The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
In recent months, numerous new books have attempted to draw connections between the traditions of East and West, particularly between Buddhist philosophy and spiritual practice and contemporary psychological thought. Most of these books have been written by conventionally educated Western psychologists and psychiatrists who have sought to fill in what are perceived as gaps in their practices — the sense that their scientific and medical knowledge just can't explain everything — by turning to some aspect of Eastern spiritual practice, whether meditation or Zen or other forms of Buddhist philosophy.
Dr. Howard Cutler, an Arizona-based psychiatrist and the author of The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living, is no exception to this trend. What makes his book unique, however, is Dr. Cutler's source for the Buddhist thought he explores: his coauthor, Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of the people of Tibet.
Through a series of in-depth conversations with the Dalai Lama, and through a number of the Dalai Lama's public addresses, Dr. Cutler explores what Tibetan Buddhism might have to offer to Western conceptions of happiness. Dr. Cutler begins with the Dalai Lama's words on the subject:
"I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we are all seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is toward happiness..."
As their furtherconversationreveals, however, Western notions of happiness have become confused with pleasure and the satisfaction of desire. Only by separating happiness from less durable forms of contentment can we truly achieve the happiness that the Dalai Lama believes is the goal of our lives:
"...from my point of view, the highest happiness is when one reaches the stage of Liberation, at which there is no more suffering. That's genuine, lasting happiness. True happiness relates more to the mind and heart. Happiness that depends mainly on physical pleasure is unstable; one day it's there, the next day it may not be."
Attaining this kind of happiness, according to Buddhist thought, requires training. The Art of Happiness, through sections on intimacy and compassion, on transforming suffering, and on overcoming the obstacles to happiness, attempts to provide the reader with a thoughtful basis for the work of finding a peaceful, happy existence in the world. Through their conversations, Dr. Cutler and the Dalai Lama seek common ground in their understandings of human anger and aggression, of self-esteem, and of love. The book closes with a section on spiritual values, a call to take this pursuit of happiness to a higher and more personal level.
The Art of Happiness provides an ideal introduction to the philosophical and spiritual connections of East and West, while at the same time offering the reader already acquainted with these traditions fresh insight from the wisdom of the Dalai Lama. Dr. Cutler admits in his introduction that he had originally hoped to produce a traditional self-help-style book, but what he has created in The Art of Happiness is something more indeed — it is, as the subtitle claims, truly a handbook for living.
—Kathleen Fitzpatrick
ANNOTATION
Through conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. Together with Dr. Cutler, he explores many facets of everyday life, including relationships, loss, and the pursuit of wealth, to illustrate how to ride through life's obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Nearly every time you see him, he's laughing, or at least smiling. And he makes everyone else around him feel like smiling. He's the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and an increasingly popular speaker and statesman. What's more, he'll tell you that happiness is the purpose of life, and that "the very motion of our life is towards happiness." How to get there has always been the question. He's tried to answer it before, but he's never had the help of a psychiatrist to get the message across in a context we can easily understand. Through conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. Together with Dr. Cutler, he explores many facets of everyday life, including relationships, loss, and the pursuit of wealth, to illustrate how to ride through life's obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace.
SYNOPSIS
One of the world's greatest spiritual leaders teams up with a psychiatrist to share, for the first time, how he achieved his hard-won serenity and how readers can attain the same inner peace.
One of the biggest problems facing humanity is the struggle to find happiness in this life. The compassionate Dalai Lama carefully exposes a feeling of warmth and wholeness that leads to happiness.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
The Art of Happiness is read like an enchanting Indian tale by Howard Cutler and Ernest Abuba. Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritiual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. Cutler helps to blend psychology with the Dalai Lamas Buddhist meditations and stories. Gyatso talks about how to defeat depression, anxiety, anger, and jealousy through meditation. He discusses relationships, health, family, work, and spirituality and how to find inner peace while facing these struggles. His tireless efforts on behalf of human rights and world peace have brought him international recognition. He is the recipient of the Wallenberg Award (conferred by the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Foundation), the Albert Schweitzer Award, and the Nobel Peace Prize. Recommended for world religion collections.Ravonne A. Green, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. & State Univ., Blacksburg
AudioFile - AudioFile Review
In this guide toward personal happiness, His Holiness the Dalai Lama offers daily meditations and stories to aid listeners in regaining lost happiness in their daily lives. Working closely with him is Dr. Howard C. Cutler, a renowned psychiatrist and neurologist, who takes a closer look at the psychology of our happiness and blocks that may keep us from it. His reassuring voice is supplemented with the masterful tones of Ernest Abuba, best known for his acting work in theater and film. THE ART OF HAPPINESS is not only an excellent supplement to daily self-awareness practices, it is also an indispensable educational tool. R.A.P. ﾽ AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine
Read by Howard C. Cutler, Ernest Abuba
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