A Monk's Guide to Happiness

Part of 0/22

A Monk’s Guide to Happiness (2019) provides readers with a philosophically insightful and practically

useful manual on how to break free of suffering and achieve inner peace. Drawing from the author’s 25

years of training at Buddhist monasteries and intensive meditation retreats the book distills more than

two decades of hard-won wisdom.

Part of 1/22

What’s in it for me? Learn how to be happy anywhere anytime. If you could have a superpower, what

would it be? People usually answer this question with some ability out of a superhero comic – flying

invisibility telekinesis and the like. But here’s one that probably hasn’t occurred to you before – on-

demand happiness. Imagine your mind had a switch you could flip to find peace no matter where you

were or what was going on. It might not sound as flashy as levitation but it would still be pretty life-

changing. It would also be surprisingly powerful. With just a flick of your happiness switch you could keep

cool under pressure and endure any hardship. Best of all unlike those superpowers from the comic books

this is an ability you can actually develop. In these blinks you’ll learn why you’re probably looking for

happiness in the wrong places; how to train your mind to generate happiness; and what you can do t o

acquire this ability today. Happiness is a feeling of fu

Part of 2/22

Illness and freedom in the present moment. Before we dive into the details of how to be happy let’s

take a step back and begin with a more fundamental question: What is happiness in the first place? This

might seem like a rather philosophical point of inquiry but it has some very practical implications. After

all, if we want to find something we need to know what we’re looking for! So, what does the feeling of

happiness consist of? Well, we can break it down into three main components. The first is a sense of

fullness. When we’re happy we don’t feel that we lack anything in our experience of the present moment.

Instead, we feel complete just the way we are – right here right now. In other words, we feel content.

We don’t wish for anything we don’t already have – whether it’s a material object experience or

circumstance. For instance, we wouldn’t think “If only I had that shiny new device or had a better job then

I’d be happy.” We’re already satisfied so whatever is happening in the prese

Part of 3/22

Not moment is enough. That brings us to the second component of happiness which is feeling anchored

to the present. This means we don’t drift away into thoughts about the past or future where we tend to

get caught up in painful memories and anxiety-provoking uncertainties. For example, “I wish I hadn’t made

that comment to my friend” or “I wonder what she’ll say when I see her next.” Instead, we focus on the

moment we’re experiencing. In conjunction with all of this we also feel a sense of freedom. This is the

third component of happiness. We don’t become captivated by the negative emotions and disquieting

desires that come with dredging up the past anticipating the future or wishing the present were different.

Instead, we feel liberated from all of these sources of unhappiness. The nature of this liberation will

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Download A Monk's Guide to Happiness and more Schemes and Mind Maps Psychology of Happiness in PDF only on Docsity!

Part of 0/ A Monk’s Guide to Happiness (2019) provides readers with a philosophically insightful and practically useful manual on how to break free of suffering and achieve inner peace. Drawing from the author’s 25 years of training at Buddhist monasteries and intensive meditation retreats the book distills more than two decades of hard-won wisdom. Part of 1/ What’s in it for me? Learn how to be happy anywhere anytime. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? People usually answer this question with some ability out of a superhero comic – flying invisibility telekinesis and the like. But here’s one that probably hasn’t occurred to you before – on- demand happiness. Imagine your mind had a switch you could flip to find peace no matter where you were or what was going on. It might not sound as flashy as levitation but it would still be pretty life- changing. It would also be surprisingly powerful. With just a flick of your happiness switch you could keep cool under pressure and endure any hardship. Best of all unlike those superpowers from the comic books this is an ability you can actually develop. In these blinks you’ll learn why you’re probably looking for happiness in the wrong places; how to train your mind to generate happiness; and what you can do to acquire this ability today. Happiness is a feeling of fu Part of 2/ Illness and freedom in the present moment. Before we dive into the details of how to be happy let’s take a step back and begin with a more fundamental question: What is happiness in the first place? This might seem like a rather philosophical point of inquiry but it has some very practical implications. After all, if we want to find something we need to know what we’re looking for! So, what does the feeling of happiness consist of? Well, we can break it down into three main components. The first is a sense of fullness. When we’re happy we don’t feel that we lack anything in our experience of the present moment. Instead, we feel complete just the way we are – right here right now. In other words, we feel content. We don’t wish for anything we don’t already have – whether it’s a material object experience or circumstance. For instance, we wouldn’t think “If only I had that shiny new device or had a better job then I’d be happy.” We’re already satisfied so whatever is happening in the prese Part of 3/ Not moment is enough. That brings us to the second component of happiness which is feeling anchored to the present. This means we don’t drift away into thoughts about the past or future where we tend to get caught up in painful memories and anxiety-provoking uncertainties. For example, “I wish I hadn’t made that comment to my friend” or “I wonder what she’ll say when I see her next.” Instead, we focus on the moment we’re experiencing. In conjunction with all of this we also feel a sense of freedom. This is the third component of happiness. We don’t become captivated by the negative emotions and disquieting desires that come with dredging up the past anticipating the future or wishing the present were different. Instead, we feel liberated from all of these sources of unhappiness. The nature of this liberation will

