Many books have been published in recent years on happiness. Ezra Bayda, a remarkably down-to-earth Zen teacher (and author of Being Zen), believes that the happiness “boom” has been largely a bust for readers. Why? Because it’s precisely the pursuit of happiness that keeps us trapped in cycles of dissatisfaction and suffering.

In Beyond Happiness, Bayda draws on Zen teachings to question our conventional notions about what happiness is and where we can find it. Most of us seek happiness in things that are external to us. We imagine that getting more money, a juicier relationship, or going on that awesome vacation will finally make us happy. But Bayda shows us that the deepest and most lasting form of happiness does not rely on external circumstance at all. Bayda offers Zen insights and practices that point readers toward the true sources of lasting happiness: mindfulness, compassion, gratitude, and generosity.

Students often judge meditation periods as bad if they can’t focus, or if they don’t feel good. But one of the great benefits of meditation comes from persevering anyway, regardless of how we feel. Eventually, a learning and a settling will begin to take place. And gradually, the sense of presence and equanimity that is cultivated through a daily meditation practice begins to be infused into our everyday living.

“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