1. Quest for Human Happiness

Happiness

We all desire to be happy and to avoid suffering. Our every intended action, in a sense our whole life--how we choose to live it within the context of the limitations imposed by our circumstances--can be seen as our answer to the great question which confronts us all: "How am I to be happy?" P.4

We are sustained in this great quest for happiness, it seems to me, by hope. We know, even if we do not admit it, that there can be no guarantee of a better, happier life than the one we are leading today. P.4

The Rich and Knowledgable

If we compare the rich with the poor, it often seems that those with nothing are, in fact, the least anxious, though they are plauged with physical pains and suffering. As for the rich, while a few know how to use their wealth intelligently--that is to say, not in luxurious living but by sharing it with the needy--many do not. They are so caught up with the idea of aquiring still more that they make no room for anything else in their lives. P.5

There has arisen a sense that my future is not dependent on my neighbor but rather on my job or, at most, my employer. This in turn encourages us to suppose that because others are not important for my happiness, their happiness is not important to me. P.8

All this implies that there are strong reasons for supposing a link between our disproportionate emphasis on external progress and the unhappiness, the anxiety, and the lack of contentment of modern society. P.9

Knowledge alone cannot provide the happiness that springs from inner development, that is not reliant on external factors. Indeed, though our very detailed and specific knowledge of external phenomena is an immense achievement, the urge to reduce, to narrow down in pursuit of it, far from bringing us happiness, can actually be dangerous. It can cause us to lose touch with the wider reality of human experience and, in particular, our dependence on others. P.10

By nature, the satisfaction material gain can provide us with will be limited to the level of the senses. If it were true that we human beings were no different from animals, this would be fine. However, given the complexity of our species--in particular, the fact of our having thoughts and emotions as well as imaginative and critical faculties--it is obvious that our needs transcend the merely sensual.

Affection, neighborliness, and first impressions

At first everything seems very pleasant, very beautiful. Everybody I meet is very friendly. Below the surface, so many feel uneasy and dissatisfied with their lives. They experience feelings of isolation; then follows depression. P.6

We have, in my view, created a society in which people find it harder and harder to show one another basic affection. In place of the sense of community and belonging, which we find such a reassuring feature of less wealthy (and generally rural) societies, we find a high degree of loneliness and alienation. P.8

In the same way that physical disease reflects its environment, so it is with psychological and emotional suffering: it arises within the context of particular circumstances. P.9

We must be careful not to idealize old ways of life, however. The high level of cooperation we find in undeveloped rural communities may be based more on necessity than on good will. People recognize it as an alternative to greater hardship. P.13

Science

Now, many people, believing that science has "disproven" religion, make the further assumption that because there appears to be no final evidence for any spiritual authority, morality itself must be a matter of individual preference…. This can only lead to chaos. P.10-11

My concern is that we are apt to overlook the limitations of science. In replacing religion as the final source of knowledge in popular estimation, science begins to look a bit like another religion itself. With this comes a similar danger on the part of some of its adherents of blind faith in its principles and, correspondingly, to intolerance of alternative views. P.11

We have been aware of human consciousness for millennia, and though it has been the subject of investigation throughout history, despite scientists' best efforts they still do not understand what it actually is, nor why it exists, how it functions, nor what it actually is, nor why it exists, how it functions, nor what is its essential nature…. But this does not mean such things do not exist, merely that science cannot find them. P.12

The achievements of science and technology clearly reflect our desire to attain a better, more comfortable existence. P.12

2. No Magic, No Mystery

Necessity of (one) religion

My meetings with many different sorts of people the world over have, however, helped me realize that there are other faiths, and other cultures, no less capable than mine of enabling individuals to lead constructive and satisfying lives. What is more, I have come to the conclusion that whether or not a person is a religious believer does not matter much. Far more imporant is that they be a good human being. I say this in acknowledgement of the fact that though a majority of the earth's nearly six billion human beings may claim allegiance to one faith tradition or another, the influence of religion on people's lives is generally marginal, especially in the developed world. P.20

Given our diversity, no single religion satisfies all humanity. P.20

I am Tibetan before I am Dalai Lama, and I am human before I am Tibetan. P.20

I believe that if we consider the world's major religions from the widest perspective, we find that they are all… directed toward helping human beings achieve lasting happiness. P.20

