Zen and the Art of Happiness Kindle Edition

Firstly, this book is not about zen. I have studied Zen, eastern religion, and eastern metaphysics for years and this book misses the mark almost entirely.Zen is not about labels, striving for happiness and avoiding sadness, It's not about using belief as a superpower.There are several problems with this book, which I stopped reading after some 70 pages.1. The idea that there is a seperate 'you' that can create thoughts and emotions and actions ex-nihilo, that can simply choose to be happy. Eastern religion is about recognizing the illusory nature of the self, and the deepest self being the 'whole works', not granting it godhood. The man goes on to state that there is no seperation in any of it, then goes on to state there there is a seperate 'you' acting as some sort of minature first cause.2. The idea that we are free to choose our emotions. Your emotions are happenings, just like your thoughts are. If we were free to choose our emotions, noone would choose to be sad or angry.3. The idea that if you 'wish for' and 'believe in' something that the universe will manifest it for you. This is "the secret". It's newage wishful thinking magic, and it is NOT zen.4. The idea that everything that happens is good, is conflated with the idea that everything that happens is harmonious. His examples of bad things magically becoming good things involve rediculous outcomes, like the construction next door is actually a gift house for you, or you can get hit on the head by a rock and suddenly understand old obscure buddhist texts like the I Ching.5. His endorsement of wholy' disproven medical interventions like acupuncture.6. His blatant advertisement of his addiction center.7. His idea that belief is powerful is a good idea. The problem is that we don't choose our beliefs. We do not choose what we are and are not convinced of. You can choose to ACT as if you believe something, and you can choose to PROFESS a belief in something, but if you believe it or not is not a choice.8. The idea that the universe is based on continuation, and will always continue, and will always do what is neccessary to continue. The Second Law of thermodynmics, known as the law of entropy states exactly the opposite.9. The idea that there are "laws of nature" that somehow exist and act as cosmic traffic cops somewhere out in the aether, is not even an eastern idea. That's completely western. The illusory nature of abstractions is not the super-realism of abstractions. Between the self illusion and this, he's completely misunderstood eastern metaphysics.10. His conflation of metaphysics with supernatural.11. I've run out of counter points, but Im sure there are more, because I only got about halfway through the book. If I had finished the book, this would be too long. I have taken a permanant maker and made a new title subtitle for it, "The secret" 'manifesting your reality through wishful thinking, with non-relevant zen quotes.'If you are really interested in a self-improvement book based in an eastern worldview, I recommend 'the wisdom of insecurity' by alan watts. This half-baked book doesnt hold half a candle to it.I didn't even mean to buy this book, I was trying to buy Zen and the art of motorcycle maintainance, which is also much much better.

Very quick read. Also very generic. Quickly turned into an advertisement for the author's rehab center and his other books. Here's the jist: Everything happens for a reason, just go with it, it could be a blessing in disguise. Not a bad message, but not at all what I expected. Not very Zen at all.

Despite some of the negative reviews I still ordered this book and gave it a shot. I truly feel like this booked helped me stay calm and focus on patience and being content.Some of the reviews stated there were parts where he spoke about his business in HELPING people but I didn’t feel like anything was wrong with that. To me, If your heart is right and you truly want to help others, there’s nothing wrong with mentioning to help people in numerous ways by going to a healing program. What’s wrong with that? And other books he referred to I am sure I will enjoy reading like I did this one.Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but respectfully I am going to disagree with some of the negative reviews below.This book had some great stories and references that have changed me since reading. I definitely recommend checking this book out if you are searching for some inner peace and change :)

I loved this book! Its small, big print easy to read but gets straight to the point. It just basically explains and helps you understand that NOTHING in the universe is a mistake, and that things happen for a reason. Even though things might be tough at the moment be patient because things are often blessings in disguise.

This book had a huge impact on me. Sometimes it comes across as slightly advertising Chris's rehabilitation clinic, but if you ignore that and into his real messages, it is very meaningful. I have since read another book on Happiness that I absolutely love (author is Matthieu Ricard), and I noticed that many points were equivalent between the two books. I find that you have to go into reading this type of book with the understanding that you may not understand how the ways of thinking that are presented can be done in reality, but you have to try and continue to push to change how your mind processes the events and situations in daily life.The top take-away for me from the book was that no particular situation or occurrence is good or bad; it depends on how you interpret and respond to it.

IT literally changed my life, it created totally different mindset and I have the quotes from this book all over my office!

I enjoyed this book and the perspective it gave. I have loaned my copy to someone in need and I have been persistent telling others to read the book. If you have a habit of worrying about others and hard time focusing on yourself, this book will put a spin on your thought process. The writer is an addiction counselor, he has helped many to move on through hardships. This is for those who have issues that are not known and don't need high levels of coaching. This is for the person who has a hard time getting over relationships, work issues, most interactions that involve other humans. I didn't realize my happiness was in jeopardy because of me. I am much more at ease and happy after finishing this book. Come to think of it I would like to read it again. I sure hope it returns...

This book really puts into perspective that we as humans always search for the negative in every aspect, experience and events in our lives and it was a beautiful reminder to step back and be present in the moment and acknowledge all that goes on and say thanks to those things that you usually would be angry over and they turn out to be the greatest of our good. It’s made me remember that life is happening for me not to me and it’s all for my benefit.

Prentiss has grossly misunderstood Zen. This book is just another "Go you!" ego-indulgent book written by yet another self-help guru. You might as well put a sickeningly trite poster on your wall saying "Keep Smiling and Your Dreams Will Come True!". Yuck. A book which preaches such attachment to self belief and talks of things like the "energy vortex" is clearly nothing to do with Zen. If you want a book on Zen, read works by DT Suzuki or Alan Watts. If you want a book on being happy, read works by the Dalai Lama or something with more research on psychology.

I loved every chapter. Perfect read for anyone who has been through hard times and is on a new journey in life. Enlightenment and positive thinking have helped me so much and I am now a really happy person. Regret nothing that happens to you, it builds character and makes you stronger. It may seem like all is lost at the time but what happens to us in life is meant to happen. I went through a tough time 2 years ago, I don't get upset about it at all, I see now it was meant to happen and I saw those that hurt me for who they were. It led to me being the happy person I am today. It opened my eyes to the life I was living, and it was no good for me. This book talks about all of these things and it was a huge comfort to me.

It has one message really - think positively and everything will be ok. That's it. You've now read the book. Personally, it did not help me in any way. A great many of the examples referred are just designed to advertise the author's clinic. What disappoints me is the appropriation of the word Zen. This book has little or nothing to do with Zen, as far as I can see.

This book was the start of an awesome journey for me. If you're reading the reviews and hoping to find an answer here that will push you on either side of the fence on whether to buy it, then let me push you on the side of buying it and I encourage you to explore it's message and let it point your perspective, your life and your understanding of yourself in a different direction, enjoying that journey and not letting it end at the last page of this book.