Naikan is a method of self-reflection developed in Japan by Yoshimoto Ishin.
Its structure uses our relationships with other as the mirror in which we can see ourselves.
We reflect on what we have received from others, what we have given, and what troubles we have caused.
Genuine self-reflection affects so many aspects of our life:
— the presence of gratitude, - our relationships with our loved ones, - the degree of judgment we place on other people's faults, - our mental health, - our lifestyle choices, - our investment decisions, and - our faith in a supreme being or force.
Online CEU Courses Morita Therapy from Japan: The Psychology of Action and Attention An online self-directed CEU course sponsored by the ToDo Institute
Seven Principles for Cultivating Gratitude By Gregg Krech
Gratitude is independent of one's objective life circumstances; Gratitude is a function of attention; Entitlement makes gratitude impossible; When we continue to receive something on a regular basis, we typically begin to take it for granted; Our deepest sense of gratitude comes through grace -- the awareness that we have not earned, nor do we deserve what we have been given; Gratitude can be cultivated through sincere self-reflection; and The expression of gratitude (through words and deeds) has the affect of heightening our personal experience of gratitude. Expressing Gratitude is Transformative
“ Expressing gratitude is transformative, just as transformative as expressing complaint. Imagine an experiment involving two people. One is asked to spend ten minutes each morning and evening expressing gratitude (there is always something to be grateful for), while the other is asked to spend the same amount of time practicing complaining (there is, after all, always something to complain about). One of the subjects is saying things like, "I hate my job. I can't stand this apartment. Why can't I make enough money? My spouse doesn't get along with me. That dog next door never stops barking and I just can't stand this neighborhood." The other is saying things like, "I'm really grateful for the opportunity to work; there are so many people these days who can't even find a job. And I'm sure grateful for my health. What a gorgeous day; I really like this fall breeze." They do this experiment for a year. Guaranteed, at the end of that year the person practicing complaining will have deeply reaffirmed all his negative "stuff" rather than having let it go, while the one practicing gratitude will be a very grateful person. . . Expressing gratitude can, indeed, change our way of seeing ourselves and the world." -Roshi John Daido Loori
From the upcoming film, Connected: A Declaration of Interdependence.
Take a moment to appreciate the intricate web of life. “We pray for our daily bread; bread gives us the strength to do so. ” R.H. Blyth
“If the only prayer you say your entire life is 'thank you' that would suffice.” Meister Eckhart
"Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted--a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul." Rabbi Harold Kushner
"There is no formula for generating the authentic warmth of love. It cannot be copied. You cannot talk yourself into it or rouse it by straining at the emotions or by dedicating yourself solemnly to the service of mankind. Everyone has love, but it can only come out when he is convinced of the impossibility and the frustration of trying to love himself. This conviction will not come through condemnations, through hating oneself, through calling self love bad names in the universe. It comes only in the awareness that one has no self to love." --Alan Watts
You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.
The life and works of Alan Watts alanwatts.com Information on Alan Watts and the Alan Watts Mountain Center. Includes biography, articles, audio downloads and online shopping.
Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern ...
Alan Watts (1915-1973) who held both a master's degree in theology and a doctorate of divinity, is best known as an interpreter of Zen Buddhism in particular, and ...
Library > Miscellaneous > Biographies Alan Wilson Watts (1915-1973) was a naturalized American author and lecturer who interpreted Zen to the West. His writings were ...
Alan Watts was born in London in January of 1915 at the start of the first World War. At a young age he became fascinated with the arts of the Far East, and by the ...
The Alan Watts audio archive. Radio broadcasts on comparative religion, contemporary psychology, human consciousness, and the future of technological culture.
NOW AVAILABLE - The above 2 Hour DVD. Click Here for details and ordering. JUST RELEASED - Second Part in the series of original broadcasts 1998-2000. 12 Hrs.
Alan Watts’ son sent the following message requesting that his father’s ... Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Powered by WordPress and ...
No Blog discussing Buddhism would be complete without discussing Alan Watts. He interested many Americans in the study of Buddhism and meditation during
Watts chose Buddhism over his Christian upbringing, and sought membership in the London Buddhist Lodge, which had been established by Theosophists, and was now run by the barrister Christmas Humphreys. Watts became the organization’s secretary at 16 (1931). The young Watts explored several styles of meditation during these years.
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar taught Harvard University’s most popular course (in the Spring of 2006): a course onPositive Psychology; that is, he taught his students how to be happy.
The course, called PSY 1504 – Positive Psychology, was described as follows:
“The course focuses on the psychological aspects of a fulfilling and flourishing life. Topics include happiness, self-esteem, empathy, friendship, love, achievement, creativity, music, spirituality, and humor.”
Wouldn’t you have signed up for that course? I know I would have.
Here’s Dr. Ben-Shahar’s philosophy in a nutshell: “When you learn how to live for today and for tomorrow at the same time, you learn how to balance your immediate personal needs with long-term goals and enjoy life as you never have before.”
Read on to discover how you too can be happy. (By the way, the drawing on the chalk board which Ben-Shahar is pointing to in the image at the top of this post is an explanation of the “flow” state. There’s an explanation of that chart in my article: “How to Enter the Flow State”. )
Positive Psychology
Positive psychology is “the scientific study of optimal human functioning” and was first introduced as a field of study by Dr. Martin Seligman in 1998, when he was President of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Seligman is the Director of theUniversity of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center and was one of the experts featured in Time Magazine’s January 2005 issuedevoted entirely to “The Science of Happiness”.
