Book Analysis

Introduction:

Ethics for the new millennium speaks of different ways humans can achieve happiness in daily living. Dalai Lama also speaks of religion and how it fits in understanding what is happiness. He then begs the question from all his understanding of life and the countless religions that he has studied, if there really is a need for organized religion to be happy? To better answer this it might be good to know what fulfills the human spirit and makes a person feel whole.

Chapter 1: Modern society and the quest for human happiness

• Rich are unhappy and have everything
• Poor are happy and have nothing
• Why?
• The rich have constant anxiety, constant worry, and depression, sadness. The rich are to blame for their own unhappiness. How is that?

1. Material possessions create much anxiety
2. Selfishness: keeping everything to themselves which in turn enslaves them to their unhappiness

• Dalai Lama (1999) points out that society needs to find a balance to be able to live peacefully.
• The poor are making the best of what they have but should strive to move themselves up within society and make a better living for themselves.
• The rich should instead of relying soling on material possessions to give satisfaction should focus on other things to fulfill themselves, instead of using temporary things to create happiness (Lama, 1999).

Chapter 2: No magic, no mystery

Most people who are within an organized religion that follow and practice faithfully are those who tend to find the most happiness compared to those that don’t practice an organized religion faithfully (Lama, 1999).

Dalai Lama (1999) though believes that there is no need to be involved within an organized faith to gain this happiness.

• Why, and how?
• The universal ethical principles that can help people reach happiness are the qualities of the human spirit- love, compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, responsibility, and a sense of harmony (Lama, 1999).
• What is difficult about this is as human’s, they need to find and understand these ethical principles and give self motivation towards understanding them, an organized religion gives a sense of community and belonging and motivation to achieve these goals of love, compassion, patience etc.
• Involving our bodies to be apart of these qualities of the human spirit it gives a person a sense of peace. This sense of peace is the happiness that everyone aspires for and tries to understand.
• When there is a proper balance and understanding of these spiritual qualities then there is a greater chance of happiness (Lama, 1999). This is why Dalai Lama (1999) believes that organized religion is not necessary to achieve happiness.

Chapter 15: The role of religion in modern society

• The Complexity of religions
• So many different religions has caused much conflict within the world
• A lot of the conflict comes from a lacking of understanding and ignorance from other religions. Nobody is educated in the beliefs of others and so in the end it causes many misunderstandings.
• Another reason is that everyone considerers their religion is the one true religion (Lama, 1999). Dalai Lama (1999) likes to think of religion as medicine for the human spirit, religion is a tool to help us sustain happiness, and that not all medicines are for everyone. Dalai Lama (1999) then points out that even though all religions cannot be the one truth that everyone should remember, most religions share together in one common thing, the principle qualities of the human spirit.

Here is a video link to Dalai Lama discussing his book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFVQBZA_QOc

(This is not his whole speech there is another link on the page if you wish to see more)

Reflection

Dalai Lama really did a great job with this book, a lot of things were well said and handled appropriately. However, because of his bias towards his faith in Buddhism, I think that a lot of what Dalai Lama said was said in a way to not create any conflict. The way he approached religion was well spoken being that it is a difficult subject. His expression and advice for finding a balance in this world was expressed in a thoughtful way and should not be taken lightly. He further explains within the book how to go about these internal changes in later chapters if you wish to read the book yourself.

Dalai Lama’s claim towards only needing to be fulfilled with the fruits of the human spirit is correct there is a happiness and satisfaction that are granted when someone is completely at peace within themselves. Being at peace within oneself also attracts other people. When looking at our textbook Ferrell, O.C. Fraedrich, and Ferrell, L. (2011) show the importance of true happiness within oneself is important for growth within any company. It helps to gain a better trust and creates a stronger bond with customers, which in turn creates success.

Now looking further into the next few chapters discussed, I would like to admit that I am completely biased towards my Catholic beliefs when I refer to what Dalai Lama has to say. Dalai Lama believes that not one sole religion is for everyone and possibly one person might not find any solace in any religion. In my opinion, I feel that this is not true. I think that if people who are exposed to God in the right way and God reveals himself to that person and gives them the grace to see him, then I don’t know how they could not want to get close to the lord and continue in the journey. It is easy to be misguided by all of the things within the world that tempt us but following the Lord helps to gain and keep that true happiness that everyone seeks to attain.

Dalai Lama also explains within chapter 15 the importance of understanding other religions and being open-minded towards others. Ferrell, O.C. et al. (2011) in Chapter 6 of our textbook describes relativist, descriptive, metaethical, and normative perspectives, all of which show what Dalai Lama is explaining with these conflicts of religions. If we only could see others perspectives or learn about them, and study their culture. This is what should be done when doing business internationally so as to understand and be respectful towards beliefs that are not our own. By using these perspectives success will build within and create a better name for the business, which in turn will receive admiration and respect from others.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think that organized religion is important anymore in today's society?

2. What is your stand on not everyone being connected to just one sole religion? Do you agree with Dalai Lama?