Happiness Is Overrated: Simple Lessons on Finding Meaning in Each Moment

Cuong Lu. Shambhala, $17.95 trade paper (128p) ISBN 978-1-645471677

In this enlightening guide, Buddhist teacher Lu (The Buddha in Jail) lays out lessons on finding value in every emotion. Rather than seeking happiness at any cost, Lu writes, readers should realize that all feelings can spur growth, and even suffering can be a “doorway to awakening.” To that end, Lu distinguishes between the “ordinary mind,” which makes judgments, and the “raw mind,” which “embraces everything” and involves a state of emotional openness. As well, death can “give meaning to life” (and accepting it lets one become more free), and suffering “helps us remember the past and become present with what is in our life now.” Throughout, Lu supports his arguments with vignettes from his life at the French Plum Village monastic community; his relationship with Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh; and his work as a prison chaplain. The author skillfully distills Buddhist psychology down to graspable spiritual principles and delivers them in a compassionate tone, making for easy reading and lessons readers will be able to apply to their lives. This deceptively brief entry has insight to spare. (May)