The Anatomy of Happy
An excerpt from my (relatively new) book
You are about to read chapter 50 of my book, How To Die Happy. This chapter focuses on the developmental stages anyone can work through to achieve true and sustainable happiness.
There should be a balance between spiritual and material progress, a balance achieved through the principles based on love and compassion.
The Dalai Lama
Zen training initially discourages intellectualisation because, as Alan Watts explains, it creates a “lack of rapport between you and your life”. Elaborating, he adds: “You think about things so much that you get into the state where you’re eating the menu instead of dinner”. Naturally, as we progress, we intellectualise. Without such, this book should not exist. How else might I share these lessons, save that we sit together in silence? Watts’ observations remind us that thinking is doing, yet we are beings. Words and thoughts can distract and attract to the point of attachment. So you must engage in a seamless waltz of doing and being. The string quartet of awareness, presence, acceptance, and gratitude will serenade as you move with the flow.
My exploration of the deepest trenches of depression and contrasting heights of delight has convinced me that one can follow a method to find happiness. And wherever you…
