The Dalai Lama And Howard C. Cutler's 'Inner Contentment'

Improved Essays
Inner Desires and Achieving Happiness
Desires can determine our destiny, as discussed in “Inner Contentment” written by The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler. Cutler finds himself on his way to converse the Dalai Lama, stopping to admire a vehicle he has wanted for some time. When he engaged in conversation with Dalai Lama they began sharing thoughts about what desires are, and how they can either empower us, or destroy us. This is due to Lama’s belief, “There are two kinds of desire”. They continue with a conversation in depth about these two types of desire and how they impact us. Cutler writes of the examples given by Lama. An account is given of an experience lama had, walkin into a grocery store. His first thought was, “I want this and I
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Cutler makes it a priority to focus on the fact the our needs are directly associated with our circumstances. An example given by lama is, a car may be a very necessary desire in a society where a car is needed for everyday life, although, “living in a village in India” your needs may be different. Following this example, Cutler and Dalai Lama disagree for a moment. Cutler does not see how buying a car, if you have the means could be a bad thing. Lama on the other hand, believes that just because something satisfies you does not determine the value of the decision. Quoting lama, “It is not an immediate feeling of satisfaction, but weather it ultimately results in a positive consequence.” So the answer to the question that Culture has been seeking, how to find inner contentment, and The Dalai Lama’s experience. Two methods are then imposed, the first, obtain everything you want and desire until there is nothing left you want. The fault within this? Eventually we will run into something that we want and can’t have. Our happiness will then falter because our base for happiness is upon substances rather than the happinesses surrounding us which leads into the second more favored method which is to simply love what you have, the true way

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