Vital Happiness "Read"

As I write more and more and look deeper and deeper, some things become clearer and clearer - and no longer trite, but truly grokked.

A book that is maybe the first read that you should digest is The Buddha's Way Of Happiness, Thomas Bien. 

As you may know, philosophy is the foundation for healthy psychology.  And this book explains how the time-tested, tried-and-true pieces of Buddhism can be understood in layperson terms AND implemented.

As I study happiness, I am more struck by what gets in the way of happiness, what causes unhappiness and stress and a just plain bad experience of life.  (I've written about this in Suffering And Struggle.)

We set up incredible beliefs about who we are and then we defend them against loss or bemoan them not being "better" - we even make up a "not good enough" mentality, where we try to, but never do, arrive at good enough, in an unwinnable game.  (See Playing Unwinnable Games.)

We create a foolish "reality" that isn't real at all - and then we play that game, the game of loss and what's-missing.  When we understand this and rise above it, we can then look deeply at the "mountain" of abundance of what we have.  (See What We Have, For Sure, Vs. Losses/Missings.  This, if you really understand it, leads to relative Fearlessness.)

This book is the best portal I can recommend, if you really, really want to be happy...

I recommend you read it with a pen in hand, and then reread it with a red pen in hand, and then implement it. 

If you do, I guarantee you will be happier.

Toward your happiness, I am your servant,

Keith