This reason for the Lama dude being happy is why I am not sure he is that happy after all.

Global comparisons of life satisfaction suggest that Russians produce a peculiarly low average level, and that the standard deviation is unusually high. However, when matching this finding with research on satisficing vs. maximizing and on rumination, the numbers seemingly make a little more sense. One of the few things that have a lasting effect on our satisfaction with life is comparison to other people. People who compare themselves to others tend to be less happy (given that other people have or are something that they do not have or are), unless the comparison winds up to their advantage (which it usually does not, there is always something you covet from thy neighbor’s table). Russia is one of the countries where conspicuous consumption, “showing off” is fairly prevalent, and where the ability to show-off is rather unevenly distributed. So, there is a lot of people who are able to compare themselves with others, and the standards of comparison are not that satisfying…

The Holy Lama is not Russian, in the fairly isolated and uniform environment he lives there should be no other standards of comparison. And so he should be unusually unhappy. But then there’s the glitch – all those dead-end celebrities (and award-winning Swedish ad wizards) rubbing against him. In practice, he is not that isolated from neighbor’s tables…

Jacko did not seem that happy in Russia, neither: