Sustainability and Buddhism:
How do we measure quality of life and degree of happiness?

Shuichi Yamamoto andVictor S. Kuwahara

1. IntroductionT

HE United Nations (UN) held the “United Nations Conference on
the Human Environment” in Stockholm in 1972, and thereafter
formed the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to address
various environmental pollution issues that were coming to light inadvanced nations at the time. In 1980, the UNEP published the“World Conservation Strategy”1 together with the World Wide Fundfor Nature (WWF), which is a nongovernmental environmental conservation group, and the International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The now commonly used
word, ‘sustainable development’, was first described and used in theWorld Conservation Strategy publication, and it was also the first time
the concepts of ‘conservation’ and ‘development’ were recognized as
mutually interdependent.
Three targets were demonstrated in this publication, (1) to preserve
important ecosystems and systems of life maintenance, (2) to conserve
genetic diversity, and (3) to utilize biological species and ecosystems
through sustainable methods. The World Conservation Strategy publication was a milestone document with profound meaning at the time, andhas since been used for settling issues and developing strategies relating
to environmental preservation in 50 countries or more since 1980. In
1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development(WCED) published “Our Common Future: The Brundtland Committee
Report”2 which proposed that both global sustainability within the context of an interdependent relationship between humans and nature, andthe economic equality between nations and environmental preservation,
are necessary and indispensable associations. In 1991, the WWF, UNEP,
and IUCN published “Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable
Living” (1991)3 to promote a new world conservation strategy”. In the
new world conservation strategy, policy to achieve sustainable lifestyles
was regarded as dependent on nine principles and 132 codes of conduct
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that concretely clarify various environmental problems. The reality
today is that it has been extremely difficult to implement and convince
the world over of the critical importance of ‘sustainable development’even after almost 40 years since the Stockholm conference. We are now
faced with a grim ecological reality in which real fundamental change isnecessary. Now, we must either follow-through with the recommendations from the past half century or completely change the basic concepts
and approaches suggested. In this paper, we would like to examine the
keyword and concept of sustainability from a context of ‘awareness’ of
the roots of environmental problems, and examine the problems revolving around limited natural resources in the present and future. In thisstudy we are particularly interested in the Buddhist perspectives andaspects relating to the ‘degree of happiness’ and ‘quality of life’.

2. What is ‘Sustainability’?
In “Our Common Future” (1987)4, the following four concepts can besummarized as prescriptions for achieving ‘sustainable development’.
1. Sustainable development is development which fulfills the desireof the present generation so that the capability for future generations to fulfill their desires is not reduced or compromised.
2. Sustainable development must not expose or take advantage ofthe natural system supporting life on Earth—atmosphere, water,
soil and living things—to danger.
3. For sustainable development, we must control and minimize
unfavorable influences to the atmosphere, water, and other natural
systems, and aim to preserve the overall ecosystem.
4. Sustainable development means carrying out all development of
natural resources, investments, technical development, and reformfrom the system in one direction, and the process which heightens
the capability to fill desire and wish of the present and future
human beings.
In summary, the concept of sustainable development proclaims reservation of consumption and profits for present and future generations,and protection of nature and ecosystems from threats. Doctor KarlHerik Robert of Sweden has advocated the “Four System Conditions”5
as a logical process for the natural environment and human society toaccomplish a ‘sustainable system’. The “Four System Conditions” as acontingency to sustainability are as follows.

