WORTH THE PRICE

Unless we have something like a congenital defect, most of us are perfectly balanced and self-aware beings at birth.  We laugh, cry, eat and sleep as we need.  Like the fowls of the air we neither sow nor reap, and like the lilies of the field we neither toil nor spin; we simply experience life from the I am, or the true self. 

Not so long ago that happy state was known as childhood, and it lasted for a good decade.  But today many of our children are metaphorically sowing, reaping, spinning and toiling before age five.  They’re also experiencing life through the Ego, or the false self, earlier than preceding generations. 

Regardless of when ego may replace true self, the cause is always the same.  It involves being taught that our happiness and worth is predicated on things like what we do or own, how we look or sound, where we live or work, who we’re with and why. 

This lesson is false but believable because, although these things can’t produce happiness, they can measure it. In fact they are used to do exactly that in Bhutan, a small Kingdom located in the Himalayas where the terms Gross National Happiness [GNH] and Happiness Quotient [HQ] were coined in 1972.

The cornerstones of GNH as defined by the Bhutanese are; the promotion of sustainable development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance. 

In collaboration with an international group of scholars and researchers, the Centre for Bhutan Studies then further defined eight general contributors to happiness: physical, mental and spiritual health; time-balance; social and community vitality; cultural vitality; education; living standards; good governance; and ecological vitality. In Bhutan all proposed development policies and plans must first pass a GNH review based on a GNH impact statement that’s similar in nature to the Environmental Impact Assessment required for development in New Zealand.

The Bhutanese grounding in Buddhism means they believe that the whole earth benefits when material and spiritual growth happen side by side.  Here in New Zealand, tikanga-based Māori and a number of others have a similar philosophy and practice.  But Bhutan scores consistently higher than many richer nations in worldwide surveys of satisfaction with life; including New Zealand. 

Does that mean it’s necessary to either be a child or a Buddhist to be happy?  No, it’s much simpler than that.  The only prerequisite for happiness is to experience life in all its gore and glory through the true self rather than through the ego.

As adults, when we hold onto or reclaim that truth, we find that we can again eat, sleep, cry and laugh as we need.  But even better than that, we consciously experience the only happiness there truly is; that which resides within each of us. 

In my opinion, that alone makes life worth the price of admission.