I attended the first edition of the Happy Progress Forum brought together by RIGSS -and Stockholm School of Economics, it convened social scientists and academics from Sweden, US, UK, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Japan and Bhutan. Three of us – one from RUB and one from the National Council and I represented Bhutan.

It was a brain enriching experience to be among the brightest minds in social science, economics and technology, and have deep conversations around pursuit of growth versus the universal pursuit of happiness.

There were over 12 presentations from different countries – including one that tracked the Gross National Happiness in a few pilot countries using the big data.

One study that caught my attention was a study from analysing a large data set from some 45 countries – at various levels of development and growth that looked at the GDP and overall wellbeing.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the experience from every country studied showed that as the GDP of a country increased, the happiness and meaning of life dipped. (See the first picture).

What was even more alarming was the finding from several advanced economies that showed that as the GDP increased and living standards improved, it also took a toll on mental health – thus leading to higher suicide rates.

Of course, with access to more disposable income, life’s satisfaction is enhanced. But life satisfaction is not to be confused with deeper meaning of true happiness and greater purpose, which many pursue and but only a few seem to achieve.

This topic, I thought, was relevant because of our big Bhutanese diaspora having entered the competitive world of advanced economies. As their income sees an increase by manifold, initially they will experience some life’s satisfaction, but soon everything might flatten out, and in many cases it will see a decline as bigger questions in life begin to emerge. This will occur around the midlife.

Second, and more importantly, how can we in Bhutan prevent the parallel increase in GDP and toll in mental health from happening? Or can we? Can there be a more meaningful progress? This question is timely, now that we have started digging in Gelephu to build the world’s first mindfulness city.

I expressed my own view, with a question, do we really have a choice? Or do we really have to choose between the two? Are economic growth and meaning of life a dichotomy? From my own experience it is not.

However, if one only adopts the modern-western-capitalistic model of the society and economy where unwittingly we restrict our life to primarily ensuring physical comfort and financial security, the road may be bit bumpy. I subscribe to the school of thought that there are two other vital aspects of wellbeing – social and spiritual that are either missing or poorly represented – especially in developed economies, which lead to instability in the life of an individual as well as of the nation.

For example, the lack of social wellbeing and policies around it might have led to social inequalities thus leading to popular uprising – three of which happened in our neighborhood. On the other hand, the lack of spiritual wellbeing is drawing people to mindfulness retreats and to spiritual traditions like Buddhism – in droves to seek an answer to the timeless ontological question: Who am I? What is the meaning of life? Is that all in this thing called life?

It was therefore nice to see another presentation from a study from Harvard that proposed that for a person or a nation to experience a deep sense of fulfilment it has to achieve a delicate and difficult balance of four key aspects – physical, mental, social and spiritual healths.

And this is the essence or the goal of Gelephu Mindfulness City, which will attempt to seek economic prosperity without losing the greater meaning of life.

This is not to say that we have found the Holy Grail in the vision of the GMC, or that it would be anywhere easy. It is indeed an ambitious project that no country has embarked on – but it is a dream worth pursuing – and a vision that the world needs to see it accomplished.

In other words, there can be prosperity with meaning, as long profit is pursued with purpose.

There can be a Happy Progress.