How to Be Compassionate

A Handbook for Creating Inner Peace and a Happier World

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Jeffrey Hopkins

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN:
  9781451623925
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Buddhism

Each one of us is responsible for all of humankind, and for the environment in which we live. . . . We must seek to lessen the suffering of others. Rather than working solely to acquire wealth, we need to do something meaningful, something seriously directed toward the welfare of humanity as a whole. To do this, you need to recognize that the whole world is part of you. —from How to Be Compassionate

The surest path to true happiness lies in being intimately concerned with the welfare of others. Or, as His Holiness the Dalai Lama would say, in compassion.

In How to Be Compassionate, His Holiness reveals basic mistakes of attitude that lead us to inner turmoil, and how we can correct them to achieve a better tomorrow. He demonstrates precisely how opening our hearts and minds to other people is the best way to overcome the misguided ideas that are at the root of all our problems. He shows us how compassion can be a continuous wellspring of happiness in our own lives and how our newfound happiness can extend outward from us in ever wider and wider circles.

As we become more compassionate human beings, our friends, family, neighbors, loved ones—and even our enemies—will find themselves less frequently in the thrall of destructive emotions like anger, jealousy, and fear, prompting them to become more warmhearted, kind, and harmonious forces within their own circles. With simple language and startling clarity, His Holiness makes evident as never before that the path to global harmony begins in the hearts of individual women and men. Enlivened by personal anecdotes and intimate accounts of the Dalai Lama’s experiences as a student, thinker, political leader, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, How to Be Compassionate gives seekers of all faiths the keys to overcoming anger, hatred, and selfishness— the primary obstacles to happiness—and to becoming agents of positive transformation in our communities and the world at large.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction: Recognizing the Source of Happiness
• Chapter 1: Does Anger Protect You?
• Chapter 2: Learning That Tough Circumstances Can Be Valuable
• Chapter 3: Cherishing Others as a Way to Happiness
• Chapter 4: We Are Our Own Troublemakers
• Chapter 5: Losing Perspective in Intense Situations
• Chapter 6: Being Ready for Change
• Chapter 7: Is Anger Useful?
• Chapter 8: The Conflict Between Appearance and Reality
• Chapter 9: The Malleable Nature of the Mind
• Chapter 10: Compassion, the Root of Relationships
• Chapter 11: Compassion, the Road to Relief
• Chapter 12: Compassion, Based in Equality
• Conclusion: Compassion, the Basis of Human Rights
• Review of the Exercises
• Selected Readings