Sunday, October 16, 2011

Royal Kiss

I wish happiness, joy and everlasting love to the royal couple
of Bhutan who recently got married.

Associated Press photo

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Launching the Hungarian Bhutan Friendship Society

With a few friends of mine, I have recently initiated the establishment of the Hungarian Bhutan Friendship Society that aims to provide information about the Kingdom of Bhutan in my home country, Hungary. The Society’s goal is to encourage and promote knowledge and understanding of Bhutan in Hungary and create links between the two countries. It's a very exciting venture we all look forward to.

The inaugural event of the Society took place with great success on 15th September at ELTE University in Budapest with around 200 people attended. Our honorable guest speaker was Dr Karma Phuntsho, cultural expert and Buddhist scholar from the University of Cambridge. His talk was titled “The Journeys of the Thunder Dragon: Bhutan's transition from a medieval country to a postmodern happiness state”.

"Bhutan is roughly the size of Switzerland with 38,394 km2, so less than half of Hungary" - said Dr Karma in his talk - "But, it is a vertical country. So, if we flatten our slopes, we will be bigger than you."

Dr Karma Phuntsho was trained as a Buddhist monk in Bhutan and India, and received D.Phil in Oriental Studies in Oxford. He is currently Research Associate at the Department of Social Anthropology at University of Cambridge and Editor of the Oxford Journal for Buddhist Studies dividing his time between Bhutan and England.

Dr Karma specializes in Buddhism, Tibetan & Himalayan Studies and Bhutan, and has published a number of books, translations, book reviews and articles on Buddhism, Bhutan and Tibetan Studies. He is also founder and trustee of the Loden Foundation, Bhutan’s first registered charity that supports education and youth entrepreneurship and where I was a volunteer.

In Budapest, Dr Karma talked about Bhutan, its history, distinctive culture and the country’s unique approach to social and economic development based on Gross National Happiness (GNH) as well as Bhutan's exciting transition from a medieval country to a postmodern state. His talk was very timely given that the UN General Assembly has recently adopted a non-binding resolution that aims to make happiness a "development indicator” - based on Bhutan’s proposal and with the support of 66 countries, including the UK.

At the end of his talk, he presented us a Bhutanese thangka portraying the four harmonious animal friends and delivered his best wishes for the new friendship society. The event took place in collaboration with the Hungarian-Indian Friendship Society and generated excitement and interest among a number of Hungarians wishing to discover Bhutan.

Please read more about the event on Kuensel Online and visit the Society's website.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Growth in Buddhist Economy by Jeffrey Sachs

Recently my friends drew my attention to articles of Jeffrey Sachs, Professor of Economics at Columbia University, inspired by Bhutan. One of them titled 'Growth in a Buddhist Economy' can be read clicking HERE

I found the article very interesting and commented on it as follows:

"I'm happy that Mr. Sachs highlights Bhutan as a unique country with enlightened public policies and political leadership dedicated to put these policies in practice. Many other countries, including the US, many times lack both, but especially leadership.

I was a volunteer in Bhutan - which is about 6% of the size of France - working with young entrepreneurs funded by the country's first registered charity, the Loden Foundation. I saw many parts of the country and I spoke with various people from taxi drivers to elected officials, from drug abusers to monks and former monks, from journalists to tourist guides. I was impressed by the concept of Gross National Happiness and the way the government, religious leaders, and the King are implementing it.

However, I also became concerned about rapid urbanization and its side effects such as consumerism, pollution, crime, youth unemployment, drug abuse, social disintegration, imported bad quality food, new diseases, etc. Of course, these issues are still limited in scale, but dynamically increasing since cable television, foreign visitors and the Internet bring new dreams to people that in many ways challenge their traditional culture based on communal rural life, frugality and Buddhism. As new consumer goods, entertainment services and well marketed cultural habits such as Birthday parties, Valentine Day, wedding ceremonies, Halloween, even Santa Claus, are imported to the country, people's attitudes are gradually changing without realizing the long term negative consequences. They want more or different things rather than what they really need and what their natural environment can bear. I saw Coca-Cola drinks and potato chips piled on the altar offered to the temple which was located in the middle of the forest in high mountains! This means people bother to buy and then bring plastic garbage walking hours to their sacred places, because they attribute value to these unhealthy food items.

