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Sophia Markarian

Professor Ditch

English 115

1 October 2018

The Source of Happiness

Happiness has different meanings for different people. Some define it as having material

belongings and some explain it as having a mental state of peace. No matter the way it is found or

formulated, eventually some will find that happiness and be faced with their own sort of inner

peace. The authors, The Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, David Brooks, and Sonja Lyubomirsky,

all explain in their articles how they believe we can achieve internal happiness by changing our

mindset and how our happiness is found within ourselves and how we may be able to transform

our mind. On another view, Graham Hill relates his article to the other authors, however, he

explains how he believes that our happiness is from our external experiences and interactions and

how we can use those to be happy.

Each of these authors have different views on where happiness comes from. This would

mean that they have different ideas on how everyday people can achieve their true level of

happiness and where it can be found. The Dalai Lama and Cutler focus their writing on an internal

space and how we have the ability for happiness inside us. In The Dalai Lama’s and Howard

Cutler’s article “The Source of Happiness”, they go on to explain how they believe happiness is a

state of mind. “Will it bring me happiness?” (The Dalai Lama and Cutler 32). The Dalai Lama and

Cutler say that if we approach life everyday with this question, we can shift our focus from what

we want to what we need, and then can we truly find the ultimate happiness. “Happiness is

determined more by one’s state of mind than by external events.” (22). The Dalai Lama wants to
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show that we have the ability within ourselves to create our own happiness and that in order to

achieve true happiness, we must keep a stable and persistent state of happiness despite all of our

life’s ups and downs. The Dalai Lama shows us the story of the young HIV patient who realized

that material things have no value versus having a positive mindset and thinking positive every

day and experiencing literature and spirituality. “I’ve started exploring spirituality …, reading a

lot of books…discovering so many things that I’ve never even though about before.” (22). The

Dalai Lama believes that we should keep an attitude of moving forward rather than moving away

to bring us true inner peace. “This underlying sense of moving toward happiness can have a very

profound effect; it makes us more receptive, more open, to the joy of living.” (32). The authors are

trying to prove how inner peace can already be inside oneself as long as they keep their priorities

straight of what will actually make them happy.

As well as Cutler, David Brooks argues in his article, “What Suffering Does”, that all

people go through some sort of trauma and most people need that experience to move on and reach

that ultimate level of peace of mind. Brooks proves this by explaining several stories such as

Abraham Lincoln and how he had to suffer through the pain of conducting a civil war and came

out of that trauma with the Second Inaugural (Brooks 286) and the story of Franklin Roosevelt and

how he remained strong throughout his polio diagnosis. (284). “The suffering involved in their

tasks becomes a fearful and very different than that equal and other gift, happiness, conventionally

defined.” (287). Brooks explains that people must through physical or mental trauma in order to

come out of it stronger and more at peace. “Recovering from suffering is not like recovering from

a disease. Many people don’t come out healed; they come out different.” (287). Some people might

not even have a physical or mental trauma. Some have a decent childhood and a decent life growing

up, but they have to go through their own versions of pain to see the other side.
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Sonja Lyubomirsky also writes that we have happiness within us in her article, “How

Happy Are You and Why?”, but she defines it as our genes and describes how some people may

be predisposed to happiness and others may not be. “Happiness is not out there for us to find. The

reason that it’s not out there is that its inside us.” (Lyubomirsky 185). Lyubomirsky goes on to

describe a study done on sets of twins who have similar happiness scores on the happiness scale

whether they were raised together or apart, which concludes that our happiness is in our genes.

(189). “Happiness, more than anything is a state of mind, a way of perceiving and approaching

ourselves and the world in which we reside.” (185). Lyubomirsky is trying to show her point of

view that external space is not nearly as powerful as internal space. Lyubomirsky explains her

research of happiness being a genetic predisposition and whether we are happy or not is already

decided for us. “To understand that 40 percent of our happiness is determined by intentional

activity is to appreciate the promise of the great impact that you can make on your own life through

intentional strategies that you can implement to remake yourself as a happier person.” (185). This

explains how Lyubomirsky believes that some of us are born to be happy based on what’s inside

of us.

While the other authors speak about mental state of mind, Graham Hill expresses in his

article, “Living With Less. A Lot Less.”, that happiness can be found in more interactions and

experiences. “It took 15 years, a great love and a lot of travel to get rid of all the inessential things

I had collected and live a bigger, better, richer life with less.” (Hill 309). Hill expresses how he

believed that in order to be happy he needed a big house with expensive items that he later realized

he didn’t need. “I sleep better knowing I’m not using more resources than I need. I have less- and

enjoy more.” (312). Hill then goes on to explain how many Americans struggle with hoarding

belongings they don’t need. Hill then goes on to cite a UCLA study where 32 middle-class family’s
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mothers struggled with their belongings and dealing with them. (311). Unlike the other authors,

Hill explains that in order to be happy one must travel and have experiences; however, in order to

do so one must have the means and the wealth to accomplish this. “I wouldn’t trade a second spent

wandering the streets of Bangkok with Olga for anything I’ve owned.” (312). Hill says that his

experience travelling around the world gave him peace and happiness but in order to achieve this

one must have the means and Graham Hill was fortunate enough to have the wealth. Hill proves

his point by writing about a study by Northwestern University psychologist Galen V. Bodenhausen

claiming that consumption of material things is linked to antisocial behavior. “American consumer

activity has increased substantially since the 1950s, happiness levels have flatlined.” (311) and

then Hill goes on to further his point by stating that “The average size of a new American home in

1950 was 983 square feet; by 2011 it was 2,480 square feet.”. The average American believes that

they need a bigger house to feel like they are happy. Hill explains that he downsized his house to

contribute to saving the environment which makes him feel happy, showing us that material things

can make us just as happy. “Intuitively, we know that the best stuff in life isn’t stuff at all and that

relationships, experience and meaningful work are the staples of a happy life.” (311). Hill proves

that what he believes to be physical experiences makes a person feel complete and those external

spaces lead to a happier mental state of peace.

All these authors have the same common goal; inner peace and happiness. The Dalai Lama

and Cutler, Brooks and Lyubomirsky all give their views of an internal space, where they believe

happiness is already inside us whether its genetically or in our mindset. Hill explains his side as

an external space where the happiness we have comes from the experiences around us instead of

within us. There are many definitions of happiness defined in these articles, but they all show that

happiness is possible for everyone.

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Works Cited

Brooks, David. “What Suffering Does.” Pursuing Happiness: a Bedford Spotlight Reader, by
Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin's, a Macmillan Education
Imprint, 2016, pp. 284–287.

Cutler, Howard, and The Dalai Lama. “The Source of Happiness.” Pursuing Happiness: a
Bedford Spotlight Reader, by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St.
Martin's, a Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016, pp. 21–32.

Hill, Graham. “Living With Less. A Lot Less.” Pursuing Happiness: a Bedford Spotlight
Reader, by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin's, a Macmillan
Education Imprint, 2016, pp. 308–312.

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “How Happy Are You and Why?” Pursuing Happiness: a Bedford
Spotlight Reader, by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin's, a
Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016, pp. 179–196.