The 14th Dalai Lama

Mahatma Gandhi one defined happiness as “when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Barring any better definition of happiness from either positive psychologists, self-help gurus, or any other academic source, I tend to think this is a great summation of the definition of happiness. Gandhi doesn’t say anything about how these things make you feel, rather looks at it from a point of view of harmony between thoughts, expressions, and actions. Since one single accepted definition of happiness doesn’t seem to exist, and happiness is different for everyone, this begs the question; how can you increase your own personal level of happiness?

Everyone defines happiness differently, but everyone needs happiness. The book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse talks about how Siddhartha finds happiness through many ways. He leaves home and his friend, Govinda, to find enlightenment. He starves himself, he learns love, he even thinks of suicide… Fortunately, he meets a ferryman, who becomes his best friend, also his “teacher”, and helps him find the ultimate way to achieve enlightenment. Siddhartha abandons his relationships, money, and education which bring him happiness, and in the twenty first century, these still bring happiness as the essential steps to take.

The most universal goal every human has in common is the pursuit of happiness or “creation or construction of happiness” (Achor, 78). To be able to fulfill this wish of becoming happy, people often think the key to achieving happiness is success. In the book, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, he debunks this theory of success leading to happiness by illustrating the reverse theory of success. Through dozens of studies and experiments as forms of evidence, the author argues that an individual needs to achieve happiness in order to be truly successful. Achor 's argument is valid in that happiness should come before success because there is a clear advantage to being successful in an individual’s work life, personal sphere, and liveliness if they are happy first and foremost.

Genuine Happiness Philosopher, novelist, playwright and screenwriter Ayn Rand once said, “Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values”. Stated differently, one's sole purpose in life is to strive for happiness by ignoring the temptations of selfishness and greed and instead, focusing on maintaining your righteousness and virtue. Ayn Rand hasn’t been the only one to voice her opinion towards authentic satisfaction. Over time, there have been a plethora of conclusions made by various authors and philosophers on what truly makes an individual

“Choose to be happy.” This is what mom has always said, since a very young age and still to this day she tells everyone. For so long, it was just “mom talk”, those things your mother says that is supposed to make you stop and think. Yet, being too young, dumb and full of it, to really understand what she means. Curiosity emerges and suddenly there is a need to understand what it really means to be happy, what constitutes Happiness? So follow up with some research, entering the bookstore, gliding in and out of the rows and rows in the self-help sections are others, asking the same question. What is happiness? Where does it come from, are we born with it or do we make it happen? Happiness is but a belief, an idea, a theory; but theories,

The fourteenth Dalai Lama, named Tenzin Gyatso, has been both the spiritual and political leader of Tibet for about sixty-five years. When most people imagine life as a political or spiritual leader they most likely imagine a life of privilege and luxury. His Holiness, however, has lived a life of exile away from his people and his country. When His Holiness was at the young age of fifteen, The People's Liberation Army invaded and took control of Tibet. In order to protect the religion of Buddhism and his life, he fled Tibet and journeyed to the neighboring country of India. Since then, he has been joined by a number of refugees who, to this day, try their best to preserve their religion for generations to come. Can you imagine trying to protect

Following Malcolm Gladwell’s idea on “the story of success”, Sonja Lyubomirsky put happiness to the test. Happiness has many great advantages that some may not think about. Studies shown happiness leads to stronger relationships, higher work performance, and even living longer with many health benefits.

Happiness has been and will be controversial topic that will carry on decades from now. It seems to be not one definite definition based on people’s perception of what it means to be happy or what bring about happiness. Some people believe it is just an end goal while others take it as the beginning point to further greatness. People seem to usually draw happiness from a vast number of things. Generally, happiness comprises of an emotional and mental state of well-being that can be characterized through pleasing and positive emotions such as contentment and joy. However, happiness has been researched and defined differently based on religious views, biological views, philosophical and psychological views. In this essay, I will clarify the enigma about happiness and how it is attained.

Did you know only fourteen men have been given the title Dalai Lama in the entire history of Buddhism? (BBC, 2009). The word Dalai Lama means “Ocean of Wisdom” and according to Buddhists, he is a reincarnation of a past lama who has decided to be reborn. (BBC, 2009). The current Dalai Lama is named Tenzin Gyasto and he is eighty-two years old (BBC, 2009). Gyasto has the role of being the political and religious leader of Tibet, a tradition that has been practiced since the fourteenth century (World Biography).

Attaining true happiness is a feat everyone wants to achieve. Money, power, or fame are common things that are thought to be the paths to happiness, but this is not the case. Living according to a set of moral values will reward one with true happiness, because doing so creates connections and relationships with other people. Sunye Kim, a Korean celebrity, demonstrated this when she joined the peace corps in Africa.

People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through

Every person has a different understanding of happiness. Happiness is defined as an emotion in which one experiences feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense joy. Happiness may be defined in such a way, but it can be interpreted in many different ways by different people. There are many happiness triggers in life, and each person has a set of triggers that make them feel happy. Based on the readings “The Sources of Happiness” by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, “If We are So Rich, Why Aren’t We Happy?” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and “July: Buy Some Happiness” by Gretchen Rubin, three of the causes of human happiness are a positive adaptation to life, the ability to get fully involved in life, and the wise use of money.

“Happiness as a byproduct of living your life is a great thing….but happiness as a goal is a recipe for disaster.” One of the greatest things in life is to experience the feeling of happiness. Whether it’s because you’re surrounded by loved ones or you’re doing something you loved or something random happened that put a smile on your face it’s a great thing to feel happiness. What that quote is saying however is that by striving to get that amazing feeling we could cause more problems for ourselves. Although we all enjoy that feeling of happiness and don’t like when it goes away we have to realize that most of the time it’s not hard work that brings it back. What brings us the feeling of happiness is letting the unexpected happen, it’s sharing

It is common sense that all the human beings would like to live a happy life and they will spare no efforts in order to realize the purpose of really living a happy life in the end. However, different people have different definitions toward what a happy life is and they tend to have different standards as for how a life is that can be regarded as a happy life. There is no doubt that people will then try different means in order to pursue a happy life based on their definition toward what a happy life is. Therefore, the following will talk about the pursuit of a happy life from the perspectives of both Dalai Lama in The Art of Happiness and Viktor E. Frankl in Man’s Searching for Meaning, during which the experiences of some characters from the film Forrest Gump will be applied as evidence. Generally speaking, the pursuit of a happy life in the minds of Dalai Lama and Viktor E. Frankl can be achieved via experiencing sufferings and adversity. It is hoped that this analysis can help people understand what a happy is from a different point of view.

In an unofficial poll of students at State University, I found that of the fifty-eight students and one professor, males and females of several ethnic backgrounds and age groups, that I asked the question "What is happiness to you?", all of them had very different physical, intellectual, or emotional motivator for their happiness. Only the