Synopsis
In this best-selling book, psychiatrist Howard C. Cutler interviews the Dalai Lama about the topic of happiness. How can we be happy? Why can't we stay happy? What causes unhappiness? In a series of thought-provoking conversations, Cutler coaxes some answers from his subject. The answers are simple, but the prescription is not easy. Happiness, according to the venerable Buddhist leader, is a discipline of both the mind and the heart. Anger, resentment, anxiety, and conflict all occur when we let our thoughts dwell on separation and negativity. Opening our hearts to others, and understanding that we are all more alike than different, is the key to compassion. Compassion relieves the heart of its burden, and creates a space for happiness to dwell. Even pain and hardship can be borne with happiness if we learn to cultivate inner calm and kindness. While the Dalai Lama's ideas sound overly simple, he grounds his answers with examples from his own life, and responds intelligently when Cutler plays devil's advocate. Because this is written as a collection of interviews, we are privy not only to the Dalai Lama's thoughts, but also to insightful commentary from the author. Their partnership brings together ancient Buddhist teachings, modern medical sensibilities and plain old common sense.

Details
Publication Date:	1998-10-01

Size
Length:	322 pages
Height:	8.8 in
Width:	6.0 in
Thickness:	1.2 in
Weight:	19.2 oz

Publisher's Note
"Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, the very purpose of our life is happiness, the very motion of our life is towards happiness." --H.H. the Dalai Lama, from The Art of Happiness So popular and so rarely understood, this Nobel Peace Prize winner and man of great inner peace brings to a general audience the key to a happy life. In collaboration with a Western psychiatrist, The Art of Happiness is the first inspirational book for a general audience by the Dalai Lama. Through meditations, stories, and the meeting of Buddhism and psychology, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, or just an ordinary bad mood. He discusses relationships, health, family, and work to show us how to ride through life's obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace. Based on 2,500 years of Buddhist meditations mixed with a healthy dose of common sense, The Art of Happiness crosses the boundaries of all traditions to help readers with the difficulties common to all human beings.

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.