Reading in Wartime: A Post 9/11 Response

Much of the book focuses on compassion, how it may be developed, and how, in its wake, happiness and peace follow. One way of developing compassion is through a contemplation of dependence. In Western cultural terms, dependence is seen as a negative quality. Its opposite — call it independence or self-reliance — is what most of us strive for. Yet the Dalai Lama shows us that the concept of self-reliance is a fantasy. We could not exist even for a moment if it were not for the help, cooperation and service of hundreds of other beings, human or otherwise, the majority of whom we do not even know. This truth becomes clear to us if we really think about the meal we are eating, the house we are living in, or even the book we are reading. It is a thought that softens and opens the heart and fills it with a sense of thankfulness and a desire to be of service — the way so many others are constantly being of service to us.

The Art of Happiness is filled with other wonderful meditations — one to create empathy with people toward whom we harbor negative feelings; another to increase our compassion for those who are suffering, even if we do not know them personally — as well as a discussion of the practice of Tong-len, or giving and receiving. This is not a quick, one-time read. I find myself going back to the book again and again — not only in times of need and sorrow, such as these, but also in times of joy. It is a book that, without referring to particular political situations or social problems, is relevant to many of them. It has the potential to allow one to regain the balance and connectedness that is our birthright, and to discover again the blissful Self that is always present at our core.

Chitra Divakaruni is the author ofThe Unknown Errors of Our Lives (stories) and the upcoming novelThe Vine of Desire.