Art
of ‘Happiness’ anything but happy
By Adrienne Figueroa
On-line Forty-Niner
Individuals
of Eastern and Western cultures may have
different views on religion, family and
roles within society, but the thing that
unites them they are part of human existence.
This seems to be the idea behind the creation
of “The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for
Living,” but the book fell short in its
portrayal of this concept.
Western psychologist Howard C. Cutler, M.D.
and Eastern spiritual leader, His Holiness
The Dalai Lama, collaborated to compose
a handbook about tolerance, compassion,
discipline, pain and suffering, hatred,
self-esteem, and basic spiritual values.
Although the two men were able to successfully
show the similarities between their cultures
on opposite sides of the world, quite frequently
there appeared to be a civil war within
the pages of the book.
Cutler repeatedly challenged the beliefs
of his fellow co-author, often times trivializing
them with a tone of Western arrogance. He
seemed blatantly annoyed with the Dalai
Lama’s stance on several issues, some of
which include the acceptance of painful
experiences in life without pessimism. Instead
of taking the differences in beliefs for
what they are, Cutler constantly prodded
the spiritual leader, almost hoping that
an ideology of Western nature would emerge
from the Dalai Lama’s mouth. The doctor’s
unwillingness to accept his co-author’s
set of values and beliefs as a happy way
of life made it difficult to understand
how the two could maintain a friendship.
Furthermore, this conflict made it difficult
to attain happiness in reading the book,
thereby contradicting the title of the work,
as well as its purpose.
Two people from two cultures with dissimilar
views on life is normal, but without an
element of open-mindedness, writing a book
together may not be such a good idea.
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