Kelley Pujol Writes: Deepak Chopra's Happiness Prescription : A Product Review

Deepak Chopra’s The Happiness Prescription two CD set : A Review

Without a doubt, the genius of Deepak Chopra is his ability to take ancient Vedic teachings and put them in a form that makes them both understandable and palatable to the Western mind, and this is his most accessible offering to date.

Whether you have read all of Dr. Chopra’s books or you are a new comer to his work, this program has something of value to offer you.

The Happiness Prescription takes the Eight Fold Path that is the basis of the teachings of Buddha and translates them into behaviors and exercises that anyone, regardless of their religious or nonreligious leanings can benefit from. Dr. Chopra begins by explaining some of the current research dealing with the nature of happiness. It will probably come as no surprise that Americans don’t score high as a happy society – according to Dr. Chopra, even our dogs are more unhappy than their less affluent Mexican neighbors.

The first CD in this set points out the ten skills necessary to obtain and recognize personal happiness. The most helpful of these is self awareness. Dr. Chopra points out that many of us are nothing more than a bundles of reactive nerves “at the mercy” of every person we meet on the street – someone says something flattering, we are happy. Someone says something unpleasant, we are unhappy. Until we learn to be self-referred, we really have no chance of happiness.

Another strong point of Dr. Chopra’s teaching is he breaks these larger philosophical issues down into bite size pieces. The second CD breaks down the Ten Keys of Happiness into daily, obtainable goals with practical exercises that are easily carried out. One of the great joys of Vedic teaching is that it promotes evolution and not revolution – its catch phrase is “go slow.” Unlike so much help advice that is prevalent in Western society, it does not make you feel pressured or doomed to fail. Every day, you try and by trying, you become more aware of yourself and thus make progress.

Deepak Chopra’s The Happiness Prescription two CD Set is based on a program that was broadcast by PBS. The set is available through the Chopra Center (http://www.chopra.com/) and most major booksellers, such as Amazon.com ( http://www.amazon.com/ )

I highly recommend it.