While psychology has traditionally concerned itself with what ails the human mind–such as anxiety, depression, neurosis, obsessions, paranoia, and delusions–, Dr. Seligman and other pioneers in positive psychology asked the following question: “What are the enabling conditions that make human beings flourish?”
The underlying premise of positive psychology is that you can learn to be happier just as you can learn a foreign language or to be proficient at golf. This rapidly growing field is shedding light on what makes us happy, the pursuit of happiness, and how we can lead more fulfilling, satisfying lives. Dr. Ben-Shahar is well known around the world for his work in positive psychology.
Eleven Happiness Tips From Dr. Ben-Shahar
“Attaining lasting happiness requires that we enjoy the journey on our way toward a destination we deem valuable. Happiness, therefore, is not about making it to the peak of the mountain, nor is it about climbing aimlessly around the mountain: happiness is the experience of climbing toward the peak” – Tal Ben-Shahar
Here are eleven of Dr. Ben-Shahar’s happiness tips from his book“Happier”:
1. Ask yourself questions to foster awareness about what actions and attitudes will make you happier. Dr. Ben-Shahar offers several examples in his book “Happier”–which also functions as a workbook–such as the following:
Complete the following sentence: “To bring five percent more happiness into my life . . .”
2. Happiness must combine both pleasure and meaning, providing both present and future gain. To further illustrate this point, Ben-Shahar uses a hamburger analogy. He explains how certain things, like an unhealthy but tasty hamburger, will bring immediate short-term pleasure but have the opposite effect on our long-term feelings.
Similarly, an unappealing but healthy veggie burger might bring us negative emotions while we’re eating it but bring us long-term benefits. Too often people bounce back and forth between these two without finding out what things in their lives can bring both immediate and long-term happiness; that is, a meal that is both tasty and healthy.
3. Ben-Shahar argues in his book that happiness is not an end state, but rather something you work towards your whole life. Thus, you can be happier each day. Even happiness is a journey, not a destination.
4. Build happiness boosters into your life. These are things which you enjoy doing, and can include things such as having lunch with your spouse, reading a good book, taking a warm bath, engaging in a hobby you enjoy, and so on.
5. Create rituals. Dr. Ben-Shahar has the following to say about rituals: “The most creative individuals — whether artists, businesspeople, or parents — have rituals that they follow. Paradoxically, the routine frees them up to be creative and spontaneous.” One important ritual is to keep a gratitude journal. Every evening since September 19 1999, religiously, Ben-Shahar has made a list in a notebook of five things for which he feels grateful.
6. Imagine yourself as 110 years old. What advice would you give your younger self? This added perspective will allow you to recognize and eliminate the trivial and negative things from your life.
7. Allow yourself to feel the full range of emotions, including fear, sadness, or anxiety. Ben-Shahar advises that an expectation of constant happiness is unreasonable and sets us up for disappointment. A happy life will have the usual vicissitudes, and trying to avoid those, or hoping not to experience them, inevitably leads to unhappiness and frustration. A happy person has highs and lows, but their overall state of being is positive.
8. Simplify. Identify what’s most important to you and focus on that; stop trying to do too much. People who take on too much experience time poverty, which inhibits their ability to derive happiness from any of the activities they participate in.
9. Remember the mind-body connection. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits lead to both physical and mental health.
10. Keep in mind that happiness is mostly dependent on your state of mind. Barring extreme circumstances, our level of well being is determined by what we choose to focus on and by our interpretation of external events.
11. Consider happiness to be the ultimate currency. Always ask yourself what you’re trading it for.
Dr. Ben-Shahar argues in “Happier” that there are four basic archetypes of happiness decision making. These are the following:
1. Hedonism. These people believe that they can sustain happiness by going from pleasurable activity to pleasurable activity with complete disregard for any future meaning or purpose.
2. Rat Race. These people are on the opposite end of the spectrum: they postpone present happiness in order to be happy in the future. They believe that reaching a certain destination will lead to sustained happiness.
3. Nihilism: These people believe that no matter what they do they will not be able to attain happiness. Basically, these are the ones that have lost all hope of being happy.
4. Happiness. As stated previously, happiness requires that we live for both today and tomorrow. These are the people who engage in activities which they find meaningful and pleasurable today, which at the same time “feed” into a future that is also meaningful and pleasurable.
How to Find Work Which Makes You Happy
People experience their work in one of three ways: as a job–a chore done so you can pay your bills–, as a career–motivated by money, prestige, and advancement–,or as a calling. A calling is work done as an end in and of itself.
To find your calling, first ask “What gives me meaning?”, then ask “what gives me pleasure?”, and finally ask yourself “what are my strengths?” Most job-seekers first ask what they’re good at, which then helps them generate a list from which they select the option which they perceive will bring them the most pleasure. The question of meaning somehow doesn’t make it into the equation. This is why most people end up with a job or a career instead of a calling.
Conclusion
You can watch Dr. Ben-Shahar in action in this YouTube video:
As an aside, you can get a Masters in Applied Psychology from Penn. For more information about the course go here.
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by Robert A. Emmosn, Ph.D. 
by David Dunn 
Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar taught Harvard University’s most popular course (in the Spring of 2006): a course onPositive Psychology; that is, he taught his students how to be happy.
and 
. So now we all have access to his lectures at Harvard.
