10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works

This word refers to Buddhist teaching and practice in general. It is also used to describe everything that was taught by the Buddha after he became the awakened one.

A term that many have translated to mean life’s “suffering,” which is tied to pain, pleasure turning to pain, or a person’s knowledge that life is impermanent. However, many of Harris’s teachers translate this term to refer to life’s “stressful” or “unsatisfying” nature (142). Increased meditative practice can lessen dukkha.

In certain Buddhism schools, there are four stages to enlightenment, or Nirvana, which is the state of awakening from samsara, the endless cycle of birth and death. Long-term eroding of the ego through meditation can lead to enlightenment.

A guru is a mentor, guide, or master. This term is generally used to describe spiritual guide who leads the novice through initiation into a practice. It is not a term that is interchangeable with yogi.

Metta is a meditation that focuses on loving-kindness for the self and others. You wish happiness and wellness to yourself, a mentor, a dear friend, a neutral person, a difficult person, and then all beings (134). In Chapter 10, Harris credits adding metta to his meditation practice with making him a happier, nicer human.

Also known as kamma, karma is the idea that a person’s deeds have a cause (intent) and effect (result) that can influence the future of that person, physically, mentally, and spiritually. In Indian religions, including Buddhism, the principle of karma is essential. Good intent played out with good deeds contributes to enlightenment and its concept of positive rebirth. Bad intent leads to bad karmic results. Despite how it is sometimes portrayed in Western media, karma is not synonymous with revenge.

Meditation is a sustained breathing practice in which practitioners sit or lie quietly and focus on their breathing. Buddhists practice meditation as part of their path toward enlightenment, or awakening, at which point they are released from stress, worry, and forms of craving. One technique in meditation is mindfulness, which trains the mind to be alert. Other meditations work toward kindness and compassion, tranquility, and equanimity (calmness and composure).

The term called mudita usually translates to sympathetic joy, which comes about from feeling pleasure that someone else has happiness. Harris experiences mudita when thinking about his mother and his niece Campbell (141).

A Buddhist term, the monkey mind is used to describe the “churning of the ego” (91). As Harris puts it, “Our minds are furry little gibbons: always agitated, never at rest” (91). These “monkeys” create anxiety. Meditation, according to Buddhist meditation teachers and scientists, can create a level of ease in the monkey mind, enabling some release from tension.

In the state called Nirvana (also known as Nibbana), dukkha is relieved and rebirth, or transformation, begins. The word translates to mean “quench,” and the concept suggests that with intense study and practice, the meditator can drown out greed, aversion, and ignorance to attain enlightenment.

This is a concept developed by Joseph Goldstein. He suggests that we may have moments where we notice a thought that arises and passes. Initially, this is very low. As meditators perfect their practice, their rate of “noticings per minute” goes up. This ushers in a state of insight, which is the goal of an individual practice session. Harris experiences vivid NPMs on day five at the Spirit Rock retreat (138-39).

“On the cushion” is a phrase that can be used to describe where a meditator may sit, which is on a cushion that lifts the participant’s hips off the floor to support the spine. Most often, however, when the phrase is used, it is meant to describe the time the practitioner spends in meditation.

Prapañca is a Buddhist term used to refer to the human tendency to imagine events played out into an ultimate worst-case scenario. It can translate to “proliferation” or “the imperialistic tendency of mind” (90). Harris uses the term to explain his tendency to imagine his flaws leading to ultimate failing.

The areas of gray matter at the front of the brain that play a role in complex cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functions are called the prefrontal cortices. Harris notes that MRI studies show that after meditation, areas associated with stress shrank in the brain whereas these areas grew (168-69). This may show that meditation helps the brain become more resilient.

PTSD is an acronym for the psychological condition called post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a condition in which a person who has gone through a traumatic or frightening event experiences traumatic symptoms (such as fight-or-flight responses) after being exposed to a trigger reminding them of the previous event. Panic attacks, like the one Harris had on GMA, are common symptomatic responses in PTSD. Meditation has been shown to give some relief to those who have PTSD.

RAIN is an acronym for a mindfulness method developed by American psychiatrist and author Tara Brach, which focuses mindfulness into a four-step process (112). The first is to recognize (R) the situation or feelings that occur during a given situation. The second is to allow (A) those feelings to be valid. It is important to then investigate (I) those feelings and their manifestation in the body. Lastly, one must engage in non-identification (N), realizing that these thoughts and/or feelings are transitory.

According to Buddhist ideas, the wanting mind is when the mind falls into a state of obsessively desiring something that one thinks will relieve dukkha. It is considered a block toward enlightenment. Harris realized he had entered this phase in life when it came to eating desserts, jockeying for positions at ABC News, and using drugs.