BookBrowse has a new look! Learn more about the update here.

Reviews of The Art of Happiness by His Holiness The Dalai Lama

The Art of Happiness by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler, M.D.

The Art of Happiness

A Handbook For Living

by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler, M.D.
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Nov 1, 1998
  • Paperback:
  • Nov 1999
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Book Summary

The Nobel Peace Prize winner and man of great inner peace brings to a general audience the key to a happy life.

"Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, the very purpose of our life is happiness, the very motion of our life is towards happiness." 
H.H. the Dalai Lama, from The Art of Happiness

So popular and so rarely understood, this Nobel Peace Prize winner and man of great inner peace brings to a general audience the key to a happy life. In collaboration with a Western psychiatrist, The Art of Happiness is the first inspirational book for a general audience by the Dalai Lama.

Through meditations, stories, and the meeting of Buddhism and psychology, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, or just an ordinary bad mood. He discusses relationships, health, family, and work to show us 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 crosses the boundaries of all traditions to help readers with the difficulties common to all human beings.

"I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness…"

With these words, spoken before a large audience in Arizona, the Dalai Lama cut to the heart of his message. But his claim that the purpose of life was happiness raised a question in my mind. Later, when we were alone, I asked, "Are you happy?"

"Yes," he said. He paused, then added, "Yes…definitely." There was a quiet sincerity in his voice that left no doubt - a sincerity that was reflected in his expression and in his eyes.

"But is happiness a reasonable goal for most of us?" I asked. "Is it really possible?"

"Yes. I believe that happiness can be achieved through training the mind."

The concept of achieving true happiness has, in the West, always seemed ill defined, ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

Booklist - Donna Seaman
Over and over again, Cutler poses complicated psychological inquiries only to have the Dalai Lama offer responses that reach far beyond the parameters of the self. There really is such a thing as an art of happiness, and this is one of the best how-to books a reader will ever find.

Reader Reviews

Kirconnell

Inspiring
Absolutely wonderful! I felt happier before I was even halfway through the book. The Dalai Lama has such a compassionate, inspiring outlook on life that he makes you believe that you can do anything. He presents complex concepts in such a simple ...   Read More
john

Excellente!
kristinak

I recommend this book to all of the soul-searchers out there.It's wisdom you can read over and over.For years;)
Hector Ramirez

Great book! In hard times, I recommedn this book to help with your suffering.

Write your own review!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Art of Happiness, try these:

  • Escape from the Land of Snows jacket

    Escape from the Land of Snows

    by Stephan Talty

    Published 2011

    About this book

    More by this author

    Emotionally powerful and irresistibly page-turning, Escape from the Land of Snows is simultaneously a portrait of the inhabitants of a spiritual nation forced to take up arms in defense of their ideals, and the saga of an initially childlike ruler who was ultimately transformed into the towering figure the world knows today.

  • The Consolations of Philosophy jacket

    The Consolations of Philosophy

    by Alain de Botton

    Published 2001

    About this book

    More by this author

    A delightful, truly consoling work that proves that philosophy can be a supreme source of help for our most painful everyday problems.

Read-Alikes are one of the many benefits of membership. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by His Holiness The Dalai Lama More books by Howard Cutler, M.D.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

Books with similar themes


Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Become a Member

Join BookBrowse today to start
discovering exceptional books!
Find Out More

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Briar Club
    The Briar Club
    by Kate Quinn
    Kate Quinn's novel The Briar Club opens with a murder on Thanksgiving Day, 1954. Police are on the ...
  • Book Jacket: Bury Your Gays
    Bury Your Gays
    by Chuck Tingle
    Chuck Tingle, for those who don't know, is the pseudonym of an eccentric writer best known for his ...
  • Book Jacket: Blue Ruin
    Blue Ruin
    by Hari Kunzru
    Like Red Pill and White Tears, the first two novels in Hari Kunzru's loosely connected Three-...
  • Book Jacket: A Gentleman and a Thief
    A Gentleman and a Thief
    by Dean Jobb
    In the Roaring Twenties—an era known for its flash and glamour as well as its gangsters and ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Lady Tan's Circle of Women
by Lisa See
Lisa See's latest historical novel, inspired by the true story of a woman physician from 15th-century China.
Book Jacket
The 1619 Project
by Nikole Hannah-Jones
An impactful expansion of groundbreaking journalism, The 1619 Project offers a revealing vision of America's past and present.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl
    by Bart Yates

    A saga spanning 12 significant days across nearly 100 years in the life of a single man.

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

L T C O of the B

and be entered to win..

Win This Book
Win Smothermoss

Smothermoss by Alisa Alering

A haunting, imaginative, and twisting tale of two sisters and the menacing, unexplained forces that threaten them and their rural mountain community.

Enter