The Geography Of Bliss Summary

“The Geography of Bliss,” by Eric Weiner, was truly an enjoyment to read. Wiener, a former NPR correspondent and self-proclaimed Grump, takes his own shot at trying to answer the age old question, what makes people happy and why? Writing with wit and humor, Weiner had me laughing on every page. To summarize the novel, Weiner sets out to countries that are deemed happy, such as the Netherlands, Bhutan, and Qatar to try and figure out what happiness is, but also why is it in that given location? He then travels to countries with low levels of contentment such as Moldova, to discover the differences between the two.

As human beings we are very diverse. We vary from numerous backgrounds, ethnicities, morals, and cultures. However, as much as we are unique, we all share one common goal in life. Everyone has a desire for happiness. I found that throughout my daily life I based my decision off of what would make me happy, whether it was for a long or short period of time. Often happiness is associated with successfulness and achievement. Though, like the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, happiness can be found in different ways by different people. This along with reading The Driest Season by Meghan Kenny, is what influenced me to want to find out more about happiness, if it is truly attainable, and how people achieve it.

Beginning with Greek philosophers, mankind has constantly pondered the meaning of happiness. Questions of how to attain joy, and how to keep it have been debated for centuries. Various religions provide roadmaps to achieve contentment: Christians preach the Ten Commandments and Heaven, and Buddhists prize the idea of karma and reincarnation. Yet others seek a more material form of satisfaction; especially in the United States, increasing emphasis is placed upon personal wealth.

Kunstler, James Howard. The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

I believe that one of the ultimate questions that all members of the human species asks is ‘How can I find happiness?’ and reflected in this question is a desire to find a happy, fulfilling, quality life. Many people try to find such happiness through their careers, material possessions, and all manner of other pursuits. What a large portion of these people do not realize is that happiness and the elements necessary to achieve a quality life may not come from place, position, or possession but from attitude. In both Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell and Sunny Chernobyl by Andrew Blackwell, the reader can see these ideas explored in great detail.

Senior compares what people think about people in other states and locations happiness, finding that usually these comparisons are untrue. Different studies and polls found that the Swiss and Canadians rank themselves among the happiest, while the Japanese are less happy. European countries tend to rank themselves the least happy, with Russia coming in last. Is happiness really based on location? I find that just because people don’t like the snowy weather doesn’t mean that they are unhappy during the holiday season. Families seem to come together and rejoice in each other’s company during this bad weather season. “And no matter where they live, human beings are terrible predictors of what will make them happy” (426). Senior discusses how we fill in the gaps, where we tend to remember only happy events and feelings and phase out bad ones. She discuss how our imaginations work in rationalizing situations and feelings, setting ourselves up for big disappointments, but deal with the successfully at the

One might be led to believe that this society is a perfect place to live, since all the inhabitants are eternally happy. There are no wars, pain, or suffering, all definite pluses, yet readers must not judge too quickly.

The book “Love and Honor in the Himalayas: Coming to know another culture” is ethnography by Ernestine McHugh. In the beginning of the book, the author talks about how she developed her interest in the field of anthropology during her undergraduate study since “at that time [she] knew little about [it,] but [she] had mapped out a project relating to culture and the aesthetics of life” (McHugh). It was her mentor Gregory Bateson, under whom she had developed this project who inspired her to carry out this project in Nepal. Although her attempts at writing about her experience failed the first time, during her graduate schooling she was encouraged by her advisor Roy D’Andrade to continue. This book revolves around the ethnic Gurung community who live at the foothills of the Annapurna Mountain; just about thirty miles up from the famous tourist destination in Nepal called Pokhara. At the age of twenty-one, the village where the author lived was called “Tebas.” Although Nepal is a country filled with people who follow Hinduism and the official language is Nepalese, she chooses a place in north central Nepal where people mostly spoke in their own ethnic language which is very similar to Tibetan on contrary to the popular Nepalese language. In this book she talks about how she fully immerses herself in the field work and in the process tells the story of the people who let her in their house and more importantly made her a part of their family. Throughout her stay she was treated