When I was younger and living in Tibet, I believed in my heart that Buddhism was the best way. I told myself it would be marvelous if everyone converted. Yet this was due to ignorance. P.21

For me, Buddhism remains the most precious path. It corresponds best with my personality. But that does not mean I believe it to be the best religion for everyone any more than I believe it necessary for everyone to be a religious believer. P.21

The difficulty with tying our understanding of right and wrong to religion is that we must then ask, "Which religion?" Which articulates the most complete, the most accessible, the most acceptable system? The arguments would never stop. Moreover, to do so would be to ignore the fact that many who reject religion do so our of convictions sincerely held, not merely because they are unconcerned with the deeper questions of human existence. P.26-27

Religious belief is no guarantee of moral integrity. P.27

It could be objected that if we do not accept religion as the source of ethics, we must allow that people's understanding of what is good and right… must vary according to circumstances and even from person to person. But here let me say that no one should suppose it could ever be possible to device a set of rules or laws to provide us with the answer to every ethical dilemma, even if we were to accept religion as the basis of morality. Such a formulaic approach could never hope to capture the richness and diversity of human experience. It would also give grounds for arguing that we are responsible only to the letter of those laws, rather than for our actions. P.27

The reality is that the majority of people today are unpersuaded of the need for religion. P.33

Spirituality

I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. Religion I take to be concerned with faith in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another, an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of metaphysical or supernatural reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or nirvana. Connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual, prater, and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit--such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony--which bring happiness to both self and others. P.22

Religious faith demands spiritual practice. Yet it seems there is much confusion, as often among religious believers or among non-believers, concerning what this actually consists in. The unifying characteristic of the qualities I have described as "spiritual" may be said to be some level of concern for others' well-being. P.23

Thus spiritual practice according to this description involves, on the one hand, acting out of concern for others' well-being. On the other, it entails transforming ourselves so that we become more readily disposed to do so. To speak of spiritual practice in any terms other than these is meaningless. P.23

Pain and suffering

Bad news is a fact of life. P.24

These events [suffering] can be divided into two broad categories: those which have principally natural causes--earthquakes, drought, floods, and the like--and those which are of human origin. Wars, crime, violence of every sort, corruption, poverty, deception, fraud, and social, political, and economic injustice are each the consequence of negative human behavior. And who is responsible for such behavior? We are. P.25

There is not a single class of sector of society which does not contribute to our daily diet of unhappy news. P.25

Happiness and Ethicality

We are all, according to our own understanding and in our own way, trying to make the world--or at least our bit of it--a better place for us to live in. p.25

We cannot be loving and compassionate unless at the same time we curb our own harmful impulses and desires. P.26

Establishing binding ethical principles is possible when we take as our starting point the observation that we all desire happiness and wish to avoid suffering. We have no means of discriminating between right and wrong if we do not take into account others' feelings, others' suffering…. Accordingly, I suggest that one of the things which determines whether an act is ethical or not is its effect on others' experience or expectation of happiness. An act which harms or does violence to this is potentially an unethical act. P.28

We can all think of things which we have done that have upset others, despite the fact that it was by no means our intention to do so. Similarly, it is also not hard to think of acts which , though they may appear somewhat forceful and aggressive and likely to cause hurt, could yet contribute to others' happiness in the long run. P.29

If our intention is to mislead, then to pretend kindness is a most unfortunate deed…. It does violence not only insofar as the end is harmful to the other but also in that it injures that person's trust and expectation of truth. P.29

The content of our actions is also important in determining whether they are ethical or not, since certain acts are negative by definition. P.29

Since only rarely are the fruits of our actions directly attributable to us alone… consequence could conceivably be the least important factor…. What is considered to be of the greatest significance in determining the ethical value of a given action is the individual's kun long.

