Written by Laurence Brahm - Published by Review Asia on 03/01/2008

In Bhutan, the concept of gross national happiness challenges the traditional notion that more wealth and consumer-driven marketing cycles create better social development.

"We need to redefine wealth," explains Lyonpo Jigmi Y. Thinley, former prime minister of Bhutan. "Is it a goal, a target of competition to continue to pursue wealth? What really constitutes wealth? Material accumulation? Or is it greater spirituality within the concept of what is a sustainable material development?"

The concept of gross national happiness (GNH) defies traditional gross national product (GN P) growth as a formula for measuring economic success. It shatters the traditional notion that more wealth and consumer- driven marketing cycles create better social development. Rather, it challenges this assumption, pointing out that more wealth or greed-based "invisible hand” economics shatters traditional society and culture, in turn creating more social disorder, unhappiness and, eventually, political instability.

In late November last year, an eclectic gathering in Bangkok of Asian politicians, scholars, activists from non-government organizations and Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist leaders challenged the values of the mainstream economic order. They advocated adopting GNH as a new economic paradigm and putting it into practice.

The keynote speaker at the conference was Thinley, who is considered the loudest voice in articulating and promoting the GNH concept. He explained to the gathering how Bhutan - Land of the Thunder Dragon - had evolved into the land exporting GNH.

The concept of GNH emerged with the fourth king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who took over the stewardship in 1962. Willing to break with convention, he sought a new development paradigm, more interested in the end rather than the means. In 1986, in an interview with the Financial Times, he made his famous statement: "Gross national happiness is more important than gross national product."

From this point on, GNH began turning upside down assumptions of conventional economists, at least drawing sharp questions, as it called for a new benchmark for national success instead of the conventional GNP. Even cynics lent their ears, with the World Bank sending delegations to Bhutan to investigate GNH.

Traveling to Bhutan on a similar mission, I met Loden Foundation's Karma Phuntsho, a lecturer on Bhutanese history, religion, philosophy and socio-anthropology at Cambridge University.

"Everyone in government has taken [GNH] up and it is a slogan," he said. "It helps the government balance between tradition and modernity. It encapsulates the middle path. It is a conceptual guiding principle. You can keep in sight of what you want."

According to Bhutanese scholars and political leaders, there are four recognized pillars of GNH - economic development, environmental preservation, cultural preservation, and good governance. While such concepts should already be recognized as universal values, there are still some critics. Mainstream Western economists argue that happiness is subjective and cannot really be gauged.

In response to such arguments, the Centre for Bhutan Studies is now developing an index for GNH, by gathering beliefs in what constitutes happiness from all pans of the world. But Bhutanese scholars note that while happiness indicators may be similar, they may not fit into the country's cultural context.

So far, the center has developed nine indicators of GNH: psychological wellbeing; use of time, such as the amount of time devoted to work, leisure and religion; health; education; cultural aspects, such as diversity and resilience; governance; community vitality; ecological diversity and resilience; and economic living standards.

There is a danger that by trying to define and measure GNH, it will become empirical and then open to arguments from more mainstream Western economic institutions that will undermine its very nature that raises spirituality over materialism, offering an alternative paradigm to traditional measurements of economic and national success.

Indeed, developing a GNH index seems less important to many of its proponents.

"To talk about GNH, you must look from different contexts," says Lungtaen Gyatso, director of the Institute of Language and Culture Studies at the Royal University of Bhutan, himself a practicing monk. "You can not say what is agreed in Bhutan can be accepted in the US.”

Globalization is moving towards monoculture," he adds. "We want to stick to what we are and when we talk about GNH, we talk about our values. Preservation of culture is important to the Bhutanese."

As for the future of GNH as a concept, he says: "This is just the beginning and Buddhism says there is no end to anything."

Dasho Meghraj Curung, a Bhutanese of Nepalese descent and board member of the Centre for Bhutan Studies, spent his career articulating the GNH concept.

"To understand the genesis of GNH, we must go back to the essence of our traditional culture," he says. "Our own cultural construct was greatly influenced by Buddhism. With in this context, people have already internalized the notion of everlasting happiness. We need a new development paradigm to regenerate values. Relations are all defined by dollars. Somehow, the human being is lost in the press. A new ideological base gives bigger meaning to life. Let's make life more comfortable with less conflicts, bring healthcare back to the people."

Dr. Karma, the Cambridge University lecturer, observes: "Egalitarian principles of Buddhism prioritize that all people are equal. Buddha was the first advocate of equality among races and classes. Buddha led a movement - I don't know if you can call it a revolution - for the overthrow of castes."

Maybe we are part of a global caste system - because you are born into it having been successfully forged by the Washington Consensus, or is it really a class system? How real is perceived upward mobility? "Remember, Buddha's revolution emphasis is on egalitarianism. Tremendous equality!" reminds Dr Karma. I thought, maybe that is what the Washington Consensus fears the most?

Back at the GNH conference in Bangkok, another keynote speaker, Sulak Sivaraksa activist, teacher, scholar, NGO founder, author of more than a hundred books and monographs, and a philosopher at heart challenged the very values of globalization.

"Our values are fixed by globalization, which means they are fixed by American multinational corporations and this is Americanization," he said. "They have the best guns. So if you don't like it, they will invade you. Look at the examples - Afghanistan, Iraq and, of course, Vietnam. Their values are driven by greed - what is best for me?"

But can the emerging concept of a Himalayan Consensus, of which GNH is a critical component, offer an alternative to the Washington Consensus of the West?

"The idea is tremendous - bring together ideals from Ladak, Bhutan and Tibet. This is the roof of the world. People put together will be a revolutionary example for the world to look at, imitate and in turn try to change," Sivaraksa said.

"We are talking about an Asian challenge to the West. Tibetans challenge the West with compassion - inner peace and outer peace. Asians are starting to follow Western models of violence. Don't say Asian cultural integrity is only positive. It is positive and negative. But the Buddhist way is not to criticize the negative. The Himalayas are not perfect, but still, they are more perfect than other places."

Laurence Brahm is a global activist, international mediator, political columnist and author. He is the leading advocate of a fresh development paradigm - The Himalayan Consensus - an innovative approach to development.

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