In The Geography of Bliss One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World he plots a guide of joy for absence of a superior depiction and afterward goes to a portion of the most joyful nations on the planet to discover why their kin are glad. From Iceland to Qatar, the Netherlands to India, Switzerland to America, Weiner visits a modest bunch of nations that are either ended up being cheerful by the factually disapproved of Dutch, who track such things) or have made satisfaction a need, (for example, Bhutan, with its estimation of Gross National Happiness. For a shockingly delightful complexity, he visits the exceptionally miserable individuals of Moldova, demonstrating that a cynic like Weiner is taking care of business when offered

Today’s society is filled with suffering, whether it is at experienced at home, or abroad. Some might look to ancient text for help and guidance, which can lead some to the teachings of the Buddha, almost 2500 years ago. His teachings might be ancient, but they can still apply to aspects of today’s society, such as in our ethics, economics, and everyday lives.

According to the classic sense, a life full of happiness is a life that manifests wisdom, kindness, and goodness. However happiness has been twisted by a secular culture and the classic sense has given away to “pleasurable satisfaction”. Pleasurable satisfaction depends on external circumstances going well. Moreland points out that because of this the modern sense of happiness, “pleasurable satisfaction”, is unstable and varies with life’s circumstances. Pleasurable satisfaction becomes increasingly addictive and enslaving if it becomes the dominant aim of one’s life. By contrast, classical happiness brings freedom and power to life as one ought, as one increasingly becomes a unified person who lives for a cause bigger than one’s self. Western culture has been disillusioned into seeking happiness as their main priority in life. Although, happiness is important, when its importance becomes exaggerated, it leads to a loss of purpose in life, and even depression. What Western cultures need to realize is that true happiness can never be achieved. Over the past 50 years, levels of health, wealth, and liberties have increased, but levels of happiness haven’t.

Afterwards, Weiner assists to the Rinpoche's traditional medicine. In exchange of offerings, people receive a blessing in order to heal something that modern medicine cannot heal. During the ceremony, the Rinpoche chants and drops water on the forehead of his clients. The man believes everyone has a little deity in them. He connects with those deity and calm them. The man firmly trusts his method. He says to Weiner, who is doubtful, that experience is better than just writing down theory on

The one main aspect that connects the mountain people together, although many express cultural and religious heterogeneity, is the fact that they are located in the danger zones of most political boundaries, sitting right in between two superior powers. These potent powers then interfere with mountain people’s cultural and traditional ideas in order to benefit their own nation. In his article, “Altitude Sickness,” S. Fredrick Starr states that, “People who actually live in [high mountain zones] are all too often [exposed to] spiraling violence” due to issues with political and even local boundaries (Starr 1). Frederick mentions the struggles taking place in Nepal’s mountains is partly because both China and India are inputting their own voices in the country’s affairs, and are eradicating Nepal’s own voice and ideas. This instance is just one of many cases that occur in mountainous

Milarepa’s captivating life story depicts a man willing to commit sins on behalf of his mother’s command to one that decides to leave his family, in order to achieve enlightenment. This autobiography allows him to remain to be a beloved yogin because of his drastic and fulfilling spiritual transformation, thus encouraging Tibetans to seek a similar path to nirvana in their lifetime. However, Milarepa proves that one’s journey to liberation and enlightenment has to be earned and fought for spiritually and psychologically.

If you don 't know about Bhutan 's government and their focus over the past forty years than you should, you and people in your community might want to take a closer look at this small country and how it is impacting the world. Bhutan is a small country located in the himalayas between China and India and is one of the happiest countries in the world because the government has focused on following the four pillars of happiness. Each pillar supports and helps to provide the right environment for happiness, these pillars are compatible living conditions, religion, maintaining the environment, and reliable government support. Bhutan 's government has decided to take this radical approach, helping its citizens by trying to improve the nation 's gross national happiness. Bhutan has stayed relatively poor in wealth but rich in culture and happiness.