Sunday, April 22, 2007

Happiness by Matthieu Ricard

Ricard is a French living in Shechen Monastery, Nepal. He spends two months a year in a hermitage facing the Himalayas. This is book have a lot of practical advice and at the end of every chapters there is an exercise you can try. Executing the exercise may be a challenge. If we have the discipline, then we will be able to get the benefits. This is no different with the physical exercises that keep our body fit, trim and healthy.

The following is the extract of the exercise at the end of Chapter 2.

Examining the causes of happiness
Take a quiet moment alone and try to find out what really makes you happy. Is your happiness derived mainly from outer circumstances? How much of it is due to your state of mind and the way you experience the world? If happiness comes from outer circumstances, check how stable or fragile they are. If it is due to a state of mind, consider how you can further cultivate it.

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