Development with sparks: Placing the hamburger in the mandala

<p>Over the past few decades, Bhutan has seen tremendous developments, stemming in part from modern education. At the same time the country has endeavoured to preserve its culture and identity. However, whereas modern education makes the younger generation think in new terms and concepts, the essence of culture is still presented in essentially the same way as in the past. As a result the bulk of policy makers cannot consider Buddhist and Hindu wisdom in their decision making. Buddhism, once the ordering principle of society, now becomes no more than icing on the cake. Buddhist topping on an essentially western pizza, rather than a consciously placed the hamburger of modern development in the Bhutanese mandala.</p>
<p>Firstly, the author briefly presents his view on the link between overall government objectives and personal growth. Then, based on the teaching of the Four Noble Truths, the text attempts to shed light on the timeless wisdom of Buddhism, yet formulated in current concepts. The aim of this section is to present some vocabulary and concepts to refer to later (the reader familiar with Buddhism can skip this section). Subsequently the main body of this article presents a view of the development process of Bhutan, and the main emerging challenges, given the objective of gross national happiness.<br /><br />The text distinguishes between current characteristics of society that may be good to change, and values that deserve to be promoted. However, in either case the challenge is how to go about it, because short-sighted methods are likely to be counterproductive in the long run. The paper concludes with a brainstorm on how the Buddhist wisdom may be made more accessible, engaging in a sparking and enriching dialogue with modern thinking.</p>