The Dalai Lama's Big Book of Happiness: How to Live in Freedom, Compassion, and Love
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The Dalai Lama's Big Book of Happiness: How to Live in Freedom, Compassion, and Love
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Overview
Come On, Get Happy!
Everyone wants to be happy. Here in this profound volume is a road map for discovering a life filled with happiness, joy, and a sense of purpose. The Dalai Lama's basic premise is that each of us is responsible for our own health and happiness and for the health of society. He further asserts that health and happiness are within our reach—both individually and collectively.
How a person thinks, behaves, and feels ultimately impacts not only their own lives, but also the society in which they live. If you desire to attain happiness, you must understand that the journey begins with you. It is only then that you can reach out and touch the lives of others and change society.
In this anthology, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with characteristic wisdom, humor, and kindness, directs readers toward a happy, healthy, and peaceful life. Talking about universal themes such as compassion, peace, non-violence, secularism, and the pursuit of a healthy mind and body, he reminds us that the responsibility to change our thoughts, actions, and lives lies within our power.
This is a book for fans of His Holiness, for spiritual seekers, and for those interested in the spiritual and emotional health of individuals and societies.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781612833514 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 03/01/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 288 |
| File size: | 925 KB |
About the Author
Renuka Singh is a professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems at Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has edited other Dalai Lama collections, including The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Buddhism and The Dalai Lama's Big Book of Happiness.
Read an Excerpt
The Dalai Lama's Big Book of Happiness
How to Live in Freedom, Compassion and Love
By His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Renuka Singh
Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.
Copyright © 2016 His Holiness the Dalai LamaAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61283-351-4
CHAPTER 1
The Art of Happiness
New Delhi, 2011
* * *
Getting older, sometimes my eyes give me some problems, so very strong light is not good. And usually I give my talks without notes, so light is not necessary. So dear brothers and sisters, indeed I am very happy having this opportunity to talk, or rather lecture, for Penguin. You organized this opportunity; thank you very much. When I give a talk to people, I always have the feeling we are the same human being — mentally, emotionally, physically. And more importantly, everyone wants a happy life. I think nobody, early in the morning, as soon as they wake up, wishes for more trouble in the day. Nobody wants trouble. However, many troubles are essentially our own creation. Why? Here is the big contradiction.
I think because of two things — the first is a lack of knowing the reality, which also is due to the lack of a holistic view. That's one thing. The other thing is too much self-centered attitude. These two things — the lack of knowledge about the reality and a self-centered attitude — are, I think, what creates unnecessary problems. We can't say this problem happened because of this or because of that. We have to realize that the ultimate factor of these problems is within ourselves.
So now, how to remove that? Not through prayer, not through money, not through power, but through understanding and awareness. We may say wisdom. So, now, happiness; everybody, including animals, wants less disturbances, less problems. So also we human beings, of course. Before talking about the source of happiness, I think it is maybe useful to know something about the systems of our minds. Because pleasure and happiness are part of our minds; and sadness, painful experience — these are also part of our minds.
Usually, you see, people simply have the sort of feeling or impression that the mind is one thing, one entity, something independent, something absolute. Up to now, as a result of my meeting many scientists on many occasions, I have realized that in the scientific field, they are still not clear so much about distinction between sensorial mind and the basic mind — mental consciousness. So it is important to make that distinction. You have the consciousness of the mind and mental consciousness.
Now usually, you see people seeking some sort of pleasure or some happy sort of experiences, but they mainly rely on the sensorial level. Look at some beautiful things — eye consciousness; beautiful music — ear consciousness. Similarly taste, smell, even sex. So these are five kinds of positive experiences, mainly on a sensorial level, but they are a very temporary sort of experience. As long as the music is there, you feel happy; but then it stops. And seeing something beautiful, you feel happy; once that is gone — no. So the happiness felt at a sensorial level is short-lived.
Now to the mental level. If we develop a certain positive experience on the mental level, that remains long-lasting. Then also, some experiences are a calmer, peaceful, pleasant sort of feeling. At the sensorial level, even if something is sort of disturbing — a voice, a noise, or a difficult facility, poor facility or physical illness — this sort of pain can be subdued with a more mental-level calmness. On the other hand, if the mental level contains too much fear, too much anxiety, too much stress, no experience that the sensorial level enjoys can subdue that mental-level anxiety or fear. So, obviously, mental-level experiences are more important than sensorial-level experiences. I think, if we pay some attention, everybody would realize this.
We say that at the mental level, happiness is not necessarily a feeling of pleasure. I think happiness here, mainly, is in the sense of satisfaction. Even though physical-level suffering is a painful experience, it may bring deep satisfaction at the mental level. So happiness mainly refers to the consciousness level — the mental level. Now, of course, all major religious traditions are trying to bring calm, peace or a positive sort of feeling in the mental level.
