On Happiness

I caught an awesome program on KQED public radio the other day, on happiness. I recommend it!

Info and link below:

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The happiness industry is booming. And with good reason - everyone wants to be happy. Today, science can light the way. Brain researcher Richard Davidson can sum it up quickly: learn to meditate. Davidson's research studying the brains of longtime Buddhist monks has discovered that most of the time, the brain that meditates is a happy brain. And a Harvard-trained neuro-scientist finds nirvana in the devastation of a stroke.

SEGMENT 1:

Harvard trained brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor found an unusual path to growth. She describes her stroke, the weird euphoria it caused and her long process of recovery in her book, "My Stroke of Insight," and in this conversation with Anne Strainchamps. Also, Richard Davidson is a neuro-psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a longtime friend of the Dalai Lama. He tells Steve Paulson about observing contemplatives with a brain scanner. And we learn what Seneca thought was the secret of happiness.

SEGMENT 2:

We hear a round-up of some of the latest research into happiness, from economist Richard Layard, and psychologists Robert Biswas-Diener and Sonja Lyubormirsky. And an Islamic mystic's take on the secret of happiness. Also, Satish Kumar, a former Jain monk and follower of Ghandi, tells Steve Paulson that the secret to a stress-free life is to take it at a walking pace. Kumar is the author of "The Buddha and the Terrorist" and editor of the eco-spiritual magazine, "Resurgence."

SEGMENT 3:

Richard Schoch is the author of "The Secrets of Happiness: Three Thousand Years of Searching for the Good Life." He tells Jim Fleming that the way we think about happiness today is a thin, watery version of a deep and complex subject. Also, we're giving the last word on happiness to the great American soul singer Al Green. He's spent his life testifying on stage and in the pulpit to the power of grace, love and happiness. Al Green talks with Steve Paulson, and of course, we hear him sing.

http://www.wpr.org/book/090412a.cfm