Such a transition Bhutan is currently going through, or any large scale economic and social change, requires good leadership as well as good experts and advisors independent from business interest to effectively influence and pressurize domestic and international leaders to make the right decisions that work for the majority of citizens and for the Planet. Meetings and discussions and articles and books are great and important, but I'm afraid we are all running out of time and we must act now to save Bhutan for a better world and create a better world for Bhutan."

More on Buddhist Economics in my blog HERE

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Love is in the air, royal wedding coming soon.

Last February I posted about the public birthday celebration of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. There was also an invitation-only party, but my luck didn't bring me that far to be among the distinguished guests, I only managed to see the invitation. In my post I said the king was not only young, bright, and handsome, but still single. Now, it's time to revisit the latest statement: the king has announced to marry 21-year-old student Jetsun Pema and the wedding will take place on October 13-15.

Well, I can only congratulate the young couple wishing them true happiness and love from my heart and I feel sorry for thousands of women who may have dreamt about such a royal wedding for themselves. To further limit dreamers' chances, the King probably has no intention to follow the example of his father, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who married four women - all of whom are sisters.

In case you would like to learn more about the history of Bhutan's monarchy, watch this public video:

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Does Bhutan need another golf course?

In my humble view, it does not. That's why I signed a petition that was recently initiated by Dr Karma Phuntsho against a plan of constructing a new golf course near Ura village in Shingkhar valley, Bhutan.

What does a Hungarian have to do with Ura village and development projects in Bhutan? Well, I think, a lot. This is a globalized world where the environmental impact of one golf course in a country can shape the climate in another. Hence I'm as much concerned about Bhutan's future as a chilip (foreigner) could be. I visited Ura this year and met with local people, ate their food, enjoyed their hospitality and walked around with them enjoying the pristine nature. I also stayed in a local hotel and visited local temples spending money, consequently supporting the local economy. If there was a golf course in this place, I would think twice to come back.

Ura village without a golf course

Globally, there are issues about golf courses and they don't strike me as lucrative and forward-looking investments. Especially not in Bhutan which has an entirely different proposition to visitors and a very limited pool of potential local golfers.

But let's hear two golf experts on this:

"Bhutan is known all over the world as a country that keeps its traditions high, it is a unique destination for those who want to experience the culture and wonders of nature and of sustainable way of life in its authentic form: why build a new golf course in this paradise? Bumthang's plains and pastures should stay as they are, pesticides and chemicals are a necessity on a golf course and will affect the soil and environment of the whole valley."

Kristel Josel, manager of the Union Golf Club Schloss Ernegg, Austria and partner of Bhutanese tour agents.

"I love golf but having lived in Thimphu and played golf regularly on the local course do not think that another course would be of any benefit to the country and people of Bhutan." Steve Hogan

Should you agree with Kristel, Dr Karma, me and more than 300 others, feel free to join the petition clicking HERE

Long live football, the real democratic sport that connects people :)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Bhutan spreads happiness to the United Nations

Graffiti in Thimphu

Recently, Bhutan has put the politics of happiness on the UN's agenda with the support of 66 countries such as the UK. The UN General Assembly has adopted a non-binding resolution that aims to make happiness a "development indicator". Bhutan's ambassador Lhatu Wangchuk said the next step was to help UN members better understand the concept. He also said that UN diplomats should sleep more and spend more time with their families to be happier. Read the article HERE.

In Bhutan Gross National Happiness (GNH) is a national development framework with key progress indicators different to those related of Gross National Product (GNP). Based on Buddhist values, the GNH indicators include nine dimensions:

1. Psychological Well-being
2. Time Use
3. Community Vitality
4. Culture
5. Health
6. Education
7. Environmental Diversity
8. Living Standard
9. Governance

On paper, this is an excellent approach to development that aims to overcome the weaknesses of our global material-centered, or 'stuff-based', economic and social system. However, as I saw it in Bhutan, practicing GNH is not without challenges. Rapidly changing Bhutanese society is currently facing new issues such as stress, diabetes, crime, drug abuse, consumerism and pollution, just to mention a few. The BIG QUESTION for me is how GNH, political leadership, and lessons from abroad will help society cope with these issues.

