The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living

His Holiness has the amazing ability to say things that are both simple and profound. After listening to the XIV Dalai Lama or reading his words, I often find myself saying, "Why didn't I think of that?" Why not indeed? A previous reviewer states that this is a wonderful book but that it's hard to "get" the idea of being compassionate to ALL beings regardless of their own actions. It IS hard to "get" that. The Dalai Lama has been a Buddhist monk for the last 71 years, and HE works at it every single day. The Buddha himself, after his Enlightenment, didn't say, "Well, since I'm one with all that is I guess I can retire now." Nope. Shakyamuni began teaching. And he kept practicing, whether through sitting meditation or through workaday tasks. His practice matured him. He may have come up with the Four Noble Truths on Day One and he may have taught them throughout his life, but there's a great deal of evolution between those original thoughts and the Parinirvana Sutra uttered on his deathbed. He would have heartily endorsed the Dalai Lama's call to Happiness and accepted Tenzin Gyatso as a worthy Dharma successor. But, I digress. Unlike many of the Dalai Lama's earlier books this one is geared specifically toward and for the general public. Just as you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Levy's Rye, you don't have to be a Buddhist to appreciate this book. As a matter of fact, although every idea in this book is quintessentally Buddhist, every idea in this book is, more importantly, quintessentially human. The Dalai Lama's basic thesis is that we are all born to be happy. Reading this, I kept being reminded of Jefferson's words, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It's too bad that our modern culture conflates "Happiness" with "Pleasure" (which is far more fleeting) and that "Pleasure's" main attribute is "Money" and lots of it, or the things that "Money" can buy. Not that "Money" is unimportant, but the idea that "Money can't buy Happiness" is a core idea here, and is proven over and over again. This book and its sequels grew out of a series of personal interviews between the Dalai Lama and noted Psychologist Howard C. Cutler, who has become an important exponent of the Positive Psychology Movement of the last decade. Positive Psychology focuses not on what's wrong with an individual but on what's right and how to reinforce what's right through positive practices---essentially, Cutler's approach amounts to a primer on classical Buddhist Psychology. The Dalai Lama speaks here, but it is Cutler who amplifies and expounds on the Dalai Lama's core ideas in a Western idiom. His Holiness does detail certain meditative practices as well. According to the Dalai Lama (and most Positive Psychologists), Happiness is not the end result of a thought process but is the process itself. Acting kindly, compassionately, mindfully and with awareness result in a person being, in effect, happy, even in the face of the day-to-day toxicity of much of our culture. His Holiness also believes that Happiness is highly contagious, and that it will spread virally if only we maintain our positive practices. Yes, it is hard to remain "happy" in the face of dealing with obnoxious bill collectors or dishonest repairmen, but that is where compassion comes in. Compassion is not a form of blind forgiveness---I don't have to say, "It's okay" to the mugger who's just stolen my wallet---but, rather, it is a form of understanding that bad things do occur, that although they may occur to me, the universe is not personally out to get me, and that the mugger who mugged me, the bill collector who cursed me or the repairman who overcharged me, is acting out of their own unhappiness. I don't have to turn any cheeks or allow it to happen ever again. I don't have to embrace them as misguided souls. I don't have to let it fester and make me sick and angry either. I just have to grasp the idea that the mugger, the bill collector and the repairman are all human, like me, and all subject to the same faults and foibles that I am. Sound tough? It sure is. That's why it's a lifelong practice. Anybody coming here for a bullet-point approach to solving all of life's problems or to be reassured by pop-psychology tripe will be disappointed in this book. This is a substantive popular work that gives back to the reader exactly what the reader puts in.

I have listened to this many times, it has been very helpful in retraining my mind to have positive and happy thoughts running around in my mind. Has worked so well for me I have given many copies away

Already fascinated with Dalai Lama. Such a fascinating, kind human..love getting to know him more!

I have read some reviews regarding the book not being the original work of the Dalai Lama himself. Yes it is true, it is written by Howard C. Cutler solely (not even partly, but completely). However one has to pay attention that Cutler will not be able to complete his work without the innumerate visits to the Lama, and the wisdom gotten from the Lama himself. The book is very helpful if you have a "western" mentality. It doesn't mean that you have to be from the West though. I myself am an Asian who has lived half of my life away from the East, and thus very much have my inner paradigm shifted towards the west (especially because time living away from east is after age of 17 and onwards..). It provides a good guide in terms of understanding the wisdom, which sounds very simple and straight forward, but not so easy in terms of putting into practice. Be compassionate, be tolerance towards suffering of life, etc. Sounds really easy. But is that easy for anyone of us to practice and thus cultivate a peace of mind? Not so much I guess. This book will give you good insights, illustrate in simple example how the concepts fit into a western life-style, with the help of Cutler's interpretation. I give it a 4 stars though, because I think the writer himself (by some examples of his own experience such as going ballistic in India because of a careless cab driver, etc), has not fully absorbed the wisdom himself, and that I think has "discounted" the value of the wisdom. He'd be much more successful, if he could contrast his experience by giving example of how I would have done in the past, and how I do it now because I understand so and so.. It's the first book I purchased regarding the wisdom of Dalai Lama, I think I'm ready to read a book more sophisticated, in the sense that it is written solely by the Lama. I would imagine it becomes more philosophical, more conceptual. So this book would be a good start, for people like me, who looks for something more concrete and "tangible". Happy reading!

