Art of Happiness

A Happiness Self Help Book Review

In the Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, Howard Cutler intersperses transcripts from his interviews with the Dalai Lama with his own experiences applying the teachings and lessons.

The book starts with the Dalai Lama’s assertion that happiness is the purpose of life and then goes on to explain how we can use Buddhist principals to increase our own level of happiness. The techniques are deceptively simple and easy for anyone to apply at any time.

Like modern books on positive psychology, this book centers on how we choose to perceive and react to what happens to us. Although the book includes several meditation exercises, these meditations are more like thought exercises and do not require previous meditation experience or skill.

The interplay between the Dalai Lama’s gentle and delightful approach to life and Howard Cutler’s Western analysis and questioning is very helpful. It is easy to dismiss the Dalai Lama’s teachings as idealistic and exotic- nice to know, but not really relevant to me. Yet Howard Cutler provides some of the Dalai Lama’s history which shows the power and effectiveness of these teachings. He explores his own inner conflicts and thoughts as he puts the Dalai Lama’s ideas into practice. His insights show just how relevant these techniques and ideas are to anyone anywhere in the world from any culture.

The Art of Happiness is a thoughtful and gentle book that covers everything you need to know to increase your level of happiness lastingly and through every aspect of your life. It includes everything you need in a self help book delivered in a very different tone than the typical perky and analytic style of most self help books. Plus, this is the only book on happiness written by a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Practical- 5/5
Easy to Read- 4/5
Comprehensive- 4/5
Good How to Guide- 5/5
Well Researched/Referenced- 5/5
Inspiring- 5/5
Overall- 5/5

Our Top Recomendations for Selp Help Books on:

1) How to Be Happy

Happy for No Reason, by Marci Shimoff
How to Keep Your Sanity in an Upside Down World, by Dr. Jim Keelan

2) How to Have Better Relationships and More of Them

The Five Love Languages, by Dr. Gary Chapman
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

3) Happiness Science

Authentic Happiness, by Dr. Martin Seligman
Stumbling on Happiness, by Dr. Daniel Gilbert

4) How to Develop Happy Habits

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven Covey
Influencer, by Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan, Switzler

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