5XÉçÇø

Seeking happiness has always been one of the most cherished goals for human beings since ancient times. Today it has become a million-dollar industry. This book aims at providing the eastern and western perspectives on happiness and looking beyond happiness. An attempt is made to understand the causes of widespread unhappiness, concept of happiness from multi-disciplinary perspective, shed myths about happiness, explain certain paradoxes related to happiness, relate happiness with religion, understand the contribution of Buddhism and the cardinal principles of Jainism, such as, non-violence, multi-sidedness and non-possessiveness, relationship with ecology, etc. It is a novel attempt of providing an amalgam from the eastern and western perspective and trace the role of positive psychologists as the new priesthood. It has got something for everyone. It is meant for an international audience. The westerners can grasp the wisdom inherent in ancient religions, whereas the easterners can grasp the current trends in the modern hi-tech societies pertaining to happiness. It spreads from Greek philosophies to contemporary times. And from Asia to all other continents. As such, it has a vast market. Each library, for sure, would like to possess few copies as a reference book for students and researchers in Social Sciences and Humanities, especially when Happiness, Jainism and Buddhism have been incorporated in the curriculum by various universities worldwide. Though a lot has been written on happiness and Buddhism and/or Jainism, no attempt has been made so far to explain how these religions can still contribute to our happiness at individual, social and global levels. This book is a modest attempt in this direction.    

5XÉçÇø the Author:

Dr. Asha Gupta, a gold medalist and National Merit Scholarship holder, has been a Director at the Directorate of Hindi Medium Implementation and Principal at Bharati College, University of Delhi, India. She has also been the Convener of International Political Science Association's Research Committee on Welfare State and Welfare Societies and Military's Role in Democratization. A recipient of the Indo-Shastri Canadian Fellowship, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Fellowship, Norwegian Fellowship, alumni of Salzburg Seminar, UGG Career Award in Humanities, UGC Major Research Grant, for a postdoctoral project on Vocationalization and Privatization of Higher Education, Dr Gupta has published 15 books and more than 90 research papers. Her books include Socialism in Theory and Practice: Narendra Deva's Contribution, Changing Perspectives of the Welfare State, Beyond Privatization: A Global Perspective, Higher Education in the 21st Century: Looking Beyond University, Uchatar Shiksha Ke Badalte Aayam, Tulnatmak Shashan Aur Rajniti, Samajwadi Chintan, etc. She has participated at various national and international conferences. Reading, writing and traveling have been her main passions in life.