The Art of Happiness at Work - Hardcover

Dalai Lama & Howard C. Cutler

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340831197 ISBN 13: 9780340831199

Publisher: Riverhead Books, 2003

Synopsis

Of the many Dalai Lama titles on sale, THE ART OF HAPPINESS - written with western psychiatrist Howard Cutler - is by far the biggest bestseller of them all. A huge international success, it has sold over 2 million copies worldwide, with over 250,000 of these in the UK alone. Now, this inspirational new book brings the successful East-meets-West pairing together again to provide a practical application of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual values to the world of work. In today's stressful working climate, more and more people are becoming disenchanted with the roles that they adopt at work, and how significantly their working persona differs from the person they are outside of the workplace. In this wise and practical book, the Dalai Lama shows us how to place our working lives into the context of our lives as a whole. Rather than striving to find a role which suits us, we should allow our work to arise naturally from who we are - and what is most important to us. From here we reach a pathway that can lead us to true life fulfilment and purpose.

About this title

Review

In their 1998 book The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and co-author Howard C. Cutler, M.D., explored how inner development contributes to overall happiness. In their second collaboration, the authors considered how they could best follow their highly successful first book. They chose a subject that affects millions of people around the world and produced. In this very readable, useful book, the authors attempt to discover the following: "Where does work fit in to our overall quest for happiness?" and "To what degree does work satisfaction affect our overall life satisfaction and happiness?"

The Art of Happiness at Work is a modern-day Socratic dialogue in which Cutler asks the Dalai Lama about the difficulties and rewards we might encounter in the workplace. The authors explore issues such as work and identity, making money, the Buddhist concept of "right livelihood," and transforming dissatisfaction at work. The discussion appears simple, if not obvious, at first, but upon closer scrutiny, the Dalai Lama's profound wisdom and sensitivity emerges. For the Dalai Lama, basic human values such as kindness, tolerance, compassion, honesty, and forgiveness are the source of human happiness. Throughout the book, he illustrates with clear examples how bringing those qualities to bear on work-related challenges can help us tolerate or overcome the most thorny situations. Recognizing that not all problems can be solved, the Dalai Lama provides very sound advice. The authors urge balance and self-awareness and wisely state, "No matter how satisfying our work is, it is a mistake to rely on work as our only source of satisfaction." --Silvana Tropea

About the Author

The Dalai Lama is one of the world's great spiritual leaders. The recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and many other international awards, he receives constant and extensive media coverage. Howard C. Cutler is a psychiatrist who has had an interest in Buddhism for over 25 years. He has strong ties with the Tibetan community and was chosen by the Dalai Lama to present and interpret his ideas for a wider non-Buddhist audience in the hugely successful The Art of Happiness.

About this edition

• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0340831197
• ISBN 13: 9780340831199
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224