Happiness & Human Flourishing: A Buddhist Perspective

Published: March 18, 2009, 11 p.m.

In this week’s show we focus on the concept of happiness and human flourishing with an emphasis on the Buddhist perspective. What does it mean to happy? What does it take for a human being to flourish? What does the Buddhist tradition tell us about happiness? What is spiritual enlightenment? What is the significance of the practice mindfulness meditation? What does empirical research say to support this “science of the mind” type approach that Buddhism employs? How does the Buddhist approach to happiness relate to the new field of positive psychology? Is there a connection between Buddhist ideas and Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia? We will discuss questions like these this week with a special guest, Dr. Guy Newland, an internationally recognized scholar of Tibetan Buddhism.