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Recommended: Essays of joy
The Book of Joy
Dalai Lama’s The Book of Joy with Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams. Lama is going to give his the main three lessons from The Book of Joy: Joy, Acceptance, and 8 Pillars of Joy.
Joy
Joy is the number on lesson by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. They see joy has meaning and a personal connection to get through. Dalai Lamas readers are told that you will not develop joy over night, yet you are going to get it deep down from inside of you over time. His readers are told you need to understand and develop how to see joy in through the negative emotions and that everything is not going to be a rainbow all the time.
Acceptance
Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu were able to live in exile for 50 years learning
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8 Pillars of Joy 8 Pillars of Joy: Perspective, Humility, Humor, Acceptance, Path of Forgiveness, Gratitude, Compassion, and Generosity. These Pillars allow everyone to come out from the darkness into joy. According to Dalai Lama “ Every situation we confront in life comes from convergence of many contributing factors.” (196) You need to be able to take a step back and see that there are many different views Dalai Lama is letting his readers know. Lama and Tutu are speaking to let their followers and friends know that they are human too. Humility in Lama’s pillars allows his readers to see how we depend on others and should not take advantage of that. Humor- laugh at life, life with friend or at yourself. Throughout the book Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu did not have a smile on their face once. They knew to not take life too harsh. In this lesson the main quote is “Acceptance: The Only Place Where Change Can Begin.” (223) Accept reality because there is no way to get around it. Path Of Forgiveness-Lamas readers are being told to confront the hurt and to renew the relationship with what has had hurt you to move on. Dalai Lama tells his readers “Every day, think as you wake up, “ I am fortunate to be alive. I have a precious human life. I am not going to waste it.” (241) Gratitude- “ Too much self-centered thinking is a source of suffering.” (251) Compassion. Generosity-The lesson to know in this pillar according to Lama “ Generosity is a natural
The teachings of buddhism, the Dalai Lama and the Temple Puja can all impact a Buddhist adherents on the ethical issues of the individual. The buddhist teachings consist of lists of rules that can be followed in order to live a peaceful and humble life, which nirvana can be met. Temple Puja are acts and ways the buddhist teaching can be applied to the life of Buddhist adherents. The Dalai Lama is a spiritual leader of the tibetan people who expand on the teachings of Buddhism worldwide. All these factors influences the decision making of challenging ethical issues of Buddhist adherents.
With guidance from principle beliefs and the XIVth Dalai Lama, Buddhist bioethics and the devotional practice of Temple Puja have an impact of high significance on individuals, and the Buddhist community in ultimately, guiding the life of the adherent to achieve total enlightenment. As the modern figurehead for Buddhism, the XIVth Dalai Lama has contributed to the formulation and reassessment of the Buddhist approach to ethical issues.
“The Dalai Lama” in The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. New York:
Living Buddha, Living Christ has taught me the true meaning of Buddhism, and it demonstrates what the path to true enlightenment is. The following concepts have stood out to me, and they are ones that I relate to on a more personal level. Buddhism has perceptions that are not always seen by everyone, but they are concepts that are important for our own happiness.
Buddhism is considered as one of the leading religions throughout the world today. In order for a Buddhist to follow the religion, there are certain set of guidelines that one has to follow to gain a better life, but most people have other factors that they have to face along this path. The story, “The Journey of One Buddhist Nun” by Sid Brown, is an account of a Thai woman, Maechi Wabi, who entered a spiritual life along with life struggles and outside influences. According to Brown, Wabi faced many challenges along the way to liberation and two challenges she faced most are the gender and socioeconomic issues which she overcame during her spiritual journey.
Ashvaghosha’s Buddhacarita: The Life of the Buddha serves as one of the most relevant and profound texts regarding the Buddhist religion and it’s foundations. However, unlike other popular religious texts, this one does not serve as a historical document but rather a vessel for explaining the teachings of the Buddha, serving as a guide for the followers of the Enlightened One. Ashvaghosha’s descriptions of the Buddha, his life, and his actions provide an example of the Buddha’s disciplines and truths, giving his followers a detailed and structured idea of his way of life. The Buddhacarita’s descriptions in particular focus on the teaching of pervasive suffering, it’s causes, and the paths (both right and wrong) to breaking free from it.
In a world of suffering and pain the Dalai Lama said, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive”. The Dalai Lama has become a figurehead for Buddhism worldwide for his compassion and warm smiles. Buddhism has extended beyond meditation and even monks such as the Dalai Lama. The basic concepts of compassion and mindfulness in Buddhism are being applied in the daily lives of lay people who need it the most.
