Ajahn Brahm discusses the idea of the "happiness industry," where there is a focus on finding happiness through seminars, classes, and other means. The author argues that this industry may not always address underlying social issues and may just promote changing one's attitude instead of taking action. He also discusses the overlap and potential contradiction between science and religion, particularly in addressing the story is about two Thai sisters who came to a monastery for counseling. The first sister had problems with her husband, while the other was struggling to find one. The counselor told them that changing their situation would only lead to a different form of suffering. This applies to all aspects of life, such as wealth, fame, or even owning a mobile phone. The happiness industry may tell us that achieving certain things will make us happy, but in reality, true happiness comes from within.
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This dhamma talk was originally recorded using a low quality MP3 to save on file size on 6th July 2007. It has now been remastered and published by the Everyday Dhamma Network, and will be of interest to his many fans.
These talks by Ajahn Brahm have been recorded and made available for free distribution by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia under the Creative Commons licence. You can support the Buddhist Society of Western Australia by pledging your support via their Ko-fi page.
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