Right after spoiling
the Term Test – II, I sneak out of the chaos and grabbed ‘The Art of Happiness-
A Handbook of Living’ by HH the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler which was lying
idly on the shelf after its arrival from Singapore. Thank you Ma’am Rima for
this wonderful book and other beautiful and cute stuffs ;) And thanks to Tenzin
Chophel for bridging between us.
After
spoiling series of exam, I was thoroughly frustrated, tired and honestly
unsatisfied with the direction of my academic performance was leading and overall
with my life. Like answers to my prayer,
solution to my problems, this book made me realize the meaning of the life and
illusion I was creating with my negative vibes giving birth to my own suffering
and unhappiness.
It is a beautiful
book perfectly blending the ‘the art of happiness’ with the spirituality and
the modern practices. Unlike other books, I didn’t feel the need to complete it
fast. I read, gasped and savour the line and took time in understanding what
every line means. That’s the reason why it took more than a week to complete
reading it.
“Are
you happy?” a simple question of Howard C. Cutler
made me think and reflect on myself.
I found myself asking
“Am I happy?” Honestly, deep down I wasn’t really happy as I have so many complain,
expectations, dissatisfaction, desires and all. As the book unfolded,
it explore, dissects the barrier to the happiness and I could relate with
content of book.
This book untangles
the complexities of life and gives us a recipe of how to be satisfied with life
and be happy. It talks about our right to happiness, sources of our happiness
and unhappiness. How being content with what we have can generate happiness and
comparing and complaining of what we don’t have with others is a source of
agony and unhappiness. It talks in depth and how to react or deal with the
varieties of feeling such as inner conflict, anger, pain, pleasure, compassion,
suffering and hatred, anxiety and in short about the life.
The essence of the
book is His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his interviews. His approach to the
life is very simple without any pretense. The compassion, tolerance, unbiased
nature and his way of viewing the life as it is very inspiring and deeply
moving. We might expect such a great
spiritual leader to know answers to all our questions but when he answered with
his laugh “I don’t know.” I laughed and my respect for him increased
exponentially.
This book is worth every seconds I spend reading. It will explore your inner self and will show you a path of
happiness. My favorite excerpts from the book are;
1 ~ One
morning after his public lecture the Dalai Lama was walking along an outside
patio on the way back to his hotel room, surrounded by his usual retinue.
Noticing one of the hotels housekeeping staff standing by the elevators, he
paused to ask her, "Where are you from?" For a moment she appeared
taken aback by this foreign-looking man in the maroon robes and seemed puzzled
by the deference of the entourage. Then she smiled and answered shyly,
"Mexico." He paused briefly to chat with her a few moments and then
walked on, leaving her with a look of excitement and pleasure on her face. The
next morning at the same time, she appeared at the same spot with another of
the housekeeping staff, and the two of them greeted him warmly as he got into
the elevator. The interaction was brief, but the two of them appeared flushed
with happiness as they returned to work. Every day after that, they were joined
by a few more of the housekeeping staff at the designated time and place, until
by the end of the week there were dozens of maids in their crisp gray-and-white
uniforms forming a receiving line that stretched along the length of the path
that led to the elevators.
2 ~ For
example, in my own case, I have lost my most respected tutor, my mother, and
also one of my brothers. When they passed away, of course, I felt very, very sad.
Then I constantly kept thinking that it’s no use to worry too much, and if I
really loved these people, then I must fulfill their wished with a calm mind.
So I try must best to do that. So I think if you’ve lost someone who is very
dear to you, that’s the proper way to approach it. You see, the best way to
keep a memory of that person, the best remembrance, is to see if you can carry
on the wishes of that person. - The Dalai Lama.
~ Yourpain is your own creation. If you refrain from reacting in a negative way, let
the slander pass by you as if it were a silent wind passing behind your ears,
you protect yourself from that feeling of hurt, that feeling of agony. So,
although you may not always be able to avoid difficult situations, you can
modify the extent to which you suffer by how you choose to respond to the
situation. – The Dalai Lama
~
When
life becomes too complicated and we feel overwhelmed, it’s often useful just to
stand back and remind ourselves of our overall purpose, our overall goal. When
faced with a feeling of stagnation and confusion, it may be helpful to take an
hour, an afternoon, or even several days to simply reflect on what it is that
will truly bring us happiness, and then reset our priorities on the basis of
that. This can put our life back in proper context, allow a fresh perspective,
and enable us to see which direction to take. – The Dalai Lama