[Kun long] denotes the individual's overall state of heart and mind. When this is wholesome, it follows that our actions themselves will be (ethically) wholesome…. Generally, it is rendered simply as "motivation," but this clearly does not capture the full range of its meaning. The word "disposition," although it comes quite close, lacks the active sense of the Tibetan. On the other hand, to use the phrase "overall state of heart and mind" seems unnecessarily long. P.30

Provided my efforts are continual and provided I pay attention, no matter what happens, I should never have cause for regret. At least I know I have done my best. P.33

Emotions' effect on actions

Emotions and thoughts cannot ultimately be separated. P.31

When we are gripped with powerful negative thoughts and emotions such as hatred and anger… our actions… that is to say our deeds, words, thoughts, omissions, and desires--will almost certainly be injurious of others' happiness. P.31

3. Dependent Origination and the Nature of Reality

Need to contextualize and tendency to see only one aspect

This fact of life--that there is often a gap between the way in which we perceive phenomena and the reality of a given situation--is the source of much unhappiness. This is especially true when… we make judgments on the basis of a partial understanding, which turns out not to be fully justified. P.35

When we consider the matter, we start to see that we cannot finally separate out any phenomena from the context of other phenomena. P.36

The problem of misperception, which, of course, varies in degree, usually arises because of our tendency to isolate particular aspects of an event or experience and see them as constituting its totality. P.36

When we consider reality itself we quickly become aware of its infinite complexity, and we realize that our habitual perception of it is often inadequate. If this were not so, the concept of deception would be meaningless. P.36

Explanation of Dependent Origination

As a means to understanding this complexity, I find the concept of dependent origination (in Tibetan, ten del), articulared by the Madhyamika (Middle Way) school of Buddhist philosophy, to be particularly helpful. According to this, we can understand how things and events come to be in three different ways. P.36

At the first level [is] the principle of cause and effect. P.36

On the second level [is] the mutual dependence which exists between parts and whole. Without parts, there can be no whole' without a whole, the concept of parts makes no sense. The idea of "whole" is predicated on parts, but these parts themselves must be considered to be wholes comprised of their own parts. P.37

On the third level, all phenomena can be understood to be dependently originated because, when we analyze them, we find that, ultimately, they lack independent identity…. For example, the words "action" and "agent" presuppose one another. So do "parent" and "child."

More examples of Dependent Origination

What exactly is a pot?… When we ask whether its identity is determined by its shape, its function, its specific parts (that is, its being compounded of clay, water, and so on), we find that the term "pot" is merely a verbal designation. P.38

Take, for example, the perception of a flower. First, in order for such a perception to arise, there must be a sense organ. Second, there must be a condition--in this case the flower itself. Third, in order for a perception to occur, there must be something which directs the focus of the perceiver to the object. P.39

The present comes into being in dependence of the past and the future. P.40

The concepts of self and conciousness

The habitual sharp distinction we make between "self" and "others" is to some extent an exaggeration. P.42

Were self and consciousness the same thing, it would follow, absurdly, that the actor and the action, both the doer and what is done of knowing, are one and the same. P.43

Consider in this context an instance where, in the dark, we mistake a coiled rope for a snake. We stop still and feel afriad…. The snake itself is not there. We have imputed its existence onto an inanimate object. So it is with the notion of an independently existing self. P.43

Though it makes sense to have an internal dialogue… still there is only one continuum of consciousness at any given moment. Similarly, we can see that the personal identity of a single individual has many different aspects…. We cannot, therefore, say that any one characteristic is what finally constitutes my self or, on the other hand, is the sum of them. For even if I were to relinquish one or more, the sense of "I" would still continue. P.44

Anti-nihilism

When we say that things and events can only be established in terms of their dependently originating nature, that they are without intrinsic reality, existence, or identity, we are not denying the existence of phenomena altogether. P.45

I believe the concept of dependent origination provides a robust framework within which to situate cause and effect, truth and falsity, identity and difference, harm and benefit. P.45

It is, therefore, quite wrong to infer from the idea any sort of nihilistic approach to reality…. The problem with this is that we may then dismiss everyday experience as nothing but an illusion. That would be quite wrong. P.46

Scientific evidence of dependent origination

One of the most promising developments in modern science is the emergence of quantum and probability theory…. The observation that at the subatomic level it becomes difficult to distinguish clearly between the observer of an object and the object itself seems to indicate a movement toward the conception of reality I have outlined. P.46

