The Art of Happiness (Penguin Classics)

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Hibler, Richard W. (1984). Happiness Through Tranquillity. The school of Epicurus. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-8191-3861-3. Bakalis, Nikolaos (2005). Handbook of Greek Philosophy from Thales to the Stoics. Analysis and fragments. Victoria: Trafford. ISBN 978-1-4120-4843-9.

First step is learning. Analyse thoughts and emotions to determine if they are beneficial or hurtful. Try not to "want." If you know something may tempt you avoid it. Positive desires are good. Strodach, George K. (2012), "Introduction", The Art of Happiness, New York City, New York: Penguin Classics, ISBN 978-0-14-310721-7 The Dalai Lama does not just refer to caring for each other; he also finds relationships very important and differentiates them in two ways.(111) The first is when you are in a relationship with someone because of wealth, power or position (material) – when these things disappear, the relationship normally ends. The second way is based on true human feelings (spiritual). The Dalai Lama also informs about sexual relationships. You can have a sexual relationship with no respect for each other. Usually it is just temporary satisfaction. Or sexual relationships bonded with a person who we think is kind, nice and gentle.(101–102) The ability to be happy is in everyone's nature. Happiness is found through love, affection, closeness and compassion. Not only do humans have the capability of being happy, but also the Dalai Lama believes that each human naturally has a gentle quality within them. The Dalai Lama supports this theory by mentioning ‘ Buddha nature’, the Buddhist doctrine, but also saying that gentleness is not only affected by religion but in everyday life. With gentleness comes aggression, however. People argue that aggression is the dominant behavior for the human race. In response, the Dalai Lama says, “anger, violence and aggression may certainly arise, but I think it's on a secondary or more superficial level; in a sense, they arise when we are frustrated in our efforts to achieve love and affection” (54–55). Although aggression can occur, overall our fundamental nature is gentleness. The Dalai Lama believes that because of the advancement in human intelligence we are believed to be capable of controlling our aggression versus our kindness; however, if the intellect level were to decrease then the result would be destructive. So, overall, the Dalai Lama believes that although it is possible to go down the path of aggression there is always the natural ability to be compassionate again. The compassion towards one's self as humans has to be equally distributed to others. “Reaching out to help others may be as fundamental to our nature as communication” (59). This suggests the idea that humans are “programmed with the capacity and purpose of bringing pleasure and joy to others” (61). Overall, happiness is reached by keeping peace with others and one's self, which can be reached through meditation and community service. Therefore, the Dalai Lama concludes that the purpose isn't to create tension but a positive atmosphere. This gives our life meaning, which leads to overall happiness. That positive atmosphere can be found through closeness and compassion. Gordon, Pamela (2012), The Invention and Gendering of Epicurus, Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-02817-7

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He also says to build Self-Esteem we should have social friends and be happy throughout his life he takes example of Jake he was a little kid who was playing out of his house in his front yard.Then a kidnapper took the child home , but the child said I will call the police. Getting through suffering is a very difficult thing to accomplish but there are people out there who can help you overcome you losing a loved one or whatever you may be suffering from. Everyone has to go through suffering sometime in their life, but how people get over it shows how strong that person is. How someone perceives life as a whole plays a huge role in a person's attitude about pain and suffering. There is a possibility of freedom from suffering. That is possible by removing the causes of suffering and living a happier life. At the end of the chapter he talks about how deep religious faith has sustained countless people through difficult times. He tells a story about a man named Terry Anderson who was kidnapped off the streets in Beirut in 1985. After seven years of being held as a prisoner by Hezbollah, a group of Islamic fundamentalist extremists, he was finally released. The world found him a man overjoyed and happy to be reunited with his family and he said that prayers and religion got him through those seven years (303). This is the main example Lama used. A sequel, The Art of Happiness at Work, was published in 2003 by Riverhead Press ( ISBN 1-57322-261-5), also with Howard Cutler.

