Transforming Problems into Happiness: how to be happy when you're not

Happiness and suffering are dependent upon your mind, upon your interpretation. They do not come from outside, from others. All of your happiness and all of your suffering are created by you, by your own mind, says Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Commenting on an early twentieth-century Tibetan text of instructions and practical advice for everyday spiritual living, Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches us how to be happy during hard times by adopting skillful attitudes—ways of interpreting reality that can permit us to live a joyful and relaxed life regardless of circumstance. In Transforming Problems Into Happiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche brings his own special flavor and contemporary relevance to a timeless teaching on Buddhist psychology. This volume will be valuable to all, no matter the spiritual background of the reader or the kind of problems that have led them to ask that ageless question: How can I achieve happiness?

This new edition includes a translation of the root text, Dodrupchen Rinpoche's (1865–1926) Instructions on Turning Happiness and Suffering into the Path of Enlightenment, translated by Tulku Thundop.

Contents

Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The Purpose of Life
Developing a Different Attitude to Problems
Happiness and Suffering Are Created by Your Mind
The Shortcomings of Anger and Desire
Transforming Your Problems into the Path
Experiencing Your Problems for Others
The Heart Advice

Afterword

Appendix: Root Text
Glossary
Suggested Further Reading