Art Of Happiness Essay

When trying to to pursue happiness, there are many ways to go about it. By reading The Art of Happiness, written by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., I was opened up to a different way and different opinions on how to pursue happiness. The Dalai Lama is very fond of suggesting that humans are born to be gentle creatures. He says that by being compassionate and warm, it will allow us to become more happy. “... the fundamental nature of all sentient beings is essentially gentle and not aggressive.” (53) This idea comes from a Buddhist philosophy called Buddha Nature, and it talks about the mind and its basic natures. The Dalai Lama implies that the craving nurture and attention comes from the very beginning of life. “Our

Culter pushes back on the Dalai Lama asking why conflict occurs if humans are meant to be gentle. “If our essential nature Is kind and compassionate, ...I'm just wondering how you account for all the conflicts and aggressive behaviors that are all around us.” (54) For example, if we as humans were gentle and compassionate people, World War II would have never occurred, and there would be no reason to fight anything or anyone. Yet, it did occur and had a bad effect on a lot of the world. The Dalai Lama understands that are going to be conflicts and tensions, however, he still strongly stood by his earlier

Being a resident assistant is a tough job, but being a resident assistant in a dorm where the residents are constantly vandalizing, and causing a ruckus, can be very irritating, and I would say that those vandalizing my hall would be the few exceptions, that are focused on themselves, and unaware of how their actions affect others. I think that there are some people who believe that world does revolve around them, and if they seem compassionate, they are just wanting to be seen as compassionate. Those who take time to think about how their actions affect others and what they can do to make someone’s day better, are the people who are genuinely