Suppose I started this off automatically with a clear definition over what happiness really is. It would result in a highly unlikely answer simply because everyone’s perspective on happiness would be different and could not be accounted to be true for everyone. According to Jane Kenyon’s poem, Simon Critchley’s critique, Douglas Preston’s encounter with the famous religious and political figure Dalai Lama, and Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi’s theory, each hold a different view on what happiness really means
The Dalai Lama defines compassion as having much empathy for others’ till we can start to share each others’ own suffering. Empathy should be presented towards all beings including our enemies; that is the most effortless and purest form of compassion. The Dalai Lama would argue that when it comes to the use of compassion in our professional life is somewhat crucial or else “our activities are in danger of becoming destructive.” (Dalai Lama, pg. 64). This meaning that we wouldn’t consider the things
In his piece, “Human Dignity”, Francis Fukuyama explores the perception of human dignity in today's society. This perception is defined by what Fukuyama calls “Factor X”. This piece draws attention to how human dignity has been affected recently and its decline as we go into the future. Using the input given by the Dalai Lama in his piece, “Ethics and New Genetics”, the implementing of factor X and human dignity on future generations will be explored. Through the use of the pieces, “Human Dignity
Peace and Peacemaking Both the XIV Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi, as leaders in their struggle for freedom, have faced tremendous hardships and oppression. Their situations are similar in that they and the movements they represent are being oppressed by violent governments and they both choose to respond based off of their Buddhist backgrounds. The Dalai Lama does not discuss the Tibetan situation at great lengths in his book Ethic for a New Millennium, because it is a general book that outlines
Mysterious Untimely Death of Tulku Dakpa Gyaltsen Even among Doegyal devotees, there are conflicting views about the sudden death of Tulku Dhakpa Gyaltsen. In fact, there are four different versions. Firstly, in the 5th Dalai Lama's autobiography, “Heavenly Garment” there is a detailed chronicle description of the death of Tulku Dhakpa Gyaltsen, and the people who were present. Such description is very useful for research work of the issue, which you can confidently explain to the world. Amongst
Many live attempting to decipher the riddle of life. What is life? What is the purpose? What makes? Even though we only seek happiness why can’t we ever seem to achieve it? When we do reach happiness why can’t we seem to grasp it and hold it for more than the few short hours that pass like seconds? The question we must answer first is “What makes happiness, true?” In the film “Into the Wild” it shows Chris, a young adult, trying to make his way to Alaska. His beliefs in freedom and isolation from
The rights to happiness can be defined, explained, and shown in many different ways and throughout many different cultures. Some believe that you have a direct, full time right to happiness regardless of what you do, others believe that you have to earn that right, and others think that you do not have a right to it at all. Our founding fathers cemented in our Declaration of Independence that we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Nowhere does it say that we have a direct
For this vocabulary essay, we are trying to discover what is hidden behind the « Om Mani Padme Hum » chant. According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, “Om Mani Padme Hum” literally means “the jewel in the heart of the lotus”. However, this chant has a very vast and complex signification for every Buddhist walking on the face of earth. First of all, the first syllable of the chant is “Om” which reminded me of the first paper we had to write so I researched to see if it was, in fact, the same symbol
Happiness has always been a desirable goal throughout our lives, but each actions we take might just affect the happiness of others. When humans seek happiness, we always seek for things that make us feel alive, or things that brings us the greatest comfort. Our contentment comes with the act of selfishness since we choose to prioritize our happiness above all other. We willingly classify happiness in two different types of meaning, both physical and mental happiness. People ought not be in title
How should we pursue happiness? This is a question that has many points of views. The Authors like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Gretchen Rubin, C.S. Lewis and also the Declaration of Independence have different ways of viewing how to pursue happiness. They believe that everyone achieves happiness by a variety of certain ways. Some people have the same view points and some the complete opposite. After reading the authors beliefs about happiness, one has many unique ways to pursue happiness. On
Issues of Survival “We will only change if we survive, but we will only survive unless we change.” I believe that the Dalai Lama, in his book Ethics for a New Millennium, discusses many issues pertaining to the current state of our society that are of dyer importance if we hope to survive into the next few generations. Primarily, I am referring to his discussion of happiness as it relates to inner peace, the acknowledgement of universal responsibility, and the need to educate our children
Today is day I am having dinner with three people that I adore or people that I find very interesting to me, in my opinion they can be described as the good, the bad, and the beautiful. Marie Antoinette being the bad, Thomas Jefferson the good, and Kim Soo Hyun (a Korean actor) being the beautiful. As for me, I feel honored to be able to have dinner with them. We are having our dinner in Seoul the capital of South Korea, and although Kim Soo Hyun is a native of South Korea I decided that dinner
Oracles: A Way Of The Past? Oracles, especially chief oracle-priests, have always had major roles in the Tibetan government. In fact, as Avedon notes in In Exile from the Land of the Snows, for the last 1300 years the chief oracle-priest or state-oracle oracle has had the final say on “virtually every key decision of the state.”[1] This disproportionate degree of influence that the chief oracle-priests exercised on the internal as well as the external affairs of Tibet, had often led to situations
Ever since I was in high school, I was always curious of other religions groups and how they worship. Growing up in the Christian faith, I had an idea of what it like to be a part of Buddhism. I always respect the words of the 14th Dalai Lama for he always looks so happy and kind hearted. I remembered that for one of my classes in high school, we watched The Little Buddha movie. Even though the movie gave a basic history of what the religion is, I always wanted to ask questions as to what a Buddhist
I will be explaining how different religions have different beliefs about karma, and how karma is also related to reincarnation. I will also explain how these beliefs pertain to Morrie, and why he believes what he believes. By researching and analyzing the many different beliefs surrounding karma and how karma pertains to Morrie, we can conclude that there is a wide spectrum of beliefs pertaining to karma. “How people treat you is their karma;how you react is yours.”- Wayne Dyer Karma is ancient
The Role of Women in Tibetan Buddhism “In Tantric Buddhism, we are dealing with a misogynist, destructive, masculine philosophy and religion which is hostile to life – i.e. the precise opposite of that for which it is trustingly and magnanimously welcomed in the figure of the Dalai Lama.”[1] Within Tibetan Buddhism, there is an inherent contradiction regarding the status of women. Although in many aspects women are seen and treated as inferior to men, several of the ancient and fundamental values