Summary of Bhante Gunaratana's Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The Buddha’s message was simple but profound. He taught us to avoid the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, and to follow a middle path that leads to peace of mind, wisdom, and complete liberation from the dissatisfactions of life. #2 The basis of Buddhist morality is that acting in unskillful ways leads to unhappy results, and acting in skillful ways leads to happy results. Everything we think, say, and do is a cause that leads to some effect. We must recognize that causes always lead to results, and then choose to act accordingly. #3 The first principle of Buddhist morality is that actions have consequences. You must be lying to yourself about causes and effects to act wrongfully. The worse your behavior, the bigger your lie has to be. #4 The Buddha taught four ideas: dissatisfaction, cause, end, and path. He explained that dissatisfaction with the suffering of life is a burden, and that we cause our dissatisfaction by taking up the burden. We end it by putting the burden down.