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Joy on Demand: The Art of Discovering the Happiness Within
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A long-awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Search Inside Yourself shows us how to cultivate joy within the context of our fast-paced lives and explains why it is critical to creativity, innovation, confidence, and ultimately success in every arena.
In Joy on Demand, Meng shows that you don’t need to meditate for hours, days, months or years to achieve lastin ...more
In Joy on Demand, Meng shows that you don’t need to meditate for hours, days, months or years to achieve lastin ...more
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Books like this are really hard for me to read. If I would've been reading the physical copy, I can all but guarantee I wouldn't have finished it. I think I get into this 'betterment of Allie' attitude, buy/download a book, and then after a few chapters I start talking myself out of it. Fortunately, I listened to parts of this with my 10 year old son, and he wanted to hear more. Good thing!
It's obvious that the author has a completely different mind path than I do, which is good and bad. I real ...more
It's obvious that the author has a completely different mind path than I do, which is good and bad. I real ...more
I enjoyed Tan's earlier book, Search Inside Yourself, and so was excited to hear that he had released a new book. To me, Joy on Demand is even better. Maybe it's because as a novice at mediation, Joy on Demand is a wonderful guide on how to access joy from within by training to ease (claiming the mind), incline (learning to be mindful of joy in yourself, your life and the world) and uplift (cultivating loving kindness, compassion and altruistic joy) the mind. Applying these skills can also teach
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Another great book on how to calm your mind and bring in compassion through meditation. Lot of good ideas on how to practice "letting go"
Cool concept that I'd like to learn, but the author spent too much of the book trying to convince us that joy on demand is possible and giving examples of people that have achieved it, and not enough on how to actually do it!
I've been redoubling my efforts to manage my anxiety through more natural means as the amount of anti-anxiety meds I was on had me feeling a bit flat and drugged-out. One of the methods I employ for anxiety control is meditation, but I sometimes have trouble finding resources that aren't a bit out there and New Age-y for my taste, or tied to a particular religious tradition. This book was lovely, because although Chade-Meng Tan came to meditation through Buddhism, he takes a very accessible, hum
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To truly be finished with the book, I would have had to integrate his learning into my life and I have failed at that so far. However, this is a great introduction into meditation- very encouraging, interesting, personal and fun.
The most impactful book I've read in a long time. A way to start meditating with mindful breaths and attending to joy. I plan on starting it again very soon.
I read this book with a biased mindset: thinking I wouldn't get much out of it since I already knew enough about meditation, and I didn't like how the title sounded. But I was still curious to see how the author approached it. It turned out I enjoyed reading it a lot. Somehow he's able to take something that can be very abstract and use plain language to explain it, with humour to drive home his points. I really appreciated the additional layer of storytelling, research and anecdotes to what I a
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I don't know if I had a bit of a virus or if this book was just full of highly successful relaxing visualizations and meditations because I fell asleep several times over the course of reading this book. That said, I got a lot out of it and I totally understood the Dalai Lama's last tweet on Twitter. Hi five Lama.
Amazing book as always. Good follow up to the previous one. Slight repetitive but a good refresher none the elss.
I appreciated the humour and concrete mindfulness techniques. I would recommend this to people who are interested in mindfulness and cultivating more joy in both their lives and the world.
20181216 ◊ Book was just so-so; narration was awful. The narrator went with a falsely chirpy reading style which made the material come across as cartoonish and ineffectual. I think they were going for upbeat, but it came across as disingenuous.
I liked this sweet (Not surfer sweet... Sweet, sweet) book. It's about how to be even happier by multiplying your meditations chops.
Few takeaways:
There are 3 types of confidence:
- Confidence from knowledge
Knowledge of yourself, not necessarily knowledge of subject matter. When you have mastery of mind you can have master of any subject matter.
- Confidence from equanimity
Hold your ego very lightly, letting it be as big as a mountain or small as a grain of sand.
Looking at an audience of better ...more
Few takeaways:
There are 3 types of confidence:
- Confidence from knowledge
Knowledge of yourself, not necessarily knowledge of subject matter. When you have mastery of mind you can have master of any subject matter.
- Confidence from equanimity
Hold your ego very lightly, letting it be as big as a mountain or small as a grain of sand.