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1. Do not increase the concentration of unearthed or extracted substances from the Earth’s crust.
2. Do not increase the concentration of artificial substances fromhuman society in nature.
3. Do not degrade nature by physical means.
4. Do not create situations which systematically limit the action andcapacity of people to fill their fundamental needs.
Furthermore, economist Herman E. Daly has proposed three principles or pillars called “Daly’s Three Principles”6 relating to the use ofresources and discharge of waste in society. “Daly’s Three Principles”
are considered broad criteria for ecological sustainability of resource use
and discharge of waste in society as follows.
1. The sustainable use rate of ‘renewable resources’ such as soil,
water, forest and fish, should not exceed the rate of regeneration.
2. The sustainable use rate of ‘non-renewable resources’ should notexceed the rate of development of renewable substitutes.
3. Waste generation should not exceed the assimilative capacity ofthe environment.
The ‘Four System Conditions’ and ‘Daly’s Three Principles’ describe
the foundational framework and basic principles for realizing a true sustainable society. However, these guidelines and concepts remain adescription of an ideal relationship between the natural system andhuman societies, where the essential need to improve the ‘quality of life’is not directly considered. There are, however, two indirect or subtle
expressions considering human quality of life found in the Brundtlandcommittee report as follows, “… the development which fulfills desireof the present generation so that capability for the future generation to
fulfill their desires is not decreased” and “… the process which heightens the capability to fulfill desires and wishes of the present and future
human being”.
The new world conservation strategy provided nine principles and132 codes of conduct to address various environmental problems, andclarified the targets of how to take action7. The first of the nine principles states (not in order), (1) “respecting and caring for the communityof life” and was established as an ethical baseline for the other eight
principles towards a sustainable society. The next (2)—(5) principles
were provided as criteria that must be fulfilled; (2) “improving the quality of human life”, (3) “conserving the Earth’s vitality and diversity”, (4)132

SUSTAINABILITY AND BUDDHISM“minimize the depletion of non-renewable resources”, and (5) “keeping
within the Earth’s carrying capacity”. Among these four principles, (3)“conserving the Earth’s vitality and diversity” requires us to conserve
the life-support system of the planet, conserve biodiversity, and ensurethat uses of renewable resources are sustainable. In addition to these
five, the following principles address specific behavior for each individual, region, nation, and the international scale as follows, (6) “changing
personal attitudes and practices”, (7) “enabling communities to care for
their own environments”, (8) “providing a national framework for integrating development and conservation”, and (9) “creating a global
alliance”.
These ethical tenets of the new world conservation strategy clearlyaddress improving the overall ‘quality of life’ as one of the general targets. However, creating and realizing a sustainable society is anextremely difficult process with several hurdles. Let us reflect on thepresent situation by examining how these principles are currently measured using various indices that have been promoted thus far.

3. Present Conditions Viewed from Indices
The fourth principle, “to minimize the depletion of non-renewable
resources” should first be applied to the current state of non-renewable
resources. According to “Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update”(2005)8, oil consumption has reached 7.27 times, natural gas consumption has reached 14.54 times, coal consumption has reached 3.64 times,
and power generation capacity has reached 21.04 times while the world
population has increased 2.47 times in the 50 years between 1950 to2000. The expansion rates of production yields for iron, corn, and wood
have also far exceeded the population growth rate. When we consider
the exponential growth of global resource consumption, we now knowthat the ‘wealthier’ life-styles of advanced countries have spread tomany emerging countries during the second half of the 20th century.
According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation
Development) and IEA (International Energy Agency), primary energy
consumption in the world has doubled in the past 30 years, i.e., 5,536
million TOE (TOE: Ton of Oil Exchange) in 1971 became 10,345 million TOE in 20029. Furthermore, it is predicted that this figure will rise
to 16,487 million TOE in 20 years around 2030, which is about 1.6
times that of the calculated rate in 2002. When this phenomenal consumption rate is attained, we can expect most primary energy needs anddemands will be unrealistic and unattainable.