First off I will say I am a Christian and I believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, but I wanted to read more about the Dalai Lama and how he sees things that we might miss no matter your religion and I’m glad that I have. I own quite a few of his books now after this one.This book is absolutely fabulous. It’s about finding the joy that you might be overlooking or that is right in front of you and you just don’t see it. It will change the way you think or you look at things as well. You can just feel the joy as you read the book he has such a positive attitude, and it comes through in the words. There is nothing pushy about religion.I’m really glad I took the plunge and started digging in to his books because they’ve always been Something that I have wanted to start reading because we all are different but all the same . I just really liked and loved looking through his eyes in his words. The reason I started to really consider reading his books was because I knew there was joy in them because you can see it in him and plus the last three years have been super hard with breast cancer, stahp, three blood infections, foot surgery from cancer medicine, hurting for five years and finally figuring out I had thoracic outlet syndrome and I had surgery, complex, regional pain syndrome, and cervical dystonia so my body has been through a lot in 3 years of surgeries, medicines, and all kinds of stuff, and eventually it take a toll on my thinking . So I was absolutely delighted to look at life at a different angle than what I was. I think his books are fantastic. Like I said I own several of them now and you don’t have to be a Christian or it be a sin to read his words because he just wants you the reader to be happy and find that happiness and he just shows you. I would buy all of his books and I might have all of them I don’t know, but this is a great buy if you are going through or have been going through some very rough ordeals for a very long time or even if you just need something to help nudge you out of that spot, you’re at to look at things differently, so you can find the happiness in you this book is an absolutely must have. It has changed how I look at things now instead of the demon gloom that I have dealt with for so long and all the pain that goes along with it. Please, if you are dealing with anything by this book give it a try it will help you. Excuse the video I have lots of books and this is not even close to how many I have but I do own seven of his books and they have all been great so far.

I appreciated the book’s format—a thoughtful dialogue between the Dalai Lama and psychiatrist Howard Cutler aimed at translating ancient insight into modern life. The premise of “how to be happy” sounds simple, yet the conversation quickly becomes deeper and more nuanced. Through stories and reflection, the book shows how suffering, compassion, and perspective shape our experience far more than circumstances. The Dalai Lama’s guidance is spiritual without drifting into abstraction, while Cutler grounds the ideas with relatable, real-world examples. Their exchanges feel human, even funny at times, which keeps the insights accessible. The book dismantles two persistent myths: that happiness is something life delivers to us, and that peace comes from avoiding discomfort. Instead, it frames happiness as a skill—one built through empathy, resilience, and intentional mental training. If you value books that linger in your mind long after you close them, this one earns the space. It doesn’t promise perfection; it offers a way to live more lightly with imperfection. I’m happier for having read it.

Probably a great book. I wish I could read. Oh well. Also doubles as a hat if you are like me and prefer to avoid melanoma