Looking at an audience of better ...more
I stumbled on this book through the Shelf Awareness newsletter, and from the write up it looked like something that would interest me and I was not disappointed. This is a great book, part guide, part memoir of Meng's journey and part high-level review of both the origins and the scientific evidence around the practice. Meng's journey is an interesting one, and he is now in the happy position where he counts some of the world's foremost practitioners as friends and teachers.
However, he delivers ...more
However, he delivers ...more
2rd book by Meng, one of my fav author about meditation. Meng is one of those early Google engineers and NYT bestselling author. He has an interesting way of putting an abstract subject like mediation, mindfulness, emotional intelligence and compassion, and turn them into a practical and measurable practices, and also in a funny way! This book is a step by step on cultivating joy and meditation!
This is probably a better book than it could have been for me. My issue is that Tan is an engineer, and I am the polar opposite of an engineer. Therefore his writing style and voice didn't sync with me as much as it might with other people. Generally a good book on meditation, mindfulness, and joy. I did take some little gems away from the reading.
Loved this delightful read on meditation and why we should do it. I laughed out loud and paused more than a few times to reflect and reread passages. What a refreshing perspective on the powerfully transformative practices of mindfulness, loving kindness and compassion.
Wordy in a good way. Many concepts are conveyed by anecdote. The way I understood much of the material is through the lens of what happens in a single-breath meditation (to which I was exposed by way of podcast interview). Although the psychology term 'flow' does not appear (or, at least, stand out to me) in the book, I sense much overlap.
I, too, felt the lack of practical advice per Connie's review. Specific things to try (labelled as formal or informal practices) were present, and they gave sp ...more
I, too, felt the lack of practical advice per Connie's review. Specific things to try (labelled as formal or informal practices) were present, and they gave sp ...more
Chade-Meng Tan seems like a really lovely guy. I just really wanna give him a cuddle! So this book has already succeeded to some extent; it made me happier just to think that there are such sweet people in the world.
OK, it also has some useful tips on how you can use meditation to feel better. Meng learnt meditation from Buddhists, but this is a real engineers book. He's divorced his techniques from the religious origin, and pared them down to be highly efficient. Maximum results for minimum eff ...more
OK, it also has some useful tips on how you can use meditation to feel better. Meng learnt meditation from Buddhists, but this is a real engineers book. He's divorced his techniques from the religious origin, and pared them down to be highly efficient. Maximum results for minimum eff ...more
JOY! This book was a gamechanger. I read it in the months leading up to my wedding, a very stressful time in life, but this book constantly reminded me to rise above the stresses and not only find those moments of joy in every day life, but really truly appreciate. One of the best examples from the book, is to notice when you are NOT sick, or NOT feeling body aches. We often focus on the negative, but there's so much joy in daily life that we typically pass up just because we allow it to pass by
...more
I've now read two books that give an overview and introduction to meditation, and this one is probably the one I'd give to a more skeptical friend. It focuses on strategies for getting immediate results and cites science research, while setting realistic expectations for the commitment it takes to experience life changing progress. I found the author's self-deprecating stories of personal experiences learning to meditate reassuring. Still, I found it less appealing than Making Your Mind an Ally
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This is a good introduction to meditation with several varied approaches to building your own personal practice. Tan definitely hits you over the head with all the benefits of meditation. If you're already sold on trying meditation and are just looking for a beginner's guide, then all the antidotes, research findings, and parables may be a bit much. Overall, I think most beginner meditators can take a least a few useful ideas from this book.
I find books like this more enjoyable and easier to pro ...more
I find books like this more enjoyable and easier to pro ...more
I thought this was a good book for anyone looking to begin a meditation practice (like me). The author covers the basics, and makes a convincing argument for meditation being a direct route to joy (though I'm not sure about his assertion that meditation is better than sex. The jury's still out on that one). I particularly liked his point about finding "thin slices of joy" in one's day, moments we would otherwise take for granted that in fact bring us joy if attended to.
I was not fond, however, ...more
I was not fond, however, ...more
Takeaways:
- Practice calming the mind; this is the first step. Do so in a number of ways such as paying attention to the breath (anchoring) and thinking to yourself that you have nowhere to go and nothing to do (being).
