Gross National Happiness
We have just completed a four-day course on the farm, “Biodiversity as a Bridge to Happiness,” with Dr Saamdu Chetri.
Dr Chetri is from Bhutan, a predominantly Bhuddist nation just east of India. Bhutan has become recognized as an inspiration to others for its alternative way of measuring their country’s development — instead of simply measuring economic growth (aka GDP), Bhutan has taken a stand to recognize that the development of a country has to be measured by far more than material output. In fact, according to Bhutan, it is possible to measure a country’s development in happiness.
Dr Chetri founded the Gross National Happiness Centre. As he teaches on Gross National Happiness (GNH) around the world, we had the unique opportunity to get to learn from his personal experience and gained wisdom in these areas.
GNH is defined as “a multidimensional development approach seeking to achieve a harmonious balance between material well-being and the spiritual, emotional and cultural needs of society.”
In contrast to GDP, GNH is described as “development with values” — it includes values of humanity and culture, valuing the environment and the health & well-being of people in an effort to create the capacity for humans to live in harmony with nature. Economic growth is recognized and measured within GNH, but it is 1 of 9 pillars of measurement, part of a greater whole.
It’s important to note that happiness in this sense is recognized as “health and well-being”. It is not as we often think about it, in fleeting moments or emotions, but as a state of being which can be achieved “when one balances the needs of the body and the mind.”
GNH is measured through 4 pillars, 9 domains and 33 indicators.
Images sourced from gnhcentrebhutan.org
While some of these are the responsibility of the government to uphold and maintain, many of the indicators must be maintained by individuals themselves and then communities together.
Dr Chetri spoke of meditation and mindfulness and the ability to know truth within oneself. He spoke of spirituality not as religion but as “compassion and service for others”. He spoke of the importance of connecting to one’s purpose — not in terms of a career, but through knowing one’s innermost desires and aspirations, what drives you. He spoke of moral action and being in alignment with what we know in our hearts is good for both us and others. He shared that there are not homeless people in Bhutan — if someone is struggling in such a way, communities take it upon themselves to find a solution. He held a deep appreciation and love for his country and the culture there.
This course definitely sparked curiosity within me. And has been a spark for ongoing deeper reflections and conversations within all of us who participated. All of what Dr Chetri spoke about as ways to support the health and well-being of people are practices that I have cultivated for myself on my own journey — and all things that I agree are necessary for anyone wishing to truly find happiness in their life.
In the West, we over-value economic growth and material gain. In this way, the goal in life (and our purpose) becomes tied with consumption. We’re supposed to be happier when we have more, yet many feel left empty and don’t know why. Not only that, our push for economic growth is extremely short-sighted. We greatly lack the regard for the Earth’s capacity to give in response to how much we take. The economy can only stand thanks to the Earth’s natural resources — and these have a threshold. We keep digging ourselves into a deeper hole while sacrificing all that creates capacity for people to connect to that which makes life worth living.
It’s intriguing to think about the potential for GNH. I’m not sure what it would look like to apply something like this to a bigger nation, especially a Westernized one. Many of the values within GNH are based on Bhuddist values, and as Bhutan is a largely Buddhist nation, those values were already woven into many aspects of Bhutan’s culture.
Bhutan’s population is also roughly the same as the state of Vermont, so it’s very small. Dr Chetri shared about how the process of implementing this and measuring it across communities was greatly customized and localized to its people. And it seems that is how it is meant to be — not applied as a blank slate across vast swaths of population, but through the growth of local communities.
Even so, I’m excited for the potential for GNH and greatly appreciate the opportunity to learn from a forward and outside-the-box thinker like Dr Chetri.
Learn more at gnhcentrebhutan.org
