I think it can be said that we are now living extreme gap society. There are always winners and losers. Only a few percents of world population are able to eat sufficiently (it is often excessively though…) and receive highly sophisticated education and social services. However, on the other hand, most of the people on this earth are suffering with lack of necessities and being threatened by some kinds of oppressions.

        Therefore, there is a doubt came up to my mind. Did the development (of anything) and modern economic system really bring human happiness? So, there is an economic measurement, Gross National Happiness (GNH), which measures the degree of happiness in a country come under the spotlight of international society.

        As hard as it is to believe, the highest GNH nation was not any of developed countries. The country was Bhutan. Bhutan is a country which is located at between China and India. Of course Bhutan is totally a developing country: there main industry is agriculture and it is account of about 35% of their GDP. Religious and traditional customs are persistently rooted in the society of Bhutan and it seems that people are pretty much restricted. For example, smoking cigarettes is nationally banned because of their Buddhist value and traditional manner (along with old hierarchical social rules) is strictly followed among people and it is incorporated in education program and even in congress. Even so, many citizens in Bhutan feel happiness.

        What interesting is material wealth or the development is not always equal to the happiness. Did we really demand current situation and form of society and environment? Do we really think that material wealth creates the happiness? I think that the desire of “pursuing the happiness outside of self” could be already created by “develped” modern social and economic system. I think that the feeling of happiness does not exist outside of self. It exists in each of ourselves, and we just don’t know how to draw it from our body. I think that people in Bhutan are successfully done that with their Buddhist practices. They just were not washed away by the tide of globalization. They are strong enough to keep standing in the tide with their legs because they have their own belief and values.

        I am not a person who opposes current social systems because I also enjoy to live in modern society but I just think what we really need exist in ourselves.