Promoting Health and Happiness: A Buddhist’s Perspective.
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Date
2015-11
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Abstract
Bhutan is known to the rest of the world as the country of ‘Gross National Happiness' (GNH). His
Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth Druk Gyalpo coined this term with farsighted vision
of building an economy that would not only enable the country to preserve its unique culture but
also ensure everlasting peace, happiness and wellbeing of His people. The Bhutanese are blessed
with all the conditions and physical facilities that are required for happiness: fresh air, clean water,
good governance, free education and health care, and many others.
However, there is no evidence to prove that all Bhutanese are enjoying true inner happiness deep
within. This is because happiness is not something that can be found outside of usand moreover,
happiness derived from external sources is only temporary and fleeting. True happiness is within
our mind, which can only be achieved by skillfully observing our inner world. A number of recent
studies have identified happiness as an important factor that determines the state of health and
wellbeing. Further, happy people not only lived longer but were also found to be more sociable,
tolerant, helpful, loving and forgiving than unhappy people.
Happiness is something that every human being wants and in fact, we spend our entire life blindly
chasing after it, only to land up in sorrow. Perhaps the best way to begin our journey in search of
happiness is by drawing inspiration from the Buddhist teachings of Phar-chin drug, or the
sixparamitas, meaning the six invaluable qualities of an ideal human being. This paper attempts
to elucidate how one can achieve true, inner and lasting happiness by infusing the virtues of pharchin
drug into our daily life
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Happiness, health, phar-chin drug, paramita, Jin-pa, Tshul-thrim, Zod-pa, Tson-dru, Sam-ten, She-rab
Citation
Lhamo Namgay. Promoting Health and Happiness: A Buddhist’s Perspective. Men-jong So-rig Journals. 2015 Nov; 7(1): I.