Art of Happiness; Dalai Lama PDF

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A very academic summary of Dalai Lamas best selling book with following every academic rules of essays and writings....

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Kozhin Hewa 13-00261 Prof. Zanyar Section 7 May 15, 2016 Art of Happiness The Art of Happiness is a book that is written by Dalai Lama and Dr. Howard C. Cutler. It is about advising to the reader in order to be happy and think positively in life. Also, the book is known as one of the best international best sold book, and it is translated to numerous languages. Dalai Lama is a Tibetan Buddhist monk who wishes everyone to be happy. The book is presented as interviews and discussions between Dalai Lama and Dr. C Cutler. The book is really great because the author states that happiness is from our actions, compassion is the key of life, and dealing with suffering brings happiness. First of all, everyone has rights to be happy, and everyone can be happy. Lama says "The purpose of our existence is to seek happiness" [CITATION Lam98 \p 87 \l 1033 ], so the main goal of this life is finding a way to be happy. It is up to us to be happy

or not because we can think that money brings us a pleasure and joyful life while it is not totally true. Plus, good health is considered to be one of the necessary factors for a happy life. Also, the way we think about life and how positivity we judge our surrounding and friends bring us more true smiles. Furthermore, if we compare our conditions with the ones that have worse than us, then we will realize that we have more lucks, and we are happier than some people that even do not know the meaning of happiness. As Dr. C Cutler asked Dalai Lama about this in his office, then lama answered, "If we utilize our favorable circumstances, such as our good health or wealth, in positive ways, in helping others, they can be contributory factors in achieving a happier life. And of course we enjoy these things – our material facilities, success, and so on. But without the right mental attitude, without attention to the mental factor, these things have very little impact on our long-term feelings of happiness" [CITATION Lam98 \p 122 \l 1033 ]. Secondly, that is correct that we have to focus on our way to achieve our goals, but without caring about our families, friends, and surroundings, we will reach our goal but without happiness. Therefore, we have to be social and friendly, and loneliness just pulls us from absorbing the pleasure of life. "Happy people, in contrast, are generally found to be more sociable, flexible, and creative and are able to tolerate life’s daily frustrations more easily than unhappy people, and, most important, they are found to be more loving and

forgiving then unhappy people" [CITATION Lam98 \p 127 \l 1033 ]. Moreover, we have to express our emotions to people even if we do not know them, and also if we care about animals too, the person will gain more pleasure because when he or she needs them, they will also care about him or her. "For our life to be of value, I think we must develop basic good human qualities – warmth, kindness, compassion. Then our life becomes meaningful and more peaceful – happier” [CITATION Lam98 \p 152 \l 1033 ]. Thirdly, life is full of challenging and suffering, and in order to reach a goal, we should choose a good way precisely. Happiness is everyone's willingness, so we have to deal with suffering in life. Furthermore, we do not have to wait for the others to treat with our pains, it is up to us and our actions like Lama says,” Happiness is not something readymade; it comes from your own action" [CITATION Lam98 \p 201 \l 1033 ], so we have to compare ourselves with those that has more problems or even issues with no solutions at all, such as cancer disease. "If you focus too closely, too intensely, on a problem when it occurs, it appears uncontrollable. But if you compare that event with some other greater event, look at the same problem from a distance, then it appears smaller and less overwhelming.” [CITATION Lam98 \p 242 \l 1033 ], and “If there is a solution to the problem, there is no need to worry. If there is no solution, there is no sense in worrying either.”[CITATION Lam98 \p 258 \l 1033 ] In conclusion, the main goal of life is to be happy. We study, graduate from university, get jobs, and earn money in order to be joyful even if we have another goal, when we achieve it we also be happy. Therefore, we have to find the ways of being happy, and it is in our hands; we do not have to wait for outside resources to make us happy. Plus, as Dalai Lama says that dealing with suffering is the main reason of happiness, so we have to solve our problems wisely. It is a great book, and I suggest everyone to read it to change their thinking about life.

References Lama, Dalai and Howard C Cutler. Art of Happiness. 1998....