Writer Ayn Rand once said that, “Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.” This happiness is not what a person feels when common pleasures occur in their lives, such as the purchase of a new car, or a promotion at work and an increase in salary. The feeling of genuine inner well-being and peace is a completely separate state of being that can be witnessed in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner. The two key characters to the story, Amir and Hassan, share a very unique relationship. They achieve the deepest longing of humanity to achieve happiness through the different choices they make and experiences they have. Hassan proves to be on the proper path to happiness early on with a strong moral conscience in his life, sense of purpose to serve others, and the self-confidence to be independent. On the other hand, Amir struggles to achieve these same qualities as Hassan; to do the right thing, to think of others, and to carry his own weight with confidence.
In conclusion, I have come to realize that the Noble Eightfold Path is rooted in a belief very similar to that of my own faith which is in order to find peace and wholeness it is important for one to lead a moral life which begins with one's perception and is continued with one's actions. Whether one is trying to reach heaven or nirvana, it is the responsibility and duty of every individual to be a good person; a person of faith and a person who cares for others and cares for themselves.
In Jasmine Syedullah “The Abolition of Whiteness”, she confesses to her readers that “one of the things that had drown me into buddhism was the notion of no self. I was fascinated by the prospect of being Jasmine and not being Jasmine.” (16) Most of the times we suffer so much with trying to find ourselves that we become something else. We lost the feeling of wholeness, the feeling of belonging to our own bodies, and the feeling of happiness. Self compassion can often be misunderstood as not being aware of anything else rather than our own dignities. But the importance of self-compassion is treating ourselves gently instead of being harsh and self-critical to please others expectations for them. It’s common to beat ourselves up for faults big and small. But being kind to yourself is not only providing comfort in the moment, it is also committing, whenever possible, to acknowledging that some things are past our control, we become better at coping with failure and whatever consequences our actions may have caused because we learn to have compassion towards ourselves no matter the
His holiness The Dalai Lama sees compassion as a special joy. The first paragraph states that the great religions ask their followers to be compassionate. Different verses have been taken from authentic sources of different religions as the evidence that they all believe in compassion. The religions urge the practitioners to follow compassion to achieve spiritual feats such as happiness can be achieved. The previous statement holds true at my personal level, at least, because I feel being compassionate and helping others gives one a different kind of joy and internal peace that cannot be achieved from materialistic values.
Kendall Kazor Period 4 When someone is faced with the question “what is your aspiration in life?” the answer is most all the time “to be happy”(A BUDDHIST VIEW OF HAPPINESS). Whether that takes form in becoming the richest man in the world or bringing peace to the world, everyone wants to be happy. Each individual has developed their own opinion on what this ultimate happiness truly is; however, these are merely uneducated opinions. What does it mean to truly be happy? What defines happiness? An answer to this has been brought to focus by Aristotle and has been instilled in many communities and different lifestyles. Aristotle wrote that happiness is not just a feeling but a state one enters after utilizing the virtues to the fullest extent. Therefore, owning a brand new Mercedes Benz will not bring you true happiness. It may momentarily bring joy, but in reality material luxuries subtract from ones overall goal to be happy. The philosopher uses the Greek term “eudemonia,” translated to good spiritedness, reiterating that happiness is not just to feel something but to be something. Many religions tie in the theory that happiness is the “end” in their teachings. One religious community that centers itself on this concept is Buddhism. The Buddhist community in particular, stems from the idea of happiness or sukkha. All aspects of a Buddhist lifestyle gear towards working to the ultimate happiness, nirvana. Buddha teaches that in order to enter this state of nirvana, one must overcome the natural suffering caused by being human, dukkha. Dukkha is a complex word meaning “that which is difficult to bear”(A Basic Buddhism Guide: The Eight-Fold Path). However, we as humans have a natural tendency towards dukkha. Overcoming this, in othe...
Throughout generations, compassion and love have played important roles in the dynamics of human interaction. Although these two concepts are constants in the general sense, they become more dynamic when viewed through different religious and cultural perspectives. The Dalai Lama, Pope John Paul II, and Louis Jacobs all provide prime examples of how the compassion and love vary when looked at through a religious perspective.
...on what we are doing since we always think of other choices. We suspect that we may have a better result if we have chosen another option. But now, the Buddha reminds us of the essence of selfless. The concept can be very broad. But at least we can be reminded that focusing on dealing with the present job is actually bringing us the greatest happiness. This kind of concentration is not coming from nothing. We can practice it from all tiny matters in our daily life.
“I define Joy as a sustained sense of well-being and internal peace – a connection to what matters” (Oprah Winfrey). REFERENCES Fry, Elizabeth. A. “A Childhood Biography of Oprah Winfrey.” About.com, a part of The New York Times Company, 2010. Web.