Having been a student of Mahayana Buddhism for the past couple years, I had been meaning to read a book by the fourteenth Dalai Lama, and was overjoyed to purchase this one after being alerted that the Kindle edition had gone on sale by the excellent ebook deal-alerting service Bookbub. Since it was the first book by the current Dalai Lama that I ever read, I wasn't sure what to expect but I did expect it to be of high quality—especially since it is his most well-known book. Fortunately, it did not disappoint me in the slightest! The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living was co-authored by psychiatrist Howard Cutler, who posed questions to the Dalai Lama over the series of many interviews. Cutler provides the setting and context for their meetings and also incorporates his own reflections on the issues raised in their discussions. In addition, transcriptions from several of the Dalai Lama's teachings are scattered throughout the book. It was first published in 1998, and I read the ten-year anniversary edition that was published in 2008 which includes a new preface and introduction. The book delves into the concept of using various techniques to train the mind in order to achieve true happiness. In the preface, His Holiness the Dalai Lama states, "If you want others to be happy practice compassion; and if you want yourself to be happy practice compassion." This focus on developing compassion is consistent throughout the book and is a main focus in many of the answers that the Dalai Lama gives to Cutler's questions. It seems that this is a sort of prerequisite for cultivating happiness, a foundation upon which all of the other advice is based upon. Another point that is made time and time again is that happiness comes down to one's state of mind more than by external events. There are a plethora of examples provided in the book, such as how lottery winners do not sustain their initial delight over a longterm period and instead return to the level of moment-to-moment happiness they were accustomed to prior to winning the lottery. Or how studies have shown that people who are struck by tragic events like cancer and blindness typically recover to their normal level of happiness after a reasonable adjustment period. Psychologists label this process "adaptation", which simply refers to the tendency of one's overall level of happiness to migrate back to a certain baseline. From a Buddhist perspective, the root causes of all suffering are ignorance, craving, and hatred. The book fleshes out this idea and suggests methods for one to overcome them. For example, the Dalai Lama advises, "We cannot overcome anger and hatred simply by suppressing them. We need to actively cultivate the antidotes to hatred: patience and tolerance." Overall, I was very impressed by this book. When I first started reading it I wished that the Dalai Lama had been the sole author, however I eventually grew to appreciate Cutler's additions. That's mainly because I did not realize that the book was co-authored until after I started reading it, so I had unknowingly and unintentionally set an improper expectation for myself. However, by the end of the book I had overlooked the co-authoring aspect entirely and focused more on the book's content, which is excellent. I would advise this book to anyone who is interested in the Dalai Lama, Buddhism, mindfulness, or becoming truly happy. Namaste.

La filosofía budista merece todos mis respetos y en particular la figura del Dalai Lama, después de todo lo que ha pasado, en su proclama de fomentar los estados mentales positivos, como la comprensión, la amabilidad y la compasión, en el camino a una mejor salud psicológica y felicidad. La lectura es sencilla y práctica. El texto ha sido preparado por un psiquiatra norteamericano, a partir de las entrevistas y conversaciones, con el Dalai a lo largo de varios años, por lo que en numerosas ocasiones plantea las formas y puntos de vista occidentales frente al budismo. Desde mi punto de vista una lectura obligada.

Surprisingly pragmatic and moving account of interviews with the Dalai Lama by an American Psychiatrist. “Simple” but powerful values of compassion, empathy and tolerance— that I will continue to attempt to weave into my daily thoughts and behaviour. An important book — especially in today’s times where it appears that many people have lost their moral compasses.

Reading it every day can keep calm. It is impressive.

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living ist ein bemerkenswertes Buch, das einen tiefgreifenden Einblick in die Suche nach Glück und innerer Zufriedenheit bietet. Geschrieben von dem Dalai Lama und dem Psychiater Howard C. Cutler, stellt es eine inspirierende Anleitung für ein erfülltes Leben dar. Das Buch präsentiert eine Kombination aus buddhistischer Weisheit und westlicher Psychologie, die einen einzigartigen Ansatz für das Verständnis und die Erreichung von Glück bietet. Es regt dazu an, die eigene Wahrnehmung von Glück zu überdenken und bietet praktische Werkzeuge, um eine positive Einstellung zu entwickeln und schwierige Situationen zu bewältigen. Die Weisheit des Dalai Lama strahlt in jedem Kapitel des Buches. Seine klaren und einfühlsamen Botschaften ermutigen den Leser, sich mit sich selbst und anderen in Verbindung zu setzen, um wahres Glück zu finden. Die gemeinsamen Dialoge mit Howard C. Cutler bringen auch die westliche Perspektive ein und bieten interessante Einblicke und Anregungen. The Art of Happiness ist leicht verständlich geschrieben und enthält zahlreiche praktische Beispiele, Übungen und Fallstudien. Diese helfen dabei, die Konzepte in den Alltag zu integrieren und schrittweise positive Veränderungen herbeizuführen. Das Buch behandelt auch Themen wie Mitgefühl, Beziehungen, Arbeit und die Bedeutung von Selbstreflexion. Es bietet eine ganzheitliche Herangehensweise an das Glück und ermutigt den Leser, sich selbst besser kennenzulernen und die eigene Lebensführung zu gestalten. Insgesamt kann ich The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living wärmstens empfehlen. Es ist eine Quelle der Inspiration und eine wertvolle Ressource für jeden, der nach einem tieferen Sinn des Lebens sucht und nachhaltige Freude und Erfüllung finden möchte. Es ist ein Buch, das man immer wieder zur Hand nehmen kann, um neue Erkenntnisse und Weisheit zu entdecken.

This book is my happy space. I read a few pages everyday while I am commuting, or when I just having a bad day. With a little patience, you can see this book helping you navigate through life with kindness, and love. I personally feel this book has the capacity to change perspectives and to elevate human consciousness. All the complicated knowledge of the world of how to lead a life, how to rise spiritually and what not has been distilled in this book in a very simple manner.