Beyond Happiness: The Zen Way to True Contentment [Hardcover]

Ezra Bayda (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 14, 2010

Happiness is available to all of us—right here, right now. All that’s required is that we learn to let go of our expectation that life should go according the agenda we have in mind. Zen teacher Ezra Bayda provides the teachings and practices we need to learn to let go into true happiness—the kind that goes far deeper than the kind that’s about getting what we think we want.

Most of our unhappiness, he explains, is the result of seeking satisfaction in things external to us: new jobs, better relationships, luxury vacations. By liberating ourselves from expectations about these outward things and looking inward instead, we can find a deeper and unshakable kind of satisfaction that not only makes things a lot more pleasant for us, but that generates in us generosity and compassion toward others. 

Beyond Happiness includes simple meditation and mindfulness practices you can use to access true happiness, including basic sitting meditation, gratitude practice, loving-kindness practice, and the Three Questions practice, in which we ask ourselves: Am I happy now? What blocks happiness? and Can I surrender to what is?

Editorial Reviews

Review

“With compassion and humor, Ezra Bayda has graced us with ways to accept what is and to reside in it fearlessly, giving us a roadmap to enduring happiness and equanimity.”—David Richo, PhD, author of The Five Things We Cannot Change

“A wise and deep-hearted book, a must-read for today’s world.”—Roshi Joan Halifax, Upaya Zen Center

“This book offers an extremely sane, practical, and grounded approach to the larger happiness that lies beyond conventional notions of happiness. Ezra Bayda details simple yet powerful methods both to work with mental and emotional obstacles and to cultivate well-being, and it’s clear that his hard-won insights grow out of his own dedicated inquiry and practice. Highly recommended.”—John Welwood, author of Toward a Psychology of Awakening

“Bayda’s writing is straightforward and his wisdom hard-earned. When he tells us that he himself was ‘born with a fairly low set point for happiness,’ you get the feeling that Bayda understands what it is that gets people stuck and, having learned a few things himself over years of practice, that his only agenda for Beyond Happiness is to help people find their own way. Fortunately for readers, he’s a trustworthy guide.”—Tricycle Magazine

“Bayda’s deep understanding of his topic allows him to keep a conversational tone and tie his wisdom into everyday practices. This book is a genuine attempt to help people to see beyond their daily preoccupations and move towards a path of fulfillment.”—PsychCentral.com

“Good advice from a compassionate teacher.”—NewAgeJournal.com

About the Author

Ezra Bayda teaches at Zen Center San Diego. He is also the author of Being Zen, At Home in the Muddy Water, Saying Yes to Life (Even the Hard Parts), and Zen Heart. For more information, visit www.zencentersandiego.org. 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (December 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590308255
• ISBN-13: 978-1590308257
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.7 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ezra Bayda was born in 1944 in Atlantic City, New jersey. He graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in philosophy, and began practicing Zen meditation in 1970, receiving permission to teach in 1995. He now lives, writes and teaches at Zen Center San Diego with his wife and fellow teacher, Elizabeth Hamilton. He also leads a meditation group in Santa Rosa, Ca., and has been a hospice volunteer for over ten years. He is the author of five books, including his most recent, Beyond Happiness (Shambhala, 2010). For more information, go to www.zencentersandiego.org.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A book full of truth, but no easy fixes. January 6, 2011

By Robyn Reso

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have found all of Ezra Bayda's books profoundly helpful, but this one is a spiritual masterpiece. Its appearance in my life coincided with several immensely difficult and traumatic happenings, and the teaching has proved its worth far beyond anything I hoped. Bayda traces the daunting but truthful path to waking up to life as it is, without the illusions we have been taught to believe from our cradles: that life should be comfortable, fair, easy, without real difficulty, and that something is wrong with us if we have problems and setbacks. The truth is very different. Bayda gives powerful and practical tools for how to dwell in the open heart of reality, as it is, without judging or blaming ourselves or others. An invaluable tool for learning to open to genuine happiness and contentment. I'm buying copies for family and friends today!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars QUIET BUT POWERFUL January 30, 2011

By Anna

Format:Hardcover

QUIET BUT POWERFUL
I've read other books on happiness and been disappointed how little they helped me. So I was happily surprised on reading Beyond Happiness, because it immediately showed me what I've been doing in my own life to undermine my happiness, and it also gave me specific suggestions and practices to help cultivate what Ezra Bayda clearly describes as genuine happiness (as opposed to superficial or ephemeral personal happiness.)
The three questions that the author recommends asking, which I've been doing regularly, has particularly helped me to see what blocks happiness, and at the same time given me a practice where I've begun, for the first time, to feel real equanimity, even when things aren't going so well. I also appreciate the author's use of humor, which reminded me again and again to not take myself so seriously.
This is a quiet book - it does not shout out, "Do this and you'll be happy!" But in its quiet and very clear way, it's given me tools that are already becoming invaluable.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a keeper December 24, 2010

By Carol R. Wolfe

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a mature offering from an ernest Zen teacher that is helpful for all of us struggling with the human condition. Ezra Bayda blasts myths of how to achieve happiness and instead prescribes the genuine contentment of living from the open heart. Ezra clearly describes essential practice tools for both beginners and experienced meditators. This book is a keeper.