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Joy on Demand: The Art of Discovering the Happiness

Within

by Chade-Meng Tan

Free Kindle instant preview: https://a.co/3nR12bt

33 Highlights | 27 Notes

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To meditate, you just need to have a mind.

Qualified ?

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My baseline happiness used to be misery, which meant that when nothing was happening, I was miserable. this is true for many people

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In a couple of years after I started mind training, my baseline had shifted to jolly, which means that when nothing was happening, I was jolly.

reset your thermostat

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When I experience something painful, it’s painful, but I eventually return to being jolly. Wow. much better

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In fact, this has been so helpful that I use my watch’s chronometer to remind me to take at least one breath per hour when I am fully present to it.

one conscious breath per hour

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it’s something you can do too, wherever you

11/2/2019

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from within—from a peaceful mind as a result of taking a few breaths,

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Joy, in contrast, is a pleasurable feeling.

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The first, most basic and possibly most important benefit of mind training is the ability to calm the mind on demand.

take a look: clear, useful, easy Don't be fooled by the simplicity

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So I began to meditate every morning for ten minutes.

that's it - ten minutes

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However, when the mind is alert and relaxed at the same time, relaxation gives random ideas space to arise and play, and alertness lets us see them and their connections, just like dropping pebbles into a placid lake.

Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 61

I like to apply wise laziness to the process of mind training, mostly because I’m striving very hard to be lazy. you should, too

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I was in for a much bigger

Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 65

Bushnell’s Law states, “All the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master.”

not just games

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This leads us to a question only a shamelessly lazy engineer would ask: what is the absolute minimum amount of meditation practice before there is any sort of benefit? My answer: one breath.

take one conscious totally aware breath

Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 72

if, for whatever reason, you can only choose one, always choose gentleness over intensity. we all need to learn this

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Make Breathing a Habit

always spend some time breathing

Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 93

A key aspect of meditation is the skillful combination of wise effort and letting go.

work at what you should, accept what comes

Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 94

Instead, meditation is about allowing the mind to settle on its own terms, in its own time, which includes allowing thoughts to arise as and when they want to.

watch and notice

Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 104

I decided I would sit on a chair and literally do nothing. It turned out that nothing was precisely what I needed to do.

can you do nothing for a few minutes ?

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I got calmer, my health improved, I started responding better to stress, and I became less of a dick than I used to be.

how to be less of a dick

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Recognize that there is joy even in the first breath. Do the One Mindful Breath practice often—make it a habit.

Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 115

there is a very simple tool that’ll allow you to cause joy to arise. That simple tool is: smiling. William James agrees: smile to call up joy

Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 124

When walking, take one moment to attend fully to the joy of being able to walk.

not a small thing

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My recommendation to all of you: at least once a day, remember that someday, you will die, and that everybody you love will die. If for no other reason, than because it is true.

memento mori

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Compassion, in contrast, is significantly harder because it forces us to come face-to-face with suffering.

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The first is to be willing to experience joy in the midst of emotional pain. The second is to be willing to experience the emotional pain itself.

not easy but worth it

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As I developed more skill at accessing joy in meditation, I realized I could do it even when I had a crappy day and I was feeling sad, angry, or disheartened.

try it!

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peace and joy are the default states of mind. They don’t have to be created—they just need to be accessed. basic, normal states

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Second, the way we judge ourselves tends to be far more negative than the facts can justify. not the only one

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At every step of your growth, expect failure. Lots of failure.

when you keep on trying, failure leads to success

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Love yourself enough to allow yourself the space to suffer, without shame or judgment. main thing

Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 236

Second, the difference between the average and what is considered excellent is a mere 4 percentage points. It is the same with loving-kindness and compassion practice as applied to real life.

a little better can make a big difference