become clearer in the following blinks where we’ll map out the mental prison from which we’re trying to break free. Then with our map in hand we’ll figure out an escape plan. Part of 4/ Unhappiness involves a sense of incompleteness which arises from desire and seeking happiness outside of ourselves. If happiness is marked by a sense of fullness present Ness and freedom then unhappiness is characterized by the opposite – a sense of incompleteness absent-ness and captivity. To better understand the nature of unhappiness let’s focus on the first of these feelings. Where does our sense of incompleteness come from? Well, it’s basically the flip side of our desires. When we want something it’s usually something that we lack but think we should have. For example, if you want a promotion that you haven’t yet received but think you’d be happy if you got it – that makes you feel incomplete. In your mind a promotion becomes one of the missing pieces to your happiness puzzle. Now it feels as though there’s an empty space in your life and you long to fill the void. If we look beneath this way of thinking there’s an underlying assumption that happiness comes from outside of o Part of 5/ Ourselves. Whether we’re longing for material objects experiences or achievements we think we can achieve happiness by obtaining the things we desire. Thus, our happiness seems contingent upon having those things while our unhappiness seems to be the result of not having them. But this way of thinking is deeply problematic for many reasons. To begin with it puts our happiness at the mercy of outside forces which are often beyond our control. To return to the previous example you can work as hard as you want but that promotion is ultimately up to your boss. So, you end up putting your happiness in her hands. Now let’s say you get lucky and receive the promotion. How does it make you feel? Probably delighted – but the feeling will be short-lived. Soon you’ll be looking for the next thing you want – perhaps a fancier car to accompany your bigger paycheck or maybe an even bigger promotion. Whatever it is you’ll now feel dissatisfied with the fact that you don’t have something else until y Part of 6/ Ou gets it. Then you’ll move onto yet another desire – then another and another. Why do we get stuck in this loop and how can we escape it? Let’s find out. Modern culture exacerbates the problem of insatiable desire and our sense of incompleteness. If you want to get out of a trap you need to know how it works. The same goes for the never-ending loop of desire so let’s examine the machinery behind it. In the modern world some mechanisms keep this loop moving – advertising social media and the broader materialistic culture in which they’re embedded. Whether we’re watching TV browsing the internet or simply walking down a street lined with billboards we’re constantly bombarded by advertisements. These tell us we need to buy a product to become more beautiful respected or efficient. These ads hinge on the implication that we’re not already beautiful respected or efficient enough. Meanwhile when we flip through magazines or scroll through social media, we see an endless parade of Part of 7/ Carefully airbrushed and curated photographs depicting lives that seem better than ours. These ads and images conspire to send us the same message: “You and your life are not enough. You need more to be happy.” When we’re inundated with this message it’s pretty difficult to feel satisfied with our lives the way they are. It’s as if there’s always something else, we need. Compounding this problem is another unfortunate aspect of the modern culture in which we live – sensory overload. Contemporary movies TV shows music videos commercials and songs deluge our eyes and ears with a flood of hyperactive images

A Monk's Guide to Happiness, Schemes and Mind Maps of Psychology of Happiness

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A Monk's Guide to Happiness