The Art of HappinessA Handbook for Living

Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler, M.D.

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Summary

The Art of Happiness

By: Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler, M.D.

Narrarated by: Howard C. Cutler, M.D., Ernest Abuba

Nearly every time you see him, he's laughing, or at least he's smiling. And he makes everyone else around him feel like smiling. He's the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, the Nobel Prize winner, and increasingly popular speaker and statesman. Why is he so popular? Even after spending just a few minutes in his presence you can't help feeling just a little bit happier.

The Dalai Lama is probably one of the only people in the world who if you ask him if he's happy, even though he's suffered the loss of his country, will give you an unconditional "yes." 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 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, work, and spirituality to show us how to ride through life's obstacles on a deep abiding source of inner peace. Based on 2500 years of Buddhist meditations mixed with a healthy dose of common sense, The Art of Happiness is an audiobook that crosses the boundaries of all traditions to help listeners with the difficulties common to all human beings.

Sample Audiobook
Audiobook Information
  • Edition: Abridged
  • Author: Dalai Lama (See All Books), Howard C. Cutler, M.D. (See All Books)
  • Date Released: Jun 26, 2008
  • Publisher: Sound Ideas
  • Genre: Religion, Religion & Spirituality, Psychology, Philosophy, Self Improvement

Total File Size: 90 MB (3 files) Total Length: 3 Hours, 18 Minutes

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Patrick Rapa

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Patrick Rapa writes about books for eMusic, comedy for Cowbell Magazine and music for Philadelphia City Paper. He lives in Philly with this like giant bug he tr...more »

06.26.08
Dalai Lama, The Art of Happiness
2008 | Label: Sound Ideas

Everything zen? I don't think so. I know so.
The Art of Happiness is American psychiatrist Howard C. Cutler's famous 1998 attempt to reconcile and combine the teachings of the 14th Dalai Lama with his own Western perspective on people and relationships. From the get-go, the Dalai Lama surprises Cutler with unblinking answers and deeply analytical thought processes. It's not a lot theoretical mumbo-jumbo devoid of examples and practical applications. The exiled Tibetan leader encourages us to learn to accept suffering as something universal and unavoidable. We are human and therefore we know pain. His Holiness believes that once you understand your own losses as natural — that nobody's out to get you any more than they're out to get everybody — then you can dismiss your own selfish desires and accept the loss. Yes the Dalai Lama is a Buddhist monk, but he tells Cutler there's no one spiritual path and encourages us all to follow one that leads us away from conflict and closer to permanent joy. Amen to that.

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YES! SO SIMPLISTIC:)

blueocean256

THIS I ALSO CAN ONLY TAKE IN DOSES. I FIND THAT BETWEEN THE TWO BOOKS I HAVE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT OUTLOOK ON PEOPLE AND THE WORLD. THANK YOU DALAI LAMA. EVERYONE IN THE WORLD SHOULD READ OR HEAR THESE BOOKS. WE WOULD MOST DEFINITELY BECOME A BETTER WORLD TO LIVE IN :)

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True Peace

burgundywine

This book really gives practical advice on how to lead a more content and productive life. Just reading the first three chapters will change your perspective on your problems.