Bhutan has one of the stable ecosystems in the world and has virtually no environmental damage due to its long isolation. The restrictions on tourism and their protection of natural resources have let Bhutan preserve the beautiful landscape and physical country as well as their cultural identity. The Buddhist nation pioneered the idea of “Gross National Happiness” to measure the country’s well-being, and supposedly, its prime minister once touted Bhutan as the “happiest nation in the world.”
Bhutanese manage spiritual and material happiness equally. In the western world we are happier when we have the latest iPhone or the latest fashion. That’s not a very good way to think and it can cause us unneeded stress and unhappiness when we can’t afford those things. In Bhutan, they only let globalization affect them over the last ten years but they have done so in a manner that allows their citizens to balance their material possessions and their spirituality and that just makes them happier.
They don’t care about TV, radio, or the internet, these things make us feel terrible about ourselves. On TV, we see beautiful people making dump trucks full of money and that makes us jealous and angry. On the internet there are trolls, a constant influx of bad news, and all sorts of other bad things. We get obsessed with social media and get upset when we don’t get re-tweets or likes on Facebook. When you don’t have to deal with that nonsense, life is generally better and happier as Bhutanese do.
Buddhism is one of the calmest and happiest religions on Earth. They believe in karma. The Buddhist version of karma is that people who live good lives are closer to enlightenment and are reincarnated as better creatures when they’re reborn. This prompts them to live good lives, do good deeds to one another, and be good people.
According to national surveys, around 2/3 of all Bhutanese people get at least eight hours of sleep per night. That’s a lot better than most countries and that’s especially true of industrialized countries. The benefits of sleep on happiness, productivity, and overall health is extremely well documented. Having most of the country get a bunch of sleep definitely contributes and having a culture that inspires people to get the appropriate amount of sleep every night is something they do differently.