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According to the quantity of oil production calculated from oil producing countries in the world, the ‘peak-oil’ theory is already near10. The
theory suggests that the quantity of oil production/consumption willreach a maximum peak, and that the quantity of oil production will
decrease thereafter. There are some conflicting views about the timelineof the actual peak. For example, geologist Colin J. Campbell is presupposing that main oil producing countries other than OPEC (Organization
Petroleum Exporting Countries) have already reached a peak. He further
suggests that the quantity of total oil production in the world will reacha peak around 2010. On the other hand, there are more optimistic views.
Some specialists suggest that the oil peak will occur between 2026–
2047, when considering, calculating and combining the amount of
petroleum resources estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey and theannual increasing rate of oil demand from the U.S. Information Agency.
In either scenario, the oil peak will be achieved at the beginning to the
middle of this century, and it is predicted that oil resources will decrease
quickly thereafter. Therefore, there is no doubt that we will reach adepletion period within this century, and that it will be impossible tocontinue consumption of non-renewable resources, particularly oil.
The second principle advocating ‘the improvement of the quality oflife’ can be measured using the HDI (Human Development Index),
although there is some argument to the validity of this index. The HDI
was first announced after 1990 by the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) in the “Human Development Report”11. This index is abroader definition of the quality of life when compared to the GDP(Gross Domestic Product) index, and combines three aspects of humandevelopment in order to measure the wealth of life. The three aspects
are, (1) life expectancy at birth, (2) the adult literacy rate and total
school attendance rate of primary, secondary and higher education, and(3) the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) which is computed and based on
the GDP per capita. These three indices reflect the health and longevityof people, what level of education people receive, and what living standards are obtained, respectively.
The HDI is evaluated on a scale between 0 and 1.0. Recent countries
with a score over 0.9 HDI values are part of Asia/Oceania including
Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand(not including western countries). On the other hand, the score for mostdeveloping countries or emerging economies in Africa and Southeast
Asia are 0.6 or less. Since the HDI is an index which indicates the quality of lives and the scope of development, such as educational levels andpurchasing power of the people of a country, it is not unusual for most

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emerging countries to fall under a relatively higher HDI score. In thepast 30 years, while the HDI is increasing amongst countries withremarkable economic growth, such as Brazil, China, and India, theindex is also decreasing in some countries. The HDI of 16 countries
located on the African continent south of the Sahara Desert are actuallyfalling compared to levels from 1990. In particular, the three countriesof the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe have fallen significantly since HDI values of 1975. Although the HDI was developed as an index to compensate for the misguiding of the conventional
GDP per capita index, it has been reported that the index does not necessarily correlate with the ‘degree of happiness’ which people feel12. For
example, although the GDP per capita or the HDI of Tanzania and Nigeria belong to the lower index countries, the degrees of happiness forthem are indexed quite high at the 10th and the 11th level, respectively.
On the contrary, the degree of happiness of many developed countries
such as Japan, Germany, Italy, England and other industrialized oradvanced economies are relatively low when compared to GDP per
capita ranking or the HDI. Therefore, this shows that material and economical wealth is not a necessary criterion for a higher degree of happiness of the people.
In order to evaluate the third index, “conserving the Earth’s vitalityand diversity” we can refer to the LPI (Living Planet Index). The LPI
which reflects the degree of ecosystem health of the Earth has beenreported by the WWF since 1998. The WWF published the “Living
Planet Report” (2008)13 as the latest version in conjunction with the
Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network(GFN). The Living Planet Index is an indicator designed to monitor thestate of the world’s biodiversity. The LPI is based on trends of nearly
5,000 populations of 1,686 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish from around the globe. The changes in the population ofeach species are then averaged and shown relative to levels from 1970,
which is given a value of 1.014. In general, the index calculates tropicaland temperate latitudes separately, and also considers terrestrial, marine
and freshwater biodiversity separately. In 2006, the index calculated themean based on ecosystem type, i.e. terrestrial, marine or freshwater
ecosystem. However, the most recent mean is calculated based on latitudinal difference between ecosystems, i.e. tropical versus temperate. The
separation of habitat based on latitude was introduced to reflect the realities of biodiversity in temperate and tropical regions more specifically.
The global LPI index shows an overall decline from 1970 to 2005 ofnearly 30%. More specifically, temperate area LPI shows a +6% average

