The Art of Happiness : A Handbook for Living
by H. H. the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler

Hardcover - 322 pages (November 1998)
Riverhead Books; ISBN: 1573221112

* ORDER THIS BOOK *

Synopsis
Through meditations, stories, and the meeting of Buddhism and psychology, The Dalai Lama tells listeners how to defeat day-to-day depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, or just an ordinary bad mood. He discusses relationships, family, health, and work to show how to ride through life's obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace.

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 an increasingly popular speaker and statesman. 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 conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. Together with Dr. 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.

Reviews:

A reader from Henderson, NV , August 7, 1999 An overview of the Dalai Lama's philosophy of life
It's an interesting book that provides much insight into the Dalai Lama's philosophy regarding answers to the essential questions of our being. His values stem from the Tibetan Buddhism as he is the religious leader thereof. Another book along these lines that deals with the art of happiness and is also a great handbook for living which has helped me a lot, and I recommend highly is Dietmar Scherf's "I Love Me: Avoiding and Overcoming Depression"--also available at Amazon.

A reader from Asia , August 4, 1999 East meets West and West meets East
I couldn't help but to write a few more words regarding the recurring debate on the part of Howard Cutler's work in this book.

For those who are critical about Cutler's writing and case studies, put yourself into the shoes of a Western trained psychiatrist with strong background in psychoanalysis. You've been working all your life in this profession. How easy is it to take in the Eastern philosophy wholesale without a single question? Eastern mindset takes all master teachings for granted and would not raise a single question. Western training emphasise on critical thinking.

What we are reading in the book is a blend of the two. On one hand, we are reading the stories of the Dalai Lama and his speeches/teachings/elaborations - which some of us take it for granted as something should not be questioned; on the other hand, there are readers who are not familiar with the concept of buddhism and seek ways to try an grasp the ideas - to them (probably through the eyes of Cutler) the questions raised will help answer many questions which some buddhists dare not to ask.

If you read the book from a Eastern perspective and expect something that is more Oriental in nature, you would come out saying that Cutler has unnecessarily taken a negative stance towards the teachings. If you read the book from a Western perspective, you probably would come out thinking that there's a great deal of intriguing insights and healthy dialogues probing the philosophy of the East from a Western perspective.

The way to appreciate this book is, to me, to separate the quotations and Cutler's comments mentally when reading it. Each one would have their own uniquely different contribution to the understanding of happiness (one from the East and the other from the West). Then, put the two together mentally and you will find the book to be a very enjoyable read. It is a good way to train yourself to switch perspective and attitudes and take on a different views on the same subject.

A reader from Garmisch, Germany (at the Austrian border) , July 27, 1999 Excellent!!!! One of the very best self-illuminating books.
I'm re-reading the book again--it cannot be absorbed in one reading. This book could be used as a daily guide to living. I am purchasing other copies for friends. The only short-coming, in my view as a professional socilogist, was there is sometimes too much personal psychological babble included by the interviewer/writer.

A reader from Portland, OR USA , July 25, 1999 Decent But Heavy On The Personal Agenda
This book was a decent read, but I found Cutler to be a bit overwhelming. It seemed as if he was trying to question the simplicty and thoughts of His Holiness. And also it seemed that he was trying to boast of his own experiences and cases, using the Buddhist thought and way to perhaps make himself look smart or just to say "Yeah that's how I see it too!" This was a easy to understand book and for that I must give him credit. But it was bit weighed down with Cutler's own personal agenda. There are many other good books by and about His Holiness which are much more insightful.

A reader from San Diego, California , July 25, 1999 Both the scientist, and the Buddhist disappointed.
I am a biologist, and I bought this book because I was intrigued by the idea of asking questions of the Dalai Lama from a scientific perspective. Looking at "The Art of Happiness" both as a scientist, and as a begginer in Buddhist thought, I found myself disappointed from both perspectives. This book isn't really a "handbook" of anything. It is poorly organized, and takes the form of a strangely interrupted "stream of consciousness" conversation. It feels sketchy and incomplete, and left me feeling that I was missing a great deal from both sides. Although I disagree with those who mistake critical thinking and hard questions for "sarcasm", I can't say that I was overly impressed with Dr. Cutler's style. However, I was equally dissatisfied with some of the Dalai Lama's answers. So, as a beginning Buddhist, I say skip this book and try "Buddhism Plain and Simple" by Steve Hagan. As a scientist, I can also recommend a book about cognitive therapy called "Feeling Good" by Dr. David Burns, which has a great deal in common with Buddhist thought, particularly on the subject of happiness.

A reader from Miami, FL , July 23, 1999 Dalai Lama's Message Clouded by Cutler
The insights in this book from the Dalai Lama are very worthwhile. This part of the book deserves five stars. The analysis by the author Michael Cutler and his study-question style of interviewing the Dalai Lama was frustrating and annoying. Furthermore, many of his extrapolations on human behavior seemed a little unworthy of publication, such as his analysis of Western Romantic Love. This was a very superficial and somewhat inaccurate history of romantic love in Western culture, which began much before the literary period of Romanticism, but rather finds its roots in the Middle Ages with the Troubadours and then on through the Renaissance.

Additionally, it seems that Mr. Cutler expressed a lot of pointless anger in the book, unworthy of someone who should even be talking to the Dalai Lama let alone writing a book about his teachings. I cite the lengthy diatribe about how he disliked the person next to him on the airplane, and then coming to the marvelous conclusion that in fact, he did not truly hate this person's thumb, etc.

A reader from Harvard, Massachussets , July 21, 1999 Very enjoyable to read, very enjoyable to live by
This book is for those who really cannot get along with themselves. People who are unconfident, depressed or afraid. The Dalai Lama's insites on life are truly inspiring. Bieh.

A reader from Delaware , July 18, 1999 OK for those consumed with Western-style therapy
I agree with a previous reviewer in that this is a book by a psychiatrist who is looking to reconcile the tenets of his practice with Tibetan buddhism. I have read a lot on buddhism and this series of interviews really misses the mark. The author keeps "pestering" (my words) the Dalai Lama with situation specific strategies and then asks "What if that is too difficult?" "What if that doesn't work, what then?". That's not what Buddhism is about! To me, that's the problem with Western methods, people can't see that an overarching philosophy can be your basis and then you don't have to remember which little tactic to use for each situation. Read something like "Buddhism plain & simple" or pick a book about a particular zen monk and you may walk away a little wiser.