Bhutan- In Pursuit of Gross National Happiness

. by Samarpita Mukherjee Sharma

It’s been a long time coming to develop proper indicators for assessing the well-being and state of development of a nation. Gross National Product isn’t it. The Land of the Thunder Dragon, Bhutan, is showing the way to a more holistic set of indicators. Don’t think too hard about whether this can truly be done in your own country. Start with yourself. And you’ll discover a path to true wealth in your own life.

“Gross National Happiness doesn’t count money, it counts lives” — Silver Donald Cameron

Bhutan is a nation devoted to nurturing people who care about a human relationship with the natural world. Bhutan is a nation with lush valleys, and subtropical planes and peaks – it is also a nation which actively promotes and works towards inculcating Gross National Happiness in it’s citizens. For the Bhutanese, Gross National Happiness (GNH) is more important than Gross National Product. And it is also an important date in the history of Youth-Leader Magazine.

Ashi Dorji Wangchuck opened the Global Dialogue on Poverty and Wealth, “Inspired by a Buddhist vision, our honoured King has developed an approach that acknowledges the four pillars of wealth: Economic Wealth, Ecological Wealth, Cultural Wealth and Spiritual Wealth. We have found that when ecological, cultural and spiritual wealth are high, economic wealth becomes the least important of all.”

It was July 27, 2000, at the Universal World Exposition expo2000, Hannover, Germany.

While industrial nations have a high level of economic wealth, the other three are relatively low.

This model at assessing one’s personal wealth and poverty comes at an important time. If you consider the degree of wealth’s experienced on eco-cultural holidays, the urgent need and status of such holidays in “far-away” places with intact cultures and environment, you may come to the distressing realisation that for many people in industrial nations, the “other 3 wealths” are at almost zero level in daily life. A poverty that is the root of many ills. Studies show that despite a multiplication of material possession and comfort in industrial nations over the past 40 years, their citizen’s happiness has not improved a bit. It has rather declined, with more than 30% of the population on a varying spectrum of constant psycho-active medication to ‘make it through the day’. The soft wealths are coming back through spiritual practices of all sorts, – yoga, meditation…

Can we transfer them to all spheres of life, including society, economics and education? Yes, we can.

Bhutan – Land of the Thunder Dragon (a symbol for Peace) and last country on the planet to introduce television – shows us the way.

“Happiest Nation in the World”

In the year 2006, Bhutan was named by Business Week as the “Happiest Nation in the World”. Bhutan is a spiritual nation as testified by the constant use of prayer beads, prayer flags and prayer wheels among the Bhutanese.

Spiritual maturity is very prevalent in Bhutan. The fourth Bhutanese King Jigme Songye Wangchuk had to set his army against Assamese seperatists in a war and despite winning the war, the king was appalled by the loss of lives. He created a war memorial of 108 shrines for both the Bhutanese and the Assamese. Bhutan became a democracy in 2008. Television was introduced in Bhutan as recently as 1999 and it’s capital Thimpu has no traffic signals, and no billboards.

But, or rather because of this – Bhutan is far ahead of many nations because of it’s active promotion of the concept of Gross National Happiness.

GNH rests on 4 pillars namely- environmental conservation, cultural promotion, sustainable and equitable development, and good governance. It is further divided into 9 domains and 72 measurable variables. Each of these variables are crucial for the government and people of Bhutan. One measurable variable, secured by the constitution, is that 60% of the country’s forest cover should be preserved. Actually, 72% of the forest cover of Bhutan is preserved and 52% of it is permanently protected. Bhutan absorbs 3 times the carbon it emits! Other indicators of Bhutan’s progress are it’s universal healthcare and universal free education.

Silver Donald Cameron has spoken about Bhutan and the GNH in an inspiring TEDX talk ( see video below)

Cameron further quotes James Lovelock, author of the Gaia theory who said that “Our intelligence, if it could be integrated as part of the whole planetary system, would make our planet the first intelligent planet in the galaxy perhaps. That would be a wonderful future for humans”.

“Anything that exists is possible.”

A development policy centered on the environment has been framed and implemented in Bhutan, the Bhutanese government has recognized the importance of spiritual, social and intellectual development of it’s people. Using tools developed by Dr.Coleman in Nova Scotia, the Bhutanese have proved they can be ‘grossly happy!’

Dr. Erik Allgoewer, president of the Swiss based FAVACH foundation, has co-produced a documentary on GNH in Bhutan.

