omparing religions by Jeffrey Kripal.-Please use the book comparing religions by Jeffrey Kripal.
-And the attached documents.
• Address each question separately, rather than weaving them into a single write-up.
• This write-up should be more than one page in length, and should not exceed three pages.
Though this write-up is different than the others, please continue examining, questioning, and
enhancing your own worldview/beliefs/faith/religious views, etc.
1. Use concepts we have learned in past readings, lectures, and in-class discussions to analyze
the Dalai Lama video clip. In your own words, what does this class have to with learning to
synthesize/manufacture happiness?
2. Based on a review of the TED talk by Mattheieu Richard, please explain how our cultural
mythos and rituals inhibits and/or promotes the practice of training our mind to be happy? Are
you convinced the mind can be trained to become happier? If so, is it worth the effort? If so, why
don’t we do it?
3. Apply several of the claims/conclusions made in Dan Gilbert’s TED talk to
explain/rebut/confirm points made by Matheieu Richard and the Dalai Lama.
4. Based Kripal’s Chapter 8, please explain how Kripal’s explanation of the empowered
imagination is similar/different/related to Dan Gilbert’s explanation of synthetic happiness.
Please do not over-complicate this assignment. The more you engage with the text, the more you
will get from it. That is the point.
Formatting: Please staple your pages together. If you have too much, adjust margins, change the
font (Times or Times New Roman) from 12 pt to 11 or 10pt. Or, change the line spacing to 1.5.
Just no single-spaced, please. Best yet, think long enough about the content to express a series of
complex thoughts in simple, concise terms!