Jones, Howard (2010), "Epicurus and Epicureanism", in Grafton, Anthony; Most, Glenn W.; Settis, Salvatore (eds.), The Classical Tradition, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, pp.320–324, ISBN 978-0-674-03572-0 Although Epicurus has been commonly misunderstood as an advocate of the rampant pursuit of pleasure, he, in fact, maintained that a person can only be happy and free from suffering by living wisely, soberly, and morally. [66] [75] [76] He strongly disapproved of raw, excessive sensuality and warned that a person must take into account whether the consequences of his actions will result in suffering, [66] [77] [67] [76] writing, "the pleasant life is produced not by a string of drinking bouts and revelries, nor by the enjoyment of boys and women, nor by fish and the other items on an expensive menu, but by sober reasoning." [66] He also wrote that a single good piece of cheese could be equally pleasing as an entire feast. [67] [78] Furthermore, Epicurus taught that "it is not possible to live pleasurably without living sensibly and nobly and justly", because a person who engages in acts of dishonesty or injustice will be "loaded with troubles" on account of his own guilty conscience and will live in constant fear that his wrongdoings will be discovered by others. [66] [79] [80] A person who is kind and just to others, however, will have no fear and will be more likely to attain ataraxia. [66] [79] Epicurus was an extremely prolific writer. [121] [119] [64] [68] According to Diogenes Laërtius, he wrote around 300 treatises on a variety of subjects. [119] [64] Although more original writings of Epicurus have survived to the present day than of any other Hellenistic Greek philosopher, [68] the vast majority of everything he wrote has still been lost, [121] [119] [64] and most of what is known about Epicurus's teachings come from the writings of his later followers, particularly the Roman poet Lucretius. [64] The only surviving complete works by Epicurus are three relatively lengthy letters, which are quoted in their entirety in Book X of Diogenes Laërtius's Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, and two groups of quotes: the Principal Doctrines (Κύριαι Δόξαι), which are likewise preserved through quotation by Diogenes Laërtius, and the Vatican Sayings, preserved in a manuscript from the Vatican Library that was first discovered in 1888. [64] In the Letter to Herodotus and the Letter to Pythocles, Epicurus summarizes his philosophy on nature and, in the Letter to Menoeceus, he summarizes his moral teachings. [64] Numerous fragments of Epicurus's lost thirty-seven volume treatise On Nature have been found among the charred papyrus fragments at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. [64] [68] Scholars first began attempting to unravel and decipher these scrolls in 1800, but the efforts are painstaking and are still ongoing. [64] In the seventeenth century, the French Catholic priest and scholar Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) sought to dislodge Aristotelianism from its position of the highest dogma by presenting Epicureanism as a better and more rational alternative. [141] In 1647, Gassendi published his book De vita et moribus Epicuri ( The Life and Morals of Epicurus), a passionate defense of Epicureanism. [141] In 1649, he published a commentary on Diogenes Laërtius's Life of Epicurus. [141] He left Syntagma philosophicum ( Philosophical Compendium), a synthesis of Epicurean doctrines, unfinished at the time of his death in 1655. [141] It was finally published in 1658, after undergoing revision by his editors. [141] Gassendi modified Epicurus's teachings to make them palatable for a Christian audience. [141] For instance, he argued that atoms were not eternal, uncreated, and infinite in number, instead contending that an extremely large but finite number of atoms were created by God at creation. [141]Throughout this chapter the Dalai Lama gives examples of how different people dealt with losing a loved one. The Dalai Lama states that he believes it is a good idea to prepare yourself ahead of time for the kinds of suffering you might encounter, because sometime in life you are going to experience some type of suffering, so if you prepare yourself you will know what to expect. He goes on about how everyone is going to face suffering sometime in their life and if we view suffering as something natural then we can begin to live a happier life. If you can prepare yourself for the fact that in your life you're going to experience a traumatic event, for example a death of a family member, you can face the fact that everybody in life eventually passes on and you'll be able to get over the grieving process sooner and carry on with a happier life knowing that they're in a better place. The Buddhist recognizes the possibility of clearing the mind and achieving a state in which there is no more suffering in people's lives. If you come to the fact and realize you are suffering you'll overcome it faster rather than denying that everything is all right. Legacy [ edit ] Ancient Epicureanism [ edit ] Bust of Epicurus leaning against his disciple Metrodorus in the Louvre Museum