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trend between 1970 and 2005, while the tropical LPI shows a −51%
overall trend. The decrease of 51% in the tropics is thought to be dramatic due to the influences of deforestation in tropical forests and theoverall changes in the way land is used in these regions. The index
shows how the natural ecosystem of the planet Earth has been decimatedby unprecedented and relentless growth during the history of the modern
industrialized civilization.
In the “Living Planet Report” by the WWF, the “Ecological Footprint(EF)” is proposed as an additional index to the LPI15. The EF indicatorwhich is an indicator of humans’ demand of natural resources corresponds to the fifth principle of “keeping within the Earth’s carrying
capacity” in the new world conservation strategy. The EF measures
humanity’s demand on the biosphere in terms of the area of biologically
productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use, andrely on to absorb our generated waste. The EF value is a quantitative
expression in global hectare (gha) units which accounts for the world
average of resource production/consumption versus the planets ability toabsorb waste vis-a-vis human management capacity in carbon units.
More specifically, the index considers the area utilized for crops, grazing, forests, and fishing grounds required to produce food, fiber and timber, and also reflects absorbed CO2 waste emitted when energy is usedand provisions for space needed to support infrastructure16. In otherwords, the EF replaces and expresses the increase in discharge of CO2
and the consumption by human society to the area of available land on
Earth.
Since 2005 the global EF17 was 2.7 gha per person and on the supply
side, the total productive area, or bio-capacity of Earth was 2.1 gha perperson. Obviously there is a discrepancy of 0.6 gha. In 2003, the global
Ecological Footprint was 2.2 gha per person, and the total productive
area of the Earth was 1.8 gha per person18. Therefore, although the total
productive area of Earth has increased by efficient land utilization andthe increase in the productive capacity of living organisms, the insufficiency has also increased to 0.6 from 0.4 in only two years time. Insufficiency in this context refers to land use by human beings that has
already exceeded the productive capacity of the planet. In other words,
we have exceeded the sustainable use of land. The EF value of 0.6 suggests that we would require an additional 0.6 Earth’s to sustain our current production demands. This result suggests that the natural productive
capacity for future generations to utilize will decrease. Further, theamount of CO2 discharge is 1.41 gha, or 52% of the total EF of 2.7 gha,
and is the highest factor amongst all of the measurable EF values. In

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1961, the amount of CO2 discharge was about 10% of the EF in theworld, and has since increased rapidly by 9 times or half of the entire EF
value in 2005. Thus, reducing CO2 is now being suggested as the biggest
factor of all EF values for human beings to consider.
The ecological footprint of consumption for the country of Japan is a
total of 580×106 gha, of which 346×106 gha is from land and 235×106
gha is from the ocean and fresh water resources, and corresponds to 15.4
times the area of the country (Wada, 1999)19. In other words, theJapanese people live by using 15.4 times the land and aquatic ecosystems of the countries capacity. Other developed countries, e.g., the United States, Germany, France, Britain, and Italy, etc. retain similar values
where the EF exceeds the biological productivity capacity of the respective home countries. China and India are also exceeding their capacities.
America’s ecological footprint is particularly high at around 9.6 gha perperson, which is a value greater than twice that of Japan (4.4 gha) andsix times that of China (1.6 gha)20. If people around the world consumed
the same amount and lived similar lives to those in America, we would
need 4.5 times the current capacity of the planet Earth!

4. Redefining Sustainability
Using the various above-mentioned indices, we can understand the difficulty of realizing a truly sustainable society. Currently, the economicaldifferences between emerging and advanced economies have increased
even more. At this rate sustainability of the planet Earth will inevitably
fail. What are we as humanity to do? We should first examine and redefine the meaning of sustainability.
Firstly, for whom and by what method is a sustainable society
attained? In the report “Our Common Future” mentioned earlier, thefuture generation, present generation, and natural ecosystem are clearly
identified as key components for consideration. That is, it is necessary toeliminate the discrepancy between the rich and poor in the present
world, reduce threat for future generations and recognize the capacity ofthe biosphere. Furthermore, it is critical to recognize that there are limits
to a society’s economic growth where infinite advancement cannot berealistically maintained due to real spatial-temporal ecological limitations. On the basis of these recognitions, the protocols for enabling sustainability are, (1) respecting and caring for the community of life, (2)improving the quality of human life, (3) conserving the Earth’s vitalityand diversity, (4) minimizing the depletion of non-renewable resources,and (5) keeping within the Earth’s carrying capacity. In order to attain

