The Dalai Lama summarizes his point as follows: The approach of focusing on your mental outlook also places the secret to happiness within your own hands, instead of leaving it at the mercy of external factors, most of which are not within your control. These pe0ple are elated for a while, and then they go right back to the same level of happiness which they experienced before their sudden rise in wealth. As an illustration that external events are not the source of happiness, Cutler refers in his book to people who win the lottery or experience some other windfall. The Dalai Lama also emphasizes that working on our mental outlook is a more effective means of achieving happiness than seeking it through external sources, such as wealth or position. Negative mental states which lead to suffering include the following:ĭeliberately selecting and focusing on positive mental states which lead to happiness, and challenging negative mental states which lead to suffering, requires a systematic training of the mind. Positive mental states which lead to happiness include the following: The Dalai Lama explains that education-focused specifically on understanding and implementing the factors that lead to lasting happiness–is crucial because the more sophisticated your knowledge is about what truly leads to happiness and what doesn’t, the more effective you will be in achieving happiness.Īs Cutler explains in “The Art of Happiness”, the most distinguishing feature of the Dalai Lama´s method of training the mind involves the idea that positive states of mind can act as direct antidotes to negative states of mind. That is, one achieves happiness through learning which mental states to cultivate and which to eliminate, and then making a sustained effort to implement this knowledge. Cultivate those factors which lead to happiness.Eliminate those factors which lead to suffering from your life.Having done this, you can gradually do the following: If you desire happiness, you should identify those factors which lead to happiness and those factors which lead to suffering. This same principle of causality can be applied to your mental states. Similarly, if there’s an event that you would like to take place, then you should seek the causes and conditions that give rise to that event. Therefore, if there are certain types of events that you do not desire, then the best way of safeguarding against those events taking place is to make sure that the causal conditions that normally give rise to those events don’t arise. In Buddhism causality is accepted as natural law. He explains that through inner discipline we can undergo a transformation of our attitude, our outlook, and our approach to living. The Dalai Lama’s approach to happiness relies heavily on learning, reasoning, and training the mind. Happiness Can Be Achieved Through Training the Mind You’ll find a detailed explanation of each below. Here are three of the ways recommended by the Dalai Lama for cultivating happiness: It contains tips and advice from the Dalai Lama on how to be happy. Cutler based on a series of interviews which he held with the Dalai Lama, and augmented by some of the Dalai Lama’s public talks. “The Art of Happiness – A Handbook for Life” is a book written by psychiatrist Howard C. As is illustrated by the quote above, the Dalai Lama believes that the very purpose of our existence is to seek happiness. Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. “I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness.” - The Dalai Lama
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