Like Minds - His Holiness The Dalai Lama

One of the Dalai Lama’s most famous books is “The Art of Happiness” which he wrote with Howard Cutler, M.D.  The tag line for the book is “A Handbook for Living” and it truly is one.  The book is a little clinical like a research paper.  However, if you can sift your way through all of that you can find the promised handbook for living.

Here are some of the observations the Dalai Lama makes in his book:

Our moment to moment happiness is determined by our outlook, not by our absolute condition. 

Our feelings of contentment are strongly influenced by our tendency to compare.

We can increase our feelings of life satisfaction by comparing ourselves to those who are less fortunate than us and by reflecting on all the things that we have.

Eliminate those factors that lead to suffering and cultivate those that lead to happiness.

You can see the simple wisdom in his words.  Happiness is 100% up to us.  Every one of us can be happy by using the basic formula that he lays out in his book.

The trick is that in western cultures we confuse being happy with what we have as being soft or not having any ambition.  The key is to be happy with what you have while you passionately seek to execute on your greater purpose to make the world a happier place through your work life. 

If you don’t follow the Dalai Lama’s this advice, you will likely never be happy in the present, because you will be basing your level of happiness on the outcomes of future events.  I will be happy when I get a new job, new car, new house, new spouse, etc.

In addition, if you only follow the advice from his book as you live your life away from work, your will end up wasting a huge portion of your life trying to buy happiness for your life through enduring unhappiness at work.

We spend the bulk of our productive years at work and we do not know how long we will live.  Therefore, every day must count, because it is the only day you have for sure.  The Buddha CEO Blog is about how to make work matter, truly matter, as a vehicle for maximizing the cumulative value you create for the world in terms of happiness production.

What are you tips and tricks on the Art of Happiness at home or at work?  We would love to hear from you!