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sustainability, we should further consider the balance between individual human beings and nature by summarizing the above five points into
two concentrated categories of improvement to the quality of life andsecuring sustainability of the ecosystems.
(1) Improvement to the ‘Quality of Life’
Improving the quality of life in many cases and for a vast majority ofpeople has thus far meant to become materially and economically rich.
However, it is questionable and highly relative whether becoming materially wealthy truly leads to an improvement to the quality of life. Thereis an interesting survey result from the United States and Japan whichshows the relationship between personal income and the degree of happiness21. According to Frey and Stutzer (2002)22, although the average
income per capita had increased from US$11,000 to US$27,000 in the
United States from 1946 to 1996, the number of people surveyed who
were happy had not increased significantly during the same period. Similar results were found in Japan where although the average income had
steadily increased to five or more times from 1958 to 1991, the degreesof happiness did not change23.
(2) Securing ‘Sustainability of the Ecosystems’
The principles of (3), (4), and (5) in the new world conservation strategy
are standards which evaluate the ecological capacity of Earth. It is
important here to clarify how the planets ecosystem responds to humanactivities from a linear ‘input’ versus ‘output’ system. In this context,
the inputs (entrance or consumption) refer to human activities that utilize natural resources whereas output (exit or discharge) refers to waste
or discharge after human consumption or utilization. Thus, the inputs
represent natural resources that are consumed and directly drained
resulting in a degraded ecosystem with loss of biodiversity, while theoutputs indicate potential climate change from excess CO2 discharged
where the ecosystem is less adaptable to changing climate conditions
and most importantly loss of life due to anthropogenic contamination.
Whether you account or measure the linear system from the inputs or
outputs is actually irrelevant because in the end the most important factor is the human activity (rate and volume) that prompts increases ordecreases in the system.
Much emphasis for control and concern has been placed on the ‘output’ portion of this system where society attempts to define environmental problems based on pollution; in this simplified example, the ‘input’
portion of natural resource is of secondary concern. The reason the input

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portion of the system receives little or less attention is due to the tighteconomical significance of consumption. In other words, if emphasis
were placed on the consumption rate and volume of natural resources,
there could be significant undesirable economical impacts and delays tothe efforts of decreasing poverty. In this context, sustainability must preserve the ecosystem of Earth without lowering resource allocation anddependency, or human desires.
On the other hand, by focusing on the ‘output’ portion of the problem, we can develop new technologies and industry to further stimulate
economical growth. In other words, the amount of ‘output’ to the environment can be solved through technological advancements. And, bycontrolling the rate and quality of the output to the environment we canreduce pollution without having to adjust the human desire factor. Thisidea allows ‘sustainability’ to focus on the reduction of waste by controlling the rate to which the planet can sustainably absorb human consumption. However, continuous efforts to reduce the output load to theplanet have failed and we continue to see Earth’s capacity on both endsof the system in miserable conditions. As a matter of fact, trying to control human desire has proved to be difficult. In effect, this is like trying
to control economical development and activities. Our modern socioeconomic system doesn’t allow for economical development without
consumption and utilization of natural resources in some profitable way.
The only way to solve this puzzle is to develop a new vantage on the linear system which evaluates ‘inputs’ more specifically, as well as thehuman desire factor and less on the ‘output’.

5. Buddhism and Sustainability
In the future, realization of economic growth in the poorest of countries
will be critical in order to achieve any form of global-scale sustainable
development. However, if global economic development including the
growth of the poorest nations causes any increase in input-output load,
we cannot achieve a sustainable society based on mutual ecosystem andresources management. This is the dilemma of sustainable development.
Realistically, the dilemma cannot be overcome using the current linear
development methods. In other words, the current proposed solutions to
our problems show no viable improvement. Since this is the case,humanity requires a fundamental change in thinking and process.
One of the most fundamental requirements is to control rampant
desire and consumption (input), and another is to re-evaluate the economically based quality of life and change it to a scale based on a degree

