Advent originally means "to come", even more to "arrive". In Christianity, Advent describes the time between the first of the last four Sundays before December 24th until Christmas Day, during which one is occupied with reflections, meditative retreats, and customs that generate light and hope for the community.
Those, who are more familiar with the topic of Happiness in Bhutan or who have at least heard a bit about Gross National Happiness Index, often ask me, when speaking about my passion for Bhutan (see also Gross National Happiness As Core Paradigm Of Development) : „Are these people really happy? How do they measure it?“
When talking about Bhutan and about the Gross National Happiness concept – this does not go without considering the influence of Buddhism.
In November 2016 I was honoured and blessed being able to attend a very special event in a remote country which is not really in the mind of my fellows … while it was always on my agenda to visit Bhutan in fall 2016 for the 2nd time I only stumbled upon this special opportunity in August this year.
I captured the picture above at the Gross-National-Happiness primary school in Bumthang. The visit of this institution promoted by the GNH Centre of Bhutan was a very special highlight, where we could learn, how compassion, mindfulness and involvement together with the main pillars of the GNH concept where infused into the curriculum in a primary school. What a mission to create the right attitude at this early stage in life!
