Product Description
An updated edition of a beloved classic, the original book on happiness, with new material from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Dr. Howard Cutler. Nearly every time you see him, he's laughing, or at least smiling. And he makes everyone else around him feel like smiling. He's the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and a hugely sought-after speaker and statesman. Why is he so popular? Even after spending only a few minutes in his presence you can't help feeling happier. If you ask him if he's happy, even though he's suffered the loss of his country, the Dalai Lama 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 toward 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. The Art of Happiness is the book that started the genre of happiness books, and it remains the cornerstone of the field of positive psychology. Through conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. Together with Dr. Howard Cutler, he explores many facets of everyday life, including relationships, loss, and the pursuit of wealth, to illustrate how to ride through life's obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace. Based on 2,500 years of Buddhist meditations mixed with a healthy dose of common sense, The Art of Happiness is a book that crosses the boundaries of traditions to help readers with difficulties common to all human beings. After being in print for ten years, this book has touched countless lives and uplifted spirits around the world.

Amazon.com Review
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit down with the Dalai Lama and really press him about life's persistent questions? Why are so many people unhappy? How can I abjure loneliness? How can we reduce conflict? Is romantic love true love? Why do we suffer? How should we deal with unfairness and anger? How do you handle the death of a loved one? These are the conundrums that psychiatrist Howard Cutler poses to the Dalai Lama during an extended period of interviews in The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living. At first, the Dalai Lama's answers seem simplistic, like a surface reading of Robert Fulghum: Ask yourself if you really need something; our enemies can be our teachers; compassion brings peace of mind. Cutler pushes: But some people do seem happy with lots of possessions; but "suffering is life" is so pessimistic; but going to extremes provides the zest in life; but what if I don't believe in karma? As the Dalai Lama's responses become more involved, a coherent philosophy takes shape. Cutler then develops the Dalai Lama's answers in the context of scientific studies and cases from his own practice, substantiating and elaborating on what he finds to be a revolutionary psychology. Like any art, the art of happiness requires study and practice--and the talent for it, the Dalai Lama assures us, is in our nature. --Brian Bruya

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 365 reviews)

A Mediocre Self-Help Book by F. Alamo Cantarero

2 Stars
October 25, 2009
Visit my Blog if you like my review: [...] The Art of Happiness is a book born from the interviews of the author (a psychiatric named Dr Howard C. Cutler) with his Holiness the Dalai Lama. The author tries to fill the whole book with some (mostly brilliant) Dalai Lama's declarations, made in their interviews and in his public appearances. It's true that there are some interesting thoughts in the book (mainly in the first part: The Purpose of Live), but the rest of the book has a lack of intensity. The Dalai Lama seems a very interesting person, but the author doesn't have the ability to suck the juice of those declarations, and the best part of the book are transcriptions of the own Dalai Lama's words. I don't recommend the reading of this book, however, some Dalia Lama's ideas are excellent.

Art of Happiness by J. Steffen (Arroyo Grande, CA)

5 Stars
October 25, 2009
My niece loved this book so I had to get a copy. Haven't had a chance to read it, but am looking forward to it. Arrived in great condition and quickly.

I would recommend this to anyone by Bryan D. Adams (Misawa, Japan)

5 Stars
October 21, 2009
So some other reviewers complain that the book is written by Cutler and not the Dalai Lama. While this claim is true, the negative reviews have missed the point of the book. If they had read the book and the words spoken by the Dalai Lama they would not be focused on having been "lied to" or "cheated" as some of them claim. This "suffering" is a part of life. But as the Dalai Lama wants us to realize, we cannot be consumed or controled by the many negative effects of suffering such as the feeling of having been lied to or cheated. By feeding these negative emotions these people are not allowing happiness into their lives. And isn't that what we all seek? I mean if you want to be a miserable scrooge why read a book on happiness? All in all the book is well written, and easy to read. Don't let some of the negative reviewss fool you. While Cutler was the one who put pen to paper, much of it contains direct quotes from the Dalai Lama. As explained in the preface and introduction, the purpose of the book is to merge Tibetan Buddhist philosophies on happiness with Western science through psychology. While Cutler did the actual writting I do believe that the Dalai Lama deserves top billing in the listing of the two authors. After all anyone can transcribe words. It is the wisdom readers are seeking. Truly the Dalai Lama presented more wisdom than Mr. Cutler.

Don't be Mislead: Too much Dr Cutler- Too little Daili Lama Content by Robert W of Alabama (Huntsville, Alabama)

2 Stars
June 07, 2009
This borders on deceit. I bought a book which on the cover appeared to be HH's, the Dali Lama's views on the art of Happiness. What I got was a lot of analysis and comparison from Dr Cutler. How, why, what, what it means, to Dr Cutler... Find a book written by His Holiness instead... and I'm not even a Bhuddist. Sorry Dr Cutler- but you did the wrong thing, packaging the book the way you did.

somewhat useful by Richard K. Woodward (Edinburgh, Scotland)

3 Stars
April 30, 2009
This book and "Healing Anger" have pretty much the same content, so don't buy both. "Healing Anger" is organized in the form of eight talks and question-and-answer sessions over a four day period, whereas "The Art of Happiness" is organized topically. For this reason "The Art of Happiness" may be easier to use if you are interested in exploring particular topics. The downside of "The Art of Happiness" for me was Howard Cutler. I found his additions to what the Dalai Lama has to say didn't bring much value. What I was looking for in both books was mental exercises, and these are found in "Healing Anger" in each of the eight sessions in between the talk and the Q&A, so these are easier to find in "Healing Anger". I was a bit disappointed that neither book contained detailed treatments of some of the exercises referred to, such as the "seven-point cause and effect" and "equalization and exchange". These can be found on the internet by googling "Developing the Mind of Great Capacity".

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