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of happiness. In other words, one requirement is to maintain modest
human desire and another is to change the evaluation of quality of life
from an economically based perspective to a quality of life that is basedon a degree of happiness. Both the quality of life and the degree of happiness should be based on the qualitative aspects of the human heart andspirit, which are difficult to measure and have thus been avoided in modern society as a source of change.
In prior studies24 we have considered environmental problems from
Buddhist concepts such as “the three realms of existence (san-seken)” in
the three thousand realms of one life (ichinen-sanzen) by T’ien-t’ai(Tendai Chi-gi), “the origination of dependency (engi)” and “the middle
way (chu-do)”. The three realms of existence consist of “the realm of
the five aggregates (mind and body of a subject; go-un-seken)”, “therealm of sentient beings (human society; shujo-seken)”, and “the realmof non-sentient beings (natural environment; kokudo-seken)”. In otherwords, the three realms of existence are subject, society, and the naturalenvironment, respectively.
If the Buddhist viewpoint of “the origination in dependence” is subsequently considered, any environmental problem will in turn become aproblem relating to that of the “human’s mind and body”, a problem forthe “relationship between fellow humans”, and a problem for the “relation between humans and the natural environment”. Furthermore, if we
consider the concept of “the middle way”, we must also put into perspective the overall balance between all concepts and entities. Thus,
whenever we consider the impact of any environmental problem wemust always keep in mind that harmony between the three concepts is
critical.
From a Buddhist perspective, the HDI among the prior mentioned
indices is an applicable index for human society and is relevant to “therelationship between human beings”. Moreover, the LPI and EF indices
are suitable indexes applicable to “the relationship between humans andnature”. However, we still lack an index that is applicable to the humanmind and body (or heart). Obviously, many of problems relating to thehuman mind and body are subjective problems where objective or quantitative numerical values are difficult to express. However, in order torealize sustainability between human beings and nature, we must consider human happiness and way of life as integral matters to the humanheart.
Recently, a new index is being evaluated called the Gross National
Happiness (GNH) in Bhutan25. This particular index is attracting worldwide interest since it was utilized as an indicator of human happiness

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independent of material wealth. Rather than base ‘development’ on economical growth, Bhutan decided to gauge development on happiness ofthe people. As a matter of fact, when the people of Bhutan were surveyed for happiness, 96.7% replied that they were either “very happy”
or “happy” even though the country is not economically rich26–27.
The GNH index is a new philosophical approach for development in
the Bhutanese country and not a so-called economical index. This index
is an attempt to evaluate the national power and advancement not only
based on “production” or “development”, but also by “happiness”. In
other words, the index evaluates not only “material richness” but also
considers “mental richness”28. The HDI utilized by the United Nations
consists of three items which can be expressed numerically, (1) life
expectancy, (2) literacy rate and total school attendance rate, and (3)purchasing power. On the other hand, the GNH includes items that are
elusive to numerical expression, i.e. (1) impartial economic development
and general development, (2) maintenance of a rich natural environmentand sustainable use, (3) the protection of cultural heritage, succession
and promotion of the traditional culture, and (4) good governance.
These four items are considered necessary elements to gauge happiness
in Bhutan. Currently, a Bhutanese research group is working to develop
a quantitative expression of the GHN index where the four items of“happiness” are further divided into nine fields of measure. These ninefields are, (1) basic living standard, (2) difference and diversity of culture, (3) richness of emotion and feelings, (4) mental and physicalhealth, (5) education and cultural accomplishments, (6) time management and life planning, (7) the natural environment and ecology, (8)activity (or will to work with others) within a regional community, and(9) good governance. Thus, this new improved GNH index addresses theafore mentioned four items of basic living standards and adds more specific items to quantify. In other words, the index considers the fundamental elements of evaluating “happiness”, and recognizes that people
are concerned with these elements. The philosophy towards development includes human happiness in parallel with economic growth andsocial development.
Moreover, the index considers the fundamental Buddhist concepts of“the origination in dependence” and “the middle way”, which suggestthat the happiness of people is fundamentally linked to the harmonicbalance between the natural environment, traditional culture, and politics for the people. Furthermore, the nine categories also relate to the
Buddhist concept of the “three realms of existence” where three of thenine items of richness of emotion and feelings, mental and physicalSUSTAINABILITY AND BUDDHISM

