see tomorrow. That is why we can’t fill our lives with anger, hatred and greed. We are here for such a short time, we should do good. This is happiness.”

Tashi’s day, from 5am to 10 pm, is filled with prayer, organising those snack and sweet packets, wood collection, religious studies and the meditations on death that underpin his happiness. Still, he is a modern monk and, like all his friends, has a smart phone. “Time is precious for me, so I rarely use my phone. But I like to message my family and friends before I sleep.”

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