Cutler quotes the Dalai Lama at length, providing context and describing some details of the settings in which the interviews took place, as well as adding his own reflections on issues raised.

The Dalai Lama spoke this powerful statement at a conference in Arizona among a crowd of people.

Rather I'm using the term in the sense of the Tibetan word Sem, it includes intellect and feeling, heart and mind.

[4] The purpose of our life is to seek happiness was the phrase that stuck with him out of every other word the Dalai Lama spoke.

After later examining some previous experiments, he came to this conclusion: unhappy people tend to be self-focused, withdrawn, brooding and even antagonistic.

Compared to this story, a man is told he's HIV positive, which brings him to a lower level of happiness, but he soon begins to appreciate everyday life more (19–20).

These two examples in the book help explain how “happiness is determined more by one’s state of mind than by external events” (20).

According to the Dalai Lama, “If you harbor hateful thoughts or intense anger deep within yourself, then it ruins your health; thus it destroys one of the factors for happiness” (25).

We need a strong sense of contentment to feel happier without obtaining objects, which assists in finding self-worth.

The Dalai Lama supports this theory by mentioning ‘Buddha nature’, the Buddhist doctrine, but also saying that gentleness is not only affected by religion but in everyday life.

So, overall, the Dalai Lama believes that although it is possible to go down the path of aggression there is always the natural ability to be compassionate again.

Therefore, the Dalai Lama concludes that the purpose isn't to create tension but a positive atmosphere.

According to the Dalai Lama intimacy is “...having one special person with whom you can share your deepest feelings, fears, and so on” (76).

The Dalai Lama's opinion is supported by research of Cutler, as he writes “Medical researchers have found that people who have close friendships, and have people they can turn to for affirmation, empathy, and affection are more likely to survive health challenges such as heart attacks, major surgeries and are less likely to develop diseases and cancer” (78).

By opening oneself to the world around us, it creates the opportunity to form special bonds with someone new, or build upon a relationship one may already have.

(87) The Dalai Lama believes that empathy is the key to be more warm and compassionate in connections to others.

He thinks that it is very important and extremely helpful to be able to try to put ourselves in the other person's place and see how would we react to the situation.

The Dalai Lama does not just refer to caring for each other; he also finds relationships very important and differentiates them in two ways.

His opinion on this subject is very negative; he describes idealized romantic love as a fantasy and that it is unattainable – just simply not worth it.

(112) According to Chapter 6 we can say that the Dalai Lama clearly represents his opinions on human relationships, empathy and sexual attraction, and he tries to explain them in a simple way.

There have been numerous studies that support the idea that “developing compassion and altruism has a positive impact on our physical and emotional health” (126).

James House found that “interacting with others in warm and compassionate ways, dramatically increased life expectancy, and probably overall vitality as well” (126).

Throughout this chapter the Dalai Lama gives examples of how different people dealt with losing a loved one.

The Buddhist recognizes the possibility of clearing the mind and achieving a state in which there is no more suffering in people's lives.

The Dalai Lama talks about how having enemies in life in the end helps you out, you just have to change your view or perspective.

Being able to find meaning in suffering is powerful because it helps us cope even during the most difficult times in our lives.

One level is to do with religious beliefs; he says that he thinks each individual should take their own spiritual path that best fits them and their mental disposition, natural inclination, temperament, and cultural background (305).

At the end of the chapter he talks about how deep religious faith has sustained countless people through difficult times.

After seven years of being held as a prisoner by Hezbollah, a group of Islamic fundamentalist extremists, he was finally released.

The world found him a man overjoyed and happy to be reunited with his family and he said that prayers and religion got him through those seven years (303).