In most cases, I think there is a common factor to all religious traditions — theistic religion, non-theistic religion or one sort of practice — is that of faith. So faith is not a thing of the sensorial level; faith is the sixth consciousness or mental-level consciousness. Of course, the sensorial consciousness helps in listening to some music, some praying and things like that, or looking at an image of the Buddha, an image of God, an image of Jesus Christ or an image of Shivji. Of course it helps, but the real sort of effect must work on mental consciousness. Faith does not take place on a sensorial level, but in mental consciousness. And then the practice of love, compassion, and with that, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment — all these belong to the sixth mental level, the mental-level consciousness.
Then non-theistic religious tradition — such as one part of Sankhya — is a very old Indian tradition, I think almost 3,000 years old, or more than 3,000 years. Then, at the time of Buddha, Jainism and Buddhism — these two new non-theistic religions — developed. These non-theistic religious traditions have no idea of a creator but believe in the law of causality — cause and effect.
Everybody knows in this country about the law of karma. Karma means action — whether it is physical action, verbal action, or mental action. If you look at the world with a positive eye or a sincere motivation like compassion or forgiveness, then certain sort of emotion comes; that's karma. It is positive or good karma, because its motivation is something good — a sense of concern for others' well-being, which is a benefit to others and a benefit to oneself and therefore considered positive. There is no absolute positive or negative. Likewise anger, hatred, suspicion may be of two kinds — positive and negative. But, in a way, some negative sort of motivation ultimately brings discomfort to oneself or another; it causes negative karma.
These two are different approaches, but the aim is the same — strengthening love, compassion, forgiveness, and so forth. A theistic religion uses the concept of God, a creator; a non-theistic one uses the concept of law of causality — if you do good things to another, you get benefit; if you do harm to another, you get a negative result, consequences like that. But then, even without relating with religious faith, there is another way. Religions are all related with some mysterious things. But without touching any mysterious thing, on the basis of obvious things, we can show, or we can educate people that warm-heartedness or an affectionate or compassionate heart is the source of happiness.
Firstly, biologically, among all social animals, including some birds, there is some kind of responsibility for their group. The reality is that the individual's survival, happiness, and well-being depend on the rest of the group. Because of that reality, a sense of some kind of community and unity concerns the rest of the group. We belong to that group; so no matter what, one single powerful person cannot survive alone. Not only a happy life but survival itself depends on the rest of the community. That's a fact. Because of that, there must be some emotion that brings people together, and that's affection toward each other. Anger expels. So affection and compassion are a part of our mind for survival.
Now here, at this level, other animals are the same — dogs, cats, many birds have this same sort of ability, sort of nature. We human beings have this marvellous human intelligence so that on the basis of it, for long-term interest and a wider perspective, we can increase ... compassion, which is biologically developed. Here, the compassion or love is mainly on a biological sort of level; it is limited, biased, and also often goes with hatred or suspicion. After that, there is the second level of compassion — love through training, with the use of human intelligence, the use of reason, logic, or in the interest of the wider or long-term perspective, that can actually become unbiased.
Let me give one clear example. The biological factor of love or compassion can develop toward your friend; toward your enemy, you develop compassion instead of hatred, anger, suspicion. Because the biological level is very much oriented toward others' attitude, your friend's attitude is good for you, so you love them. Your enemy's attitude is harmful for you, therefore you respond toward them with anger, negative things. Now use human intelligence — irrespective of whether the individual is a friend or enemy or neutral, he or she is still part of the community. Your life depends on the community. Members of the community are not all necessarily your friends; some disagreeable people are also part of the community. Now in today's world, even if two people have a sort of negative attitude toward each other, for survival they both need each other.
So I often see the expression in today's world of all sorts of century-old strong feelings — we and they, and between the two some kind of solid wall. We don't care for others, and even wish some bad things for them. That is an old way of thinking. In ancient times, each community, each nation was more or less independent. Now, today, everything is dependent on others. According to that reality, that strong concept of "we and they" is now outdated. We must consider the rest of the humanity; the rest of the world is part of "we," because our interests depend on them.
Therefore, using these sorts of reasons, we can extend our genuine sense of concern and well-being not on the basis of people's attitude, but on the basis that they are one of our community. Irrespective of the individual's attitude toward you, both of you are still part of the community. We can extend our love, compassion toward the others on that level. That animals cannot do. We human beings, using our intelligence, can. We have developed the potential for a level of compassion that is unbiased; it is genuine compassion.
Here, it is important to make a distinction. If your so-called enemy creates problems for you, as far as the action is concerned, you may take appropriate countermeasure. But as a human being, you still can keep compassion and a sense of concern for their well-being. In fact, if you let their wrongdoing continue without check, ultimately they will suffer. So out of sense of concern of their long-term well-being, take countermeasure to stop their wrongdoing. So that kind of attitude looks like countermeasure, but is actually a sort of good work. These are the sort of ways of training our mind — not through meditation but through utilizing our intelligence, through analyzing. Through that way, our concept, you see, can change.
Once you develop your mental attitude, make it more realistic — based on reason — and more open, then you can maintain happiness. Happiness here has very much to do with a calm mind. No stress, no anxiety, no fear. On one level, you can see negative things, but at a deeper level you can still keep a calm mind, irrespective of whether you are a religious believer or nonbeliever. Nowadays in scientific findings, often you will see they say, "Healthy body, healthy mind'— there is a very close link. An agitated mind for a longer period is really very, very harmful for our physical health. A calm mind is a healthy mind; no matter the circumstances, if you can keep a healthy mind, then that brings immense benefit to your physical health.
