Monday, September 01, 2008

art of contentment short list



Positive Psychology
3 Types of "Happiness"

1.Pleasant life (as much pleasure/good emotion as you can get)
- extremely social, romantic relationship and rich repertoire of friends

2.Good life (Life of engagement)
- being in "flow" what you do
- crafting your life to enhance your highest strengths

3.The Meaningful life
- contributing to causes greater than yourself

Pleasure Vs Flow (Raw Emotions vs Non-feeling)

Meditating on compassion


1. The mind can be trained
2. Emotions come and go, but your consciousness is deeper

My thoughts


I think it is good to be aware that there are different types of happiness, that it can be cultivated and most importantly, to distinguish pleasure and true happiness.

This seems to come up in both videos, and from experience, causes me the most questions. Not all of us can spend all day meditating on compassion, however it maybe useful for 10mins a day to give your mind a break from all that thinking; just like a car engine may need to sit on idle to prepare for the daily grind and run better.

And when was the last time you expressed gratitude for the most important people in your life?
Do we have time for it in this age of noise and entertainment that distracts us for our attention? I know I haven't and find it hard to open up like that face to face, hidden behind the protective social facades.

Is it necessary for us to share our wealth and skills for the greater good of strangers whom we may never meet?

At the end of the day how can we train the mind on compassion, to infuse it to the point where kindness pervades our thoughts, like an athlete trains his mindy/body to work without too much conscious thought..

3 comments:

Mario said...

hey Tung, hmm cool thoughts... I believe that sometimes you do not have to say words you mean face to face... I believe that things you do for other people show what you really feel - it is not all about the words, but believe me or not, it is always nice to hear from someone close a warm words - so why not say something like that if it feels so good? Receiving vs. giving?

André said...

Your thoughts about happiness made me also think. For me and everyone else happiness should be the most important thing in life. Without it, you will be missing something in life. It seems to be just a few "rules" to become happy, which are so obvious that we often cannot see them. I agree with Mario, but I believe that many people really need sometimes a warm word more than an action, since actions can be ambiguous in the meaning! But it depends and both (action + words) are necessary.

Thank you for making me think :)

Tung said...

Hey Guys, thanks a lot for your comments, they provide a good insight as well, I do think I have to practice at giving more compliments or trying to say something nice and unique about a person without thinking of getting anything in return... well face to face or we can start here Mario you bring about excitement around you, a fearlessness for fun hehe and Andre a cool calmness that is always nice in this hectic world... take care guys no matter where ever you are in the world