The Art of Joyful Living

by Rama

In The Art of Joyful Living Swami Rama imparts a message of inspiration and optimism: that every human being is responsible for making his life happy and then for emanating that happiness to others. This book shows us how, with a clear conception of the philosophy and meaning of life, we can truly enjoy our lives.

Genres: Spirituality, Philosophy, Religion, Nonfiction, Self Help

242 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[May Ling]

Summary: This is a great book in understanding what it is we are attempting to do with strengthening the mind through healthy living and meditation. I'm grateful to my dear friend MTV for the recommendation.

P. 48 - "To deal with thee changes you must develop your determination that you will not be emotionally disturbed by events and will not do anything that hurts or harms others." The context of this is the idea that it is TRULY hard to get out of your harmful thought patterns of non-joyfulness. He later talks about emotional power. It's like an energy that is being harnessed vs. diffused into negativity.

P. 56 - The 4 urges: food, sex, sleep, and self-preservation - these are the core of drives and emotions. Whether it's true or not, the ideas that he then speaks of are worthy of consideration.

p.66 - There is no specific time it takes to learn emotional control. When it happens it just snaps into place, so he answers 1 second.

P.. 71 - He talks about this concept of the Buddhi, this is from which decisions are made. In this there is a time component. We must cultivate this to take advantage of decisions that are in front of us.

P. 84 - He talks about the fact there are 2 fears: Fear of losing something you have, fear of not gaining something you want. The more you live under the pressure of fear, the more you hurt yourself. Freedom from fear is possible if you realize how short life is.

[Marcee]

I have read a lot of Swami Rama's books. Some chapters of this I loved, and some I found strangely....annoying. I am glad I read it but this would not be the first of his books that I would recommend.

[Linda Belmont]

Another one of my "go to" books. It is indispensable to me. My copy is falling apart. A common-sense guide to life.

[Georgia H.]

I found this book both thoughtful and very practical.

In The Art of Joyful Living, Swami Rama explores how our thoughts, habits, attitudes, and expectations shape the way we experience life. Rather than presenting happiness as something dependent on outside circumstances, he focuses on developing greater self-awareness, discipline, balance, and control over the mind. The book draws on yogic philosophy, but much of the advice is presented in a way that can be applied to everyday life.

I found practical wisdom throughout the book. Many of the ideas are simple, but they encourage you to look more closely at your own reactions and the ways you may be creating unnecessary stress or unhappiness for yourself. The book is not just philosophical, it repeatedly brings the discussion back to how these ideas can actually be practiced.

“A thought is like an unripened fruit that is not yet eaten by anyone. Ripening the fruit means bringing a positive thought into action. Many good thoughts die because they are not brought into action, so your good thoughts should definitely be brought into action.” ― Swami Rama, The Art of Joyful Living

I recommend Swami Rama’s recorded lectures and guided meditations from the 1970s and 1980s. If you can find them, they are a joy to listen to and add another dimension to many of the ideas in the book. This is the kind of book I could see returning to periodically, since different lessons would probably stand out at different points in life.

[Pramod Verma]

As the name suggests, The Art of Joyful Living, this book provides you with a lot of practical suggestion to live your life in a happier and healthier way. You'll get the ideas to improve your personality through changing your habits and this book also gives you some ways for your spiritual uplifting. How to maintain a good relation and and how to control your positive and negative emotions have been discussed in detail.
Most of us try to rich the zenith of meditation but we fail due to certain reasons or due to the absence of a good guide. This book can make a good guide for such people.

[Chum Sole]

Beautiful book, highly recommend this to anyone struggling or anyone experiencing a dip in the joys of being alive. Meditation, and finding time for the self, makes the issues we face, easier to overcome or navigate. Teaches peace in the family, before peace without them. A good practice of being where you are, and finding the joy in being where you are.

Meditation and or thoughtfulness is a practice, it is not just happening all the time. One must actually obtain it with discipline and schedule, these words can be negative but the author really flips the script and makes them approachable, and exciting.

Be where you are now.

[Prasann Apte]

अप्रतिम

प्रतयेकाने आयुष्यात निदान एकदा वाचावे असे पुस्तक. कुठेही क्लिष्ट भाषा न वापरता सहज सॊप्या शब्दात केलेले विवेचन, अनुवाद ही छानच केलाय

[Karthikeyan Shanmugam]

Good Book

[Tamie]

Dry read

I found the material hard to understand at times and long read because I go bored. I felt like the concepts could be confusing at times.

[Brianne Vaillancourt]

Overall great practical approach to rewiring your brain, but I found Swami at times condescending... The end of the book also kind of repeats itself.

[P.S. Winn]

Uplifting messages to inspire us all to be better people and to make those around us happier.

[Gustav]

Key points on the awareness of living life is discussed.

[Sophie Walton]

A must read for anyone on the spiritual path! I loved this book

[Brian]

Everyone should be issued this book when they turn twenty-one. Amazing how we've all lost our way. I'll probably read this at least once a year from here on out.

[Mary Harju]

This is a lovely and straightforward interpretation of the Yoga Sutras and a solid guide for meditation.

[Yelena Casale]

Inspiring, hopeful and uplifting.