On whatever premise we base our appreciation of the fact that things and events do not exist independently, the consequences are similar. P.46

4. Redefining the Goal

Sources of Happiness

What makes one person glad may be a source of suffering to another. P.49

We speak of happiness in connection with bathing in cool water on a hot day…. We also speak of happiness in relation to the simple joys of family life. In this last case, happiness is more of a state that persists in spite of ups and downs and occasional intermissions. But in the case of bathing in cool water on a hot day, because it is the consequence of an activity which seeks to please the senses, it is necessarily transient. If we remain in the water too long, we start to feel cold. Indeed, the happiness we derive from such activities depends on their being short-lived. P.50

The problem is not materialism as such. Rather it is the underlying assumption that full satisfaction can arise from gratifying the senses alone. Unlike animals,… we human beings have the capacity to experience happiness at a deeper level, which, when achieved, has the capacity to overwhelm contrary experiences. Consider the case of a soldier who fights in a battle. He is wounded, but the battle is won. The satisfaction he experiences in victory means that his experience of suffering on account of his wounds will likely be far less than that of a soldier with the same wounds on the losing side. P.51

Even though aesthetic experiences are a source of happiness, they still have a strong sensory component. Music depends on the ears, art on the eyes, dance on the body. As with the satisfactions we derive from work or career, they are in general acquired through the senses. By themselves, these cannot offer the happiness we dream of. P.52

Indulging our senses and drinking salt water are alike: the more we partake, the more our desire and our thirst grow. P.52

We make [children] sacrifice the immediate pleasure of play and compel them to study…. But as adults, we often neglect this principle. We overlook the fact that if, for example, one partner in a marriage devotes all their time to their own narrow interests, it is sure that the other partner will suffer…. Similarly, we fail to recognize that when the parents are interested only in each other and neglect their children, there are sure to be negative consequences. P.53

If we make the effort to be friendly and have regard for [others'] well-being, we provide for our own happiness as well as theirs. P.53

Inner Peace

According to my experience, the principal characteristic of genuine happiness is peace: inner peace. By this I do not mean some kind of feeling of being "spaced out." Nor am I speaking of an absence of feeling. On the contrary, the peace I am describing is rooted in concern for others and involves a high degree of sensitivity and feeling. P.55

We can all agree that the lack of certain things makes [happiness'] attainment all the harder…. Good health, friends, freedom, and a degree of prosperity are all valuable and helpful. P.56

Once a person's basic sense of trust is destroyed, how can we expect them to be happy? P.57

[Many] factors [play] an important part in establishing a sense of individual well-being. Yet without a basic feeling of inner peace and security, they are of no avail. P.57

I may, for example, wake up in the morning and feel agitated for no particular reason. In this state, I find that even what ordinarily please me may irritate me. Just looking at my watch can give rise to feelings of annoyance. I see it as nothing but a source of attachment and, through this, of further suffering. But then on other days I will wake up and see it as something beautiful, so intricate and delicate. Yet, of course, it is the same watch…. Out basic attitude--how we relate to external circumstances--is thus the first consideration in any discussion on developing inner peace. P.58

The great Indian scholar-practitioner Shantideva once observed that while we have no hope of finding enough leather to cover the earth so that we never price our feet on a thorn, actually we do not need to. As he went on to observe, enough to cover the soles of our feet will suffice. In other words, while we cannot always change our external situation to suit us, we can change our attitude. P.59

Like the happiness which gratifying perceived needs brings, they are themselves in face transient. P.59

Altruism is an essential component of those actions which lead to genuine happiness. P.61

Consider the following. We humans are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others' actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others' activities. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others. P.62

Ethics vs. Spirituality

There is an important distinction to be made to be made between what we might call ethical and spiritual acts. An ethical act is one where we refrain from causing harm to others' experience or expectation of happiness. Spiritual acts we can describe in terms of those qualities mentioned earlier of love, compassion, patience, forgiveness, humility, tolerance, and so on which presume some level of concern for others' well-being. P.61

5. The Supreme Emotion

When I speak of basic human feeling,… I refer to the capacity we all have to empathize with one another…. It is what compels us to shut our eyes even when we want to ignore others' distress. P.64