“I have always seen great value in practicing kindness. Although I had no money to buy gifts as a child, I gave my friends the gift of song to cheer them up. Depending on the situation, I’d sing to them and make up melodies and lyrics on the spot about whatever was going on in their lives. If a girlfriend was lonely or heartbroken, I’d make up a song about the handsome and adoring boyfriend I imagined coming into her life. Or if a friend felt deprived or neglected, I’d make up a song about a gift of a shiny new doll, or a velvet party dress, that I knew would make her happy.”
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
“The religious faith that we are born into is largely determined by the region where we live and the ethnic background of our family. In my case, I was born to an African American family in the southern region of the United States. Like most families of our description, we embraced the Baptist religious tradition. Although I went from Baptist to Buddhist, I’ve honored my family’s heritage and cherish the similarities between these two paths. Baptist teachings encouraged me to work toward attaining admission into a heavenly paradise, while Buddhism inspires me to attain the enduring and enlightened life condition of Buddhahood. Although the goals of these two spiritual paths may sound somewhat different, both focus on creating a state of indestructible, eternal happiness. To me, that is an important similarity. I’ve met people from all over the world, from many cultures and faiths, and I believe that all religious traditions share the same basic aspirations at their core—to experience everlasting joy by aligning with the positive forces of the universe. We may describe this ultimate reality as Jehovah, God, Allah, Jesus, Hashem, Tao, Brahma, the Creator, the Mystic Law, the Universe, the Force, Buddha nature, Christ consciousness, or any number of other expressions.”
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
“I call something a miracle when an ordinary person achieves something extraordinary. We all have the potential to create miraculous changes. It is my hope and my prayer that you will become a miracle maker, a “human revolutionist,” too.”
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
“As German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse said, the more we mature, the younger we grow. What a beautiful sentiment!”
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
“My heartfelt wish is that you and I, and everyone around the world, will continue expanding our hearts and minds while celebrating our differences and ridding ourselves of any form of discrimination. This, I believe, is a basic requirement for peace, both within ourselves and in our societies.”
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
― Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
Changchengliang’s 2025 Year in Books
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