There are necessary and unnecessary desires. Necessary desires, like desiring to be free from bodily pain, help in producing happiness, whereas unnecessary desires, like desiring a bigger car or a more luxurious meal, typically produce unhappiness.Long, A. A. (1999), "Epicurus", A Companion to Philosophers, Malden, Massachusetts and Oxford, England: Wiley Publishers, Ltd., pp.239–243, ISBN 978-0-63-122967-4 I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear, whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness…” (13). The Dalai Lama spoke this powerful statement at a conference in Arizona among a crowd of people. Chapter one, The Right to Happiness, introduces what the book; the Art of Happiness is about. [4] Barnes, Jonathan (1986), "15: Hellenistic Philosophy and Science", in Boardman, John; Griffin, Jasper; Murray, Oswyn (eds.), The Oxford History of the Classical World, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, pp.365–385, ISBN 978-0198721123 Epicurus was first to assert human freedom as a result of the fundamental indeterminism in the motion of atoms. This has led some philosophers to think that, for Epicurus, free will was caused directly by chance. In his On the Nature of Things, Lucretius appears to suggest this in the best-known passage on Epicurus' position. [107] In his Letter to Menoeceus, however, Epicurus follows Aristotle and clearly identifies three possible causes: "some things happen of necessity, others by chance, others through our own agency." Aristotle said some things "depend on us" ( eph'hemin). Epicurus agreed, and said it is to these last things that praise and blame naturally attach. For Epicurus, the "swerve" of the atoms simply defeated determinism to leave room for autonomous agency. [108] Theology [ edit ] First-century AD Roman fresco from Pompeii, showing the mythical human sacrifice of Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon. Epicurus's devoted follower, the Roman poet Lucretius, cited this myth as an example of the evils of popular religion, in contrast to the more wholesome theology advocated by Epicurus. [109] Epicurus discouraged participation in politics, as doing so leads to perturbation and status seeking. He instead advocated not drawing attention to oneself. This principle is epitomised by the phrase lathe biōsas ( λάθε βιώσας), meaning "live in obscurity", "get through life without drawing attention to yourself", i.e., live without pursuing glory or wealth or power, but anonymously, enjoying little things like food, the company of friends, etc. Plutarch elaborated on this theme in his essay Is the Saying "Live in Obscurity" Right? ( Εἰ καλῶς εἴρηται τὸ λάθε βιώσας, An recte dictum sit latenter esse vivendum) 1128c; cf. Flavius Philostratus, Vita Apollonii 8.28.12. [120] Works [ edit ] Epicurus, in the Nuremberg Chronicle

In spite of this, DeWitt argues that Epicureanism and Christianity share much common language, calling Epicureanism "the first missionary philosophy" and "the first world philosophy". [135] Both Epicureanism and Christianity placed strong emphasis on the importance of love and forgiveness [136] and early Christian portrayals of Jesus are often similar to Epicurean portrayals of Epicurus. [136] DeWitt argues that Epicureanism, in many ways, helped pave the way for the spread of Christianity by "helping to bridge the gap between Greek intellectualism and a religious way of life" and "shunt[ing] the emphasis from the political to the social virtues and offer[ing] what may be called a religion of humanity." [137] Middle Ages [ edit ] Dante Alighieri meets Farinata, an Epicurean from Florence, in his Inferno in the Sixth Circle of Hell (canto 10). Epicurus and his followers are imprisoned in flaming coffins for the heretical belief that the soul dies with the body, [134] shown here in an illustration by Gustave Doré. Book Genre: Academic, Ancient, Ancient History, Classics, Cultural, Essays, Greece, History, Literature, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Read For School, Self Help, Writing The overwhelming majority of surviving Greek and Roman sources are vehemently negative towards Epicureanism [126] and, according to Pamela Gordon, they routinely depict Epicurus himself as "monstrous or laughable". [126] Many Romans in particular took a negative view of Epicureanism, seeing its advocacy of the pursuit of voluptas ("pleasure") as contrary to the Roman ideal of virtus ("manly virtue"). [127] The Romans therefore often stereotyped Epicurus and his followers as weak and effeminate. [128] Prominent critics of his philosophy include prominent authors such as the Roman Stoic Seneca the Younger ( c. 4 BC – AD 65) and the Greek Middle Platonist Plutarch ( c. 46 – c. 120), who both derided these stereotypes as immoral and disreputable. [124] Gordon characterizes anti-Epicurean rhetoric as so "heavy-handed" and misrepresentative of Epicurus's actual teachings that they sometimes come across as "comical". [129] In his De vita beata, Seneca states that the "sect of Epicurus... has a bad reputation, and yet it does not deserve it." and compares it to "a man in a dress: your chastity remains, your virility is unimpaired, your body has not submitted sexually, but in your hand is a tympanum." [130]The book explores training the human outlook that alters perception. The concepts that the purpose of life is happiness, that happiness is determined more by the state of one's mind than by one's external conditions, circumstances, or events—at least once one's basic survival needs are met and that happiness can be achieved through the systematic training of our hearts and minds. [2] [3] Chapter summaries [ edit ] Part I. The Purpose of Life [ edit ] Chapter 1: The Right to Happiness [ edit ]