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The creator of happiness and suffering

The creator of happiness and suffering

A talk given at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin on July 23, 2004.

The source of happiness and suffering

  • The mind as the source of our own happiness and suffering
  • How we can take responsibility for our experience
  • Creating happiness for ourselves and others

Emotional Health 03: Happiness and Suffering (download)

Questions and answers

  • Exploring the concept of multiple lifetimes
  • Taking responsibility for our experience is not narcissistic
  • Preventing harm without creating negative karma
  • Motivation in this life determines what happens after death
  • Restructuring relationships
  • Buddhist interpretation of clinical depression
  • Taking care of others creates our own happiness

Emotional Health 03: Happiness and Suffering Q&A (download)

Part 1: Discontent and contentment
Part 2: Friendliness

Venerable Thubten Chodron

Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners. She is well known for her warm, humorous, and lucid teachings. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977 by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India, and in 1986 she received bhikshuni (full) ordination in Taiwan. Read her full bio.