Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by brennanpeterson
Zen and the Art of Happiness by Chris Prentiss
3.0
This is a difficult book to rate. Depending on your take, the ideas of this book either 1) unlock the secrets of the universe; or 2) are so simple they are laughable.
I am going to split the difference and give it 3 stars - and if the ideas work after 3 months, I will considering upping it to 4 or maybe even 5 stars depending on how widely the universe opens up to me.
This book proposes a few basic ideas about finding happiness, and it basically boils down to the following premise: "Every event that befalls us, is absolutely the best possible event that could occur." Put another way, "Everything that happens to us only happens so that we can be benefited to the maximum amount possible."
Being a therapist who sees more complexity to human suffering that this, I could easily scoff at the idea. But I also see a possible truth in the simplicity of this. And being an active and practicing Mormon, this is very consistent with the tenants of my faith which basically say that God, in his infinite wisdom, views all of our life experiences - especially the difficult ones, as ways to give us experience that shall be for our good (Doctrine & Covenants 122:7).
So I am willing to go with it for awhile and see where it takes me. But . . if I vanish in 3 months, you will know I have transcended human experience and have become one with the universe.
I am going to split the difference and give it 3 stars - and if the ideas work after 3 months, I will considering upping it to 4 or maybe even 5 stars depending on how widely the universe opens up to me.
This book proposes a few basic ideas about finding happiness, and it basically boils down to the following premise: "Every event that befalls us, is absolutely the best possible event that could occur." Put another way, "Everything that happens to us only happens so that we can be benefited to the maximum amount possible."
Being a therapist who sees more complexity to human suffering that this, I could easily scoff at the idea. But I also see a possible truth in the simplicity of this. And being an active and practicing Mormon, this is very consistent with the tenants of my faith which basically say that God, in his infinite wisdom, views all of our life experiences - especially the difficult ones, as ways to give us experience that shall be for our good (Doctrine & Covenants 122:7).
So I am willing to go with it for awhile and see where it takes me. But . . if I vanish in 3 months, you will know I have transcended human experience and have become one with the universe.