The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
A review of

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living

Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler • Riverhead • 2020

Happiness Comes from Within

by Charlotte Kendrick

Everyone has the right to be happy. But how do you achieve happiness? Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama and psychiatrist Howard C. Cutler conclude that with the right mind-set and practices, all people can find happiness.

“The purpose of our life is to seek happiness,” says Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. In the latest edition of this helpful, accessible text, psychiatrist and speaker Howard C. Cutler synthesizes stimulating conversational exchanges he enjoyed over many years with the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. The book richly connects Buddhist philosophy and wisdom with the latest positive psychology research emerging from the “Happiness Revolution.” The authors’ guidance on dealing with the challenges of everyday life proves as relevant today as when it was first published in 1999.

Compassion and Kindness

Countless studies, Howard Cutler writes, show that happy people tend to be healthier, have stronger immune systems, connect better with their partners, experience better mental health, show greater resilience, cope with trauma better, have a lower likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease and may live up to a decade longer than their unhappy counterparts.

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