- Practice noticing joy. Consciously note when you experience something that brings joy, such as getting into a warm shower or taking the first bite of a meal. Some other sources include thinking about how you want someone else to do well without doing anything.
- Treat yourself a ...more
- Practice calming the mind; this is the first step. Do so in a number of ways such as paying attention to the breath (anchoring) and thinking to yourself that you have nowhere to go and nothing to do (being).
- Practice noticing joy. Consciously note when you experience something that brings joy, such as getting into a warm shower or taking the first bite of a meal. Some other sources include thinking about how you want someone else to do well without doing anything.
- Treat yourself a ...more
I rate this as 3 more for the delivery than the content, which is more like 4. Parts of this were really great. I'm not the biggest fan of Meng's writing style, but he does make it accessible. In the last chapter (7) he was more direct. I particularly liked the description of the three pillars of practice: vipassana, brahmivahara, and samatha. Also his description of maturity and mastery of practice. Earlier, (chapter 1) he describes the effects of 100 minutes, 100 hours, 100h, and 10kh of pract
...more
Great book and a great way to put together the concept of JOY ON DEMAND. Truly said there are 84,000 doors and depends what door do you choose? From childhood, I have followed different principles from Hindu & Jain religion and have many encounters with the different processes of attaining what Meng has narrated. Through the book, I was able to co-relate few of the practices such as SAMAYIKA that I have incorporated early in my life. I have started incorporating few of the techniques from th
...more
If you are finding your way to Joy, this is definitely the book you must pick up! The author Chade-Meng Tan was a successful, yet miserable software engineer at Google found his way for happiness through mindfulness training. This book does not describes only the instructions for mindful meditation, but contains a lot of thoughtful analyses and experiences of Meng. He delivered a lot of ways and reasons for continuous mindfulness practice with effort and diligence. I enjoyed reading it very much
...more
So, the title and the puns and the cartoons are downright cheesy, and at first I wasn't sure if I could endure, but then I relaxed and eased into it, which I'm glad I did, because this is the best book on meditation/mindfulness that I have read. The exercises are scaffolded and progress from simply taking one breath to some out there, but attainable, practices. There was one practice that I read about, all the while wondering if the effects were being oversold, and then I tried it and literally
...more
Just as I read almost any book on cognitive biases, it seems I also read almost anything on mindfulness with a secular/scientific bent, though the marginal value is for me is very low...
Nonetheless, this is another, competent, totally fine intro to mindfulness. There is a large overlap with his first book. Joy on Demand is however more focused and I think I liked (and recommend it) over Search Inside Yourself.
I rated that one 5 stars, and this one 4. I leave it like that as an epitome to my inco ...more
Nonetheless, this is another, competent, totally fine intro to mindfulness. There is a large overlap with his first book. Joy on Demand is however more focused and I think I liked (and recommend it) over Search Inside Yourself.
I rated that one 5 stars, and this one 4. I leave it like that as an epitome to my inco ...more
This was the most accessible book I've read about meditation (and the first I've actually finished). He was funny and entertaining. He gave practical tips and techniques for a variety of interest and ability levels. I like that I can utilize some of the tools without taking any extra time out of life (in the car/shower, etc.) but that he also gives instructions to meditate for as little as five minutes. He makes compelling arguments and attainable steps for finding joy in small, simple ways.
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Chade-Meng Tan (Meng) is Google's Jolly Good Fellow (which nobody can deny). Meng was one of Google's earliest engineers. Among many other things, he helped build Google's first mobile search service, and headed the team that kept a vigilant eye on Google's search quality. His current job description is, "Enlighten minds, open hearts, create world peace".
Outside of Google, Meng is the Founder and ...more
Outside of Google, Meng is the Founder and ...more
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“The greatest freedom in life is to be aware of the moments that you are free from pain”
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“We have a mind condition that makes us itch for two types of pleasure: pleasure of the senses and pleasure of the ego. When our senses are pleasantly stimulated, as when we eat something tasty, or our ego is pleasantly stimulated, as when we are praised for something we did, we feel joy, which is good. What is even better is if we can feel joy independent of sense or ego pleasure. For example, when we are eating chocolate, we experience joy, and when we are just sitting there not eating chocolate, we still experience joy. In order to do this, we train the mind to access joy even when it is free from stimulation. This is also the secret of raising your happiness set point.”
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