I believe simply copying what others have done in the past would not help and Bhutan needs to come up with new solutions that work at least for this small country, if not for all of us. I think Bhutan needs a quick, small, but inevitable dose of globalization and consumerism now in order to develop longterm resistance to them for the future and then re-create its own culture, value system and happiness.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Socially Engaged Buddhism

I believe Engaged Buddhism has a key role to play in solving our current social, economic and ecological issues in the world. Recently, I had the privilege to attend an exciting meeting organized by the European Buddhist Union at the Naropa Institute in Cadzand, the Netherlands. Participants, including Laszlo Zsolnai representing the Buddhist Economics Research Platform, discussed various ideas on how Buddhism can contribute to a better world, evaluated the links between Buddhist practice and social engagement, and encouraged communication and support among existing Buddhist initiatives worldwide.

Considering my working experience with emerging enterprises in Bhutan, I think there is a need for advanced business and management practices that are aligned with Buddhist ideas and values as opposed to simply trying to follow what companies in other countries have done. In my view, copying currently mainstream aggressive management practices can only lead to disaster in countries like Bhutan.

Below you can read the public letter crafted by the participants:

Letter from Cadzand on Socially Engaged Buddhism

On 18-19 June 2011, the committee ‘Buddhism and Society’ of the European Buddhist Union organised an informal networking weekend, hosted by the Naropa Institute in Cadzand, the Netherlands. Socially engaged Buddhist networks from the United States, Asia and Europe were represented.

The purpose of the brainstorming weekend was

to share ideas on how Buddhism can contribute to a better world
to evaluate the links between Buddhist practice and social engagement
to encourage communication and support among existing Buddhist initiatives worldwide

Over 2600 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama rejected all forms of social discrimination and institutionalized inequalities. Buddhism teaches that everyone, regardless of race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, political ideology, nationality, social origins, property, birth status or other distinctions, has the potential to become enlightened. The global financial crisis reminds us that social and economic structures are fashioned by human minds, which also implies that they can be reconstructed.

No-self, impermanence and interconnectedness are inspirational core teachings that help us (with meditation and other contemplative practices) to identify suffering and the causes of suffering, and to act compassionately, with awareness of our own motivations.

Becoming aware of the suffering due to abuse, injury, poverty, illness, imprisonment, oppression and war continues to be a source of action for many Buddhists. Many types of initiatives have been developed in different parts of the world.

The participants at the meeting in Cadzand came to the following conclusions:

1. Many socially engaged projects by Buddhists are not well known within the broader Buddhist community. The participants identified a strong need to share ideas and methods. It would therefore be useful to set up a directory and network, a sort of World Forum for Socially Engaged Buddhism, to facilitate global communication and cooperation. The participants intend to support informal networks via mailing groups and the construction of a website where existing initiatives, ideas and literature are easily accessible.

2. As a first step it would be useful to organize a European symposium on Socially Engaged Buddhismin the near future (Summer 2013). This will be the third in a series of major conferences on the topic, following a symposium on engaged Buddhism in the United States (August 2010 in Montague, Massachusetts) and a forthcoming conference on ‘The Future of Buddhism: from Personal Awakening to Global Transformation’ by the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) in India (October 26-29, 2011 in Bodh Gaya). The proposed European symposium will highlight the activities of those who are already involved in engaged Buddhist initiatives and encourage cooperation among them. It will also bring together people who would like to do something and put them into contact with those who are already conducting projects.

3. Finally, we participants at the networking weekend in Cadzand invite all Buddhist organizationsto reflect on existing or potential initiatives within their own communities. National Buddhist Unions in Europe might also consider appointing a national coordinator to gather information on local projects within their countries, and to forward that information to the international network. It is important that individual Buddhists and Buddhist organizations take a much more active role in responding to the ecological and social challenges that threaten our planet and its inhabitants. Our situation is urgent and time is running out.

4. We also welcome the various kinds of supportyou might be able to offer: sharing ideas, informing us about socially engaged projects, promoting such projects, administrative support, help with the construction and maintenance of a website, links to existing websites and social networking communities, etc.

May you who read this letter be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May everyone you meet be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

Cadzand, 19^th June 2011

Somboon Chungprampree

Executive Secretary at the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB)

Email: secretariat@inebnetwork.org

Website: www.inebnetwork.org

Godfried De Waele

Dana Sangha / Board Member Zen Sangha Belgium

E-mail: wayoftheheart@telenet.be

Paula de Wijs-Koolkin