Actually some scientists, in our meetings on many occasions, tell me, "Fear, anger, hatred are actually eating away our immune systems." On the other hand, keep your mind calm, take less stress, and it is very helpful to your immune system. On one occasion in New York, one medical scientist mentioned to me that according to his findings, those people who often express in "I, me, mine" have a greater risk of having a heart attack. The reason, of course, is that such people cherish themselves very much and are too much self-centered, so with that kind of attitude even small problems appear unbearable.
Once you develop a more open heart, more sense of concern for others' well-being, I say the inner door opens. Firstly, through that way, you can communicate with other people very easily. That brings you more friends, which reduces the feeling of loneliness and increases compassionate attitude, which immensely helps to reduce anxiety, stress. So it is very useful for our health. After all, as I had mentioned earlier, man is a social animal, so these mental attitudes go well with our reality.
I think, generally, people stress the importance of education. Very right. Many problems arise due to the lack of knowledge, due to ignorance. So through education, we are equipped to look at the world in a wider, comprehensive way, so that we get the holistic picture. Actually, the very purpose of education is to reduce the gap between appearance and reality. So education should be more holistic — that is, I think, very important. Then, on the basis of scientific finding, positive emotions are very important for our health, and a happy individual means a happy family and a happy community.
Now, I think I am seventy-six. At sixteen I lost my freedom; at twenty-four I became a refugee — stateless and homeless. In a way, I lost a small home — Tibet — but I found a big home — India. So in any way, my life went through turbulence but I think, comparatively, my mind is quite peaceful. I hope the peace is not due to dullness. I think my mind is quite sharp. When I engage with really famous scientists, when they talk, my knowledge compared with them of course is almost zero. But we are trained in the Nalanda sort of tradition — every single point we analyze, logically analyze. That really helps immensely to sharpen our minds. So I hope my mind is not that dull.
However, you see that despite turbulent experiences in life, my mind is comparatively quite calm. The immediate result is that my health is very good. Actually, you see, that important organ, my gallbladder is gone, about I think two or three years ago through surgery. This body looks like a very normal human being, but one important human organ is missing. (Laughs) But basically, my health is very good. I think my mental state really makes all the difference — this I feel. Some physicians, after they check my physical condition, often say that it is not like that of a person over seventy, but looks ten years younger.
So some people describe me as a reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara. I don't know whether I am a truly reincarnated higher being or not. I know my own mind; I can read my own mind. But I think even a human being who utilizes his human intelligence properly results in being mentally happy, physically healthy. Isn't it? Everybody has this same sort of potential. Whether they pay sufficient attention to it or not, or sufficient awareness or not — that is the point. Otherwise they all have the same potential. That's what my talk is about — the art of happiness. Clear?
So now, some of the ancient Indian treasures are a detailed knowledge about human emotions, about the human mind. Irrespective of whether you look at Buddhism, Jainism, or Hinduism, they all have some common practices — the practice of Samatha, the practice of Vipassana are both a certain sort of mental training. Naturally, a lot of explanation about the mind — something like a map of emotions, a map of mind — I think that will really need more study to discover. The world of the mind is so vast that it is very important to know the system — different minds, how they develop, how they work. That is important. The same way, you see, when you are taking medical care of the physically ill, you should know the physical system and how it works.
On the mental level also, we should know the whole system of the mind — the mental world as an academic subject, not a religious subject. When that knowledge is used for concepts like the next life, or heaven or even hell, then it is related with religion. But simply the well-being of this world, of this life, has nothing to do with religion; we can separate this sort of information used for a religious way from that used for a secular way.
So I often tease my Indian friends. You see, they every day worship one of their gods, goddesses, some flower, some incense; and repeat some sentences of Sanskrit shlokas, Sanskrit verses, but without knowing their meaning — there is not much use in this. We must pay more attention, study the richness of Indian philosophy and Indian thought. That is very important.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Dalai Lama's Big Book of Happiness by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Renuka Singh. Copyright © 2016 His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Excerpted by permission of Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc..
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Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword,Acknowledgments,
Editor's Note,
PART ONE THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS,
1. The Art of Happiness,
2. Different Levels of Happiness,
PART TWO FORGIVENESS AND COMPASSION,
1. The Power of Forgiveness,
2. Compassion,
3. Compassion and Civic Responsibility,
PART THREE REALITY AND WISDOM,
1. Ancient Wisdom and Modern Thought,
2. Healthy Body, Healthy Mind,
PART FOUR INNER AND OUTER PEACE,
1. Peace through Inner Peace,
2. Hope for a Peaceful World,
3. Peace and Compassion,
PART FIVE NON-VIOLENCE AND SECULAR ETHICS,
1. Ethics for the New Millennium,
2. Non-violence and Spiritual Values in Secular India,
3. Secular Ethics, Human Values and Society,