Out of the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan came a concept that has enthralled the international development community: Gross National Happiness. GNH offers up a different way to measure a country’s well-being, based on the common welfare and infused with a good dose of spirituality — in contrast to the materialism represented by the Gross National Product (GNP). In a time dominated by anxiety about recession, climate change and spiralling energy and food prices, GNH seems to offer a respite, an alternative vision.

I had the chance to explore the concept while visiting Bhutan, and saw that, unlike the romantic vision of Shangri-La widely painted in the West, GNH in Bhutan is a complex national quest with wide, if not universal, implications.

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck planted the seeds of GNH in the early 1970s as Bhutan, until then extraordinarily isolated from the forces of modernisation, joined the United Nations. The king wanted to avoid what he saw as the many pitfalls of modernisation and he feared losing both Bhutanese culture and autonomy. GNH was formally set out as a national objective in 1982 and it figures in the Bhutanese Constitution approved earlier this year. Bhutan’s leaders have been consistent in their dedication to GNH over the decades.

One of the key themes is balance: balancing material welfare with concern for nature, preservation of culture with technological change. Among the most important are balancing rights with responsibilities and individual happiness with that of the community. Material wealth is viewed as a means, not an end. As Bhutan has embarked on a process of modernisation, its leaders hope that with GNH they can preserve the country’s culture without forgoing the benefits of globalisation and social change.

I was particularly interested in the role of Buddhism in GNH, since Bhutan was for many years the world’s only formally Buddhist country (the new constitution does not give Buddhism a formal role). Buddhist values and teachings are clearly evident in the way GNH is described. The linking of happiness with enlightenment and focus on moderation are two such threads. But Bhutan’s GNH leaders stress that GNH is Bhutanese more than Buddhist, and for them GNH contains many elements of universal values.

Dr Karma Ura, leader of the Centre for Bhutan Studies, is charged with measuring progress towards national happiness in objective, scientific ways. This is done, he said, through 31 sets of indicators that are tracked twice a year through sample interviews. Spirituality, for example, is measured through four main indicators: practice of meditation, prayer, commitment to non-violence, and belief in a broader life purpose, for example reincarnation.

Beyond Bhutan, the GNH concept means different things to different people. Happiness is a tantalising and important topic with universal implications. It is a universal quest, for everyone and for every society and questions about what brings happiness abound: is happiness part of genetic makeup? Part of a culture? Is it a personal matter, or a social condition? Both Bhutan and Buddhism have a lot to teach us about what happiness means and how we can advance in our own pursuit of it.

Washington Post