Wednesday, September 26, 2018

On the Coffee Table: The Art of Happiness

Title: The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
Authors: His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D.
via Amazon
I've had The Art of Happiness on my shelves for several years.  Though I hadn't planned it that way, I finally got around to reading it at a good time.  Last month, I wrote about my current professional push to develop more student-directed classrooms (read here).  Empathy is essential to doing this work well.  Obviously, a teacher always needs empathy.  Beyond that, my students themselves have identified it as a need in their relationships with each other.  The Dalai Lama's teachings in The Art of Happiness all center around increasing empathy and compassion.

The book is written from the point of view of Dr. Cutler, an American psychiatrist.  The material is gathered mostly from Cutler's extensive interviews with The Dalai Lama, though it also includes excerpts from public presentations by the religious leader as well as reflections from Cutler's psychiatric practice.  Cutler's questions derive from typical Western scientific skepticism.  By the doctor's own admission, Western medicine doesn't usually address the matter of happiness.  The goal is to cure what ails - to combat the negative, rather than nurture the positive.  The Dalai Lama always responds with serene superior wisdom.

The book is quite pleasant, though not the easiest cover-to-cover read.  The actual religious material is minimal.  The Dalai Lama is a devout Buddhist, obviously, but he promotes a more universal spiritual message that extends to all major religions and, indeed, non-believers as well.  I feel I would need to read the book again to gain full benefit, though I doubt I will.


12 comments:

  1. This sounds interesting and timely for you. Glad you finally had a chance to read it. :)
    ~Jess

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  2. I probably won't ever get around to that one.
    Probably, I should, but, honestly, I probably won't.

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    1. There's a second book. I doubt I will read it. But who knows?

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  3. I wonder how the Delai Lama always presents that zen? This sounds an interesting book and I would love to read it. But even after reading it, could we ever be able to practice that zen?

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    1. It takes lots of practice. He makes that clear. He is also humble enough to admit that it is not always easy for him either. But he has been practicing for a long time!

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  4. Perhaps there's a simpler book, with more practical application? Empathy helps with my teaching, and 'just breathe' is probably the best advice I share with students when they need to overcome negativity.

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    1. Just breathe is excellent advice! Over the past year, I've shared a lot with my students about meditation. A lot of them really like it. Their world is so plugged in all the time. Every once in a while, it's great to shut it all off.

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  5. I think this book, although not as riveting as one would like, gives good suggestions and thoughts on how to find that happiness from within.

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    1. I should clarify. I did enjoy the book. The Dalai Lama is an extraordinary man and for my own well being, I probably SHOULD read it again. But knowing how life is, I probably won't.

      Just not a book to curl up with and lose yourself in the pages. I don't find such books too often anymore.

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  6. I've heard many people praise this book, but I'm not quite sure it's for me. Glad you were able to get through it.

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    1. I have wondered if it might have been better if it was just the Dalai Lama musings, without the western perspective commentary.

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