Erik was sent by Helvetas association to Bhutan to serve as a Zonal Medical Officer from 1979-1981. A young doctor with conventional western medical training background and no knowledge of eastern philosophy and healing practices, Erik was truly transformed by his experience in Bhutan. Deeply touched by warm nature and ingenious wisdom of Bhutanese people, he kept close links and followed with great interest its development. Erik found filming GNH a gratifying experience, both in being able to help promote this deeply human political concept to other governments and in paying tribute to his Bhutanese friends. What Erik finds most fascinating about the GNH policy is that its 4 main principles are both in tune with the Bhutanese Buddhist tradition and modern in their application.

See the video below for excerpts from Erik’s documentary:

THE UNITED NATIONS GO GNH

In July 2011, Bhutan initiated its first resolution in 39 years of UN membership – “Happiness as a holistic approach to development” – and it has garnered unanimous support!

“On July 19, 2011, the General Assembly called on United Nations Member States to undertake steps that give more importance to happiness and well-being in determining how to achieve and measure social and economic development.

In a resolution adopted without a vote, the Assembly invited countries “to pursue the elaboration of additional measures that better capture the importance of the pursuit of happiness and well-being in development with a view to guiding their public policies.”

The resolution said “the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal” and embodies the spirit of the globally agreed targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

(http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39084&Cr=general+assembly&Cr1=)

(http://www.kuenselonline.com/2010/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20170)

LAYING ECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS FOR GNH

One of the important goals of the Bhutanese government is that Bhutan be the first nation to rely exclusively on organic farming. This is an important goal in the context of GNH and living in ways that are in harmony with the natural world.

Bhutan is pursuing sustainability on all levels. In 2010, world-renowned Gunter Pauli, (founder of www.zeri.org and www.blueeconomy.de) developed a masterplan for Bhutan embracing energy, economy etc. This fascinating 90min presentation at renowned Schumacher College introduces a vast amount of groundbreaking sustainable new business models and their application in an interconnected national context: in Bhutan:

http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/community/gunter-pauli-bhutan-and-the-blue-economy

LAYING A FOUNDATION FOR GNH IN EDUCATION

There cannot be a sustainable nation without earth-literate citizens.

Bhutan’s innovative education policy is geared towards promoting GNH. The Prime Minister of Bhutan has said , in conversation with Mr.Cameron, that he would want graduating students of Bhutan to understand that ” success in life does not mean acquisition of wealth…success in life is a state of being where one can come home at the end of the day, satisfied with what one has done…you are happy also because you give happiness to others- to your spouse, children, family, neighbours and to the world”. Mr.Cameron has remarked that “Bhutan leads the way in living mindfully, sustainbly and reverently on this fierce and beautiful planet”.

The Bhutanese Government sought the help of Dr.Rob Coleman, and GPI Atlantic which was working on a Genuine Progress Index. In December 2009, this cooperation convened holistic educators from 16 different nations in Bhutan for a focused on how to design education for sustainability, cultural relevance, equity, equality and citizenship. The educators commenced by defining what kind of a citizen Bhutan and indeed any such nation in pursuit of Gross National Happiness would want. The vision emerged… “the citizen should be one who can see clearly  the interconnected nature of reality, understand the full benefits and costs of their actions and care deeply for others and the natural world.”

Those attending this workshop took a step further and discussed how to shape such citizens. They recommended that for promoting gross national happiness, “education should focus on cultivating critical and creative thinking, ecological literacy, practice of the country’s profound ancient wisdom and culture, competency to deal effectively with the modern world, preparation for right livelihood and informed civic engagement.”

The Bhutanese Government accepted these principles instantly- the Deputy Minister for Education announced the very next day of the workshop that the recommendations made by the educators were now a government policy.

The Government committed itself to training everyone in the educational sector, starting within 10 days of the workshop by training officers of the department of education. They commenced with the training of school principals a month from then. Curriculum development began immediately. Within 3 years, every teacher in Bhutan received GNH training

To know more about Bhutan’s policy of Gross National Happiness applied in education, please visit

http://www.education.gov.bt/

The following documents provide insights into GNH in the context of education and everyday life:

(INSERT MEDIA LINKS http://thegreeninterview.com/sites/default/files/Medmanualall.pdf
http://thegreeninterview.com/sites/default/files/BhutanGreenSchool.pdf)

Gross National Happiness has been a subject of interest to holistic development for more than 10 years. A web search brings up a variety of results for more information.

Gross National Happiness has been a subject of interest to holistic development for more than 10 years. A web search brings up a variety of results for more information.

Original Article: http://www.indigenous.youth-leader.org/?p=4912

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About the author

Eric Schneider loves this planet, and serves the highest spirit in saving the rich treasures of nature and humankind – its cultures! He says ‘Give young people the best knowledge, thinking, solutions and human examples of the global changemaking movement. Do so in lively format, shining wiht the genuine spirit of the movement. And format it for easy use in schools. Then they will create the world that’s deep in all our Hearts and Dreams.’ And he thinks, YL is doing fine.