Understanding Gross National Happiness in the Realm of Buddhism

Abstract

Bhutan is a very small country with an area of approximately 4000[1] square kilometers. Geographical location of Bhutan is landlocked in nature that isolates it from the rest of the world. Although Bhutan has become a multi-religious society in the 21st century, Mahayana Buddhism is still a state religion and subsequently prominent in the Bhutanese society. Buddhism is deeply ingrained in the society and the culture of Bhutanese people. For a society whose culture is so imbibed with Buddhism, it is quite natural for its people to be very religious. Bhutan has been able to sustain its goals for spreading ‘happiness' throughout the country with the formulation of the concept of Gross National Happiness in 1972 by fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuk. In this paper the philosophy behind Bhutan's concept of Gross National Happiness and the Buddhist principles which recognizes the need to balance material well-being with spiritual are discussed. This paper has followed the descriptive and analytical method to analyse the Philosophy of Gross National Happiness, relied up on Buddhist principles in Bhutan. Along with available secondary literature the empirical data has been a major source to write this paper. Personal visit to Bhutan for collecting firsthand information in the forms of public opinions and interviews has been appropriately collected and analysed.