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health, and time management and life planning are applicable to therelationship between the human’s mind and body (the realm of the fiveaggregates). The new GNH index which includes the nine measurable
items finds its origin in Buddhist philosophy, and reflects the relationship between human beings (the realm of sentient beings) and the relationship between humans and the natural environment (the realm of
non-sentient beings). Thus, we could conclude that the quantifiable
index is based on a Buddhist philosophical approach.
Ueda (2008)29 mentions four interesting points from her experience
while staying in Bhutan. She mentions that the Bhutan politicians are
particular about the clear and balanced approach towards good moral
quality, happiness and economic growth, where each individual is recognized as an individual in the society, people value each human relationship, and people have the emotional capacity to sympathize with others.
Looking deeper into her observations, we find that Bhutan has a longpolitical tradition of concerning for the happiness of the people. Therefore, the quality in the leadership is clearly an important metric for evaluation. Here it is important to consider the historical aspects of the relationship between politics, human activities and nature in Bhutan. As amatter of fact, a large majority of the people believe in Buddhism andthe third King Asoka (268–232 B.C.E.) of the Maurya Dynasty protected Buddhism and performed good politics during 100–200 years after
Gautama Buddha’s death.
The people of Bhutan believe that economic growth is not a goodmeasure of human happiness because “there are no limits in the desireof materials” and it is hardly interesting to have much material. The
people of Bhutan are literally living and practicing the Buddhist concepts of “giving charity or compassion (kasha)”, “offering or giving(fuse)”, and “owning no possessions (mu-shoyuu)” all advocated by
Mahatma Gandhi of India30. This is what Buddhist practitioners refer toas the practice of “knowing fulfillment” and “controlling the desires ofmaterial things”31. The people of Bhutan truly value the concept of ‘relationships’ whether it be relationships between people or the relationships between people and nature; they believe that the source of happiness is from relationships. Further, advancing in life, success in life orreaching a mature age is based upon ‘maturation of the heart and spirit’
rather than collection of various material goods or economic stature.
This humanistic life-endeavor allows the people or population to havethe charitable capacity not only for themselves, but also the compassionate capacity for the well being of others. These perspectives of life andbenevolence are very Buddhist. In particular, happiness bearing from

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relationships closely resembles living in the world of “the origination in
dependence” in Buddhism. Thus, the people are able to validate happiness or quantify the degree of happiness based on various relationships.

6. Conclusions
The indices used today such as the HDI, EF and LPI are based on quantitative methods of scientific reductionism evaluating the partial extracts
from human or natural activities. Factors that are often difficult to evaluate, those justifying happiness or quality of life, are often removed or notincluded. On the other hand, the GNH metric evaluates the degree of
happiness from an angle which is useful. It is certainly true that the categories of “difference and diversity of culture”, “richness of emotion
and feelings” and “how to use time and life plan” are items difficult toquantify. Therefore, the GNH index used in Bhutan could be difficult toimplement in a modern society which almost exclusively relies on scientific inquiry and economy based scales. However, there is no loss inholding high expectations for the interesting research conducted by the
Bhutan research institute, and this is yet another example of how Buddhist philosophy can and should be applied to modern society.
Notes
IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources,
UNEP: United Nations Environment Program, WWF: World Wide Fund for Nature,“How to save the world: strategy for world conservation”, by Allen, Robert W., Barnes& Noble Imports, 1980.
2
WCED: World Commission on Environment and Development, “Our Common
Future: the Brundtland Report”, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
3
IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources,
UNEP: United Nations Environment Program, WWF: World Wide Fund for Nature,“Caring for the earth : a strategy for sustainable living”, Earthscan Pubns Ltd., 1991.
4
ibid. “Our Common Future”, pp. 66–70.
5Natural Step International, http://www.tnsij.org/index.html
6
Donella H. Meadows, Jorgen Randers and Dennis L. Meadows, “Beyond theLimits”, Chelsea Green, 1992, p. 56.
7ibid. “Caring for the earth”, pp. 18–25.
8Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers and Dennis Meadows, “Limits to Growth—The
30-Year Update” , Chelsea Green, 2004. p. 9 (in Japanese edition).
9
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, “White book of Energy 2005 ed.—Security of Energy and Earth Environment”, 2005. 1-1-1-2. (in Japanese)
10
The research project about the scientific foundation of sustainability, “The research
about the scientific foundation of sustainability 2006”, RSBS, 2006. (in Japanese)
11
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