The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Gross National Happiness (GNH) Center will launch its first-ever public event ‘Mindfulness is a source of Happiness’ at the Youth Development Fund (YDF) complex from 21 September in the capital which will target 600 youths across the country.
‘Youths’ comprises graduates, high school, out of school youth and youth with special needs as participants.
GNH, a development philosophy of Fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the early 1970s, proposes a holistic and sustainable approach to development and addresses such global, national and mental challenges as climate change, pollution, stress-related diseases, entrenched poverty and insecurity, by pointing to both ,material and non-material roots of well-being.
The GNH Center was initiated by the Prime Minister of Bhutan in order to manifest, in living practice, the values of GNH.
“To incorporate values of mindfulness into all its programs in order to give its participants which includes educators and students concrete tools to cultivate their own happiness,” is one of the centre’s mandates and without which the values of GNH is said to remain a philosophic ideal.
Through the programs, the GNH Center hopes to permeate living GNH in the daily lives of people, positively impacting communities, workplaces and families throughout the country.
The forthcoming event on 21st September which incorporates mindfulness as the source of happiness; the participants will be introduced to concepts of the ‘Five Percepts,’ different types of mindful meditation and dharma sharing. Also at the same time, the participants will be introduced to the concepts of self sufficiency, empowerment and social service among others.
Along with that the GNH Center will exhibit ‘living GNH’ by using only local products and produce, to show that GNH is more than just a developmental philosophy and it can be put into practice in very simple practical easy.
This initiative is taken by a task force comprising of volunteers from local CSOs, private individuals and some governmental agencies on buying local and zero wastes production.
The event is being launched by the GNH Center in collaboration with YDF and Plum Village, in France and is facilitated by seven monks and nuns from Plum Village from the ‘Wake Up’ Sangha.
The four day program funded by youth for the youth concludes on 24 September.
