Tricycle | Awake in the World

This October, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist leaders will gather in Atlanta, Georgia to participate in Emory University's Pursuit of Happiness Project. Hosted by Emory's Center for the Study of Law and Religion, the conference marks the fifth year of a project in which 18 senior fellows studied the traditional teachings of happiness versus scientific understanding of what happiness is. From the Pursuit of Happiness website:

Recent developments in positive psychology have brought the idea of happiness back to public attention with a flurry of books and undergraduate courses. By putting religion and science in conversation, and by focusing on the relation between altruistic love and happiness, our project will retrieve some of the rich traditional teachings captured in this ideal and reconstruct them for our day in light of the new findings of the human and social sciences and of the new liberties of constitutional democracies.

Participants include the Dalai Lama, who will lead a public conversation on "Understanding and Promoting Happiness in Today's Society," Muslim scholar Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, and Episcopal Bishop Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori. Matthieu Ricard, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, will also participate in the events, offering a presentation on "Cultivating the Inner Conditions for Genuine Happiness."

Pick up the latest issue of Tricycle to read our interview with Matthieu Ricard in which the French monk---and former scientist---discusses his status as "the happiest man in the world" and whether neurological stimulation could ever lead to true happiness.

If you're interested in attending the Pursuit of Happiness events in October, click here.

Image: shine.yahoo.com