New Age books
WHAT IS HAPPINESS and how do we attain it? This is the preoccupation of a modern world that seeks relief from overwork and the resultant stresses.
In The Art Of Happiness (Hodder and Stoughton $91), which has been on the New York Times Bestseller List for almost 90 weeks, the Dalai Lama provides a lifeline, outlining the Tibetan Buddhist answer with the assistance of American psychiatrist Howard Cutler. Training the mind to achieve happiness, the Tibetan spiritual leader says, is an essential, life-long process. Cutler successfully translates and explains the Tibetan leader's broader beliefs and extracts answers that Westerners can digest.
Together they explore the universal nature of spiritualism and fundamentals of happiness from its essence in human compassion - treating all humans as equal and being open to all - to dealing with suffering, hatred, anger, anxiety and improving self-esteem.
There is a reassuring strength to the exiled leader's words and comfort in knowing that he, like every human, has struggled for contentment. When he reaches obstacles to that path he says he recites this verse:
As long as space endures
