"How is such transcendence achieved? Not through hoping or wishing, but by engaging in well-established practices."

In other words, instead of attempting the impossible task of trying to control our whole environment, the Buddhist philosophy is to take control of the way we experience that environment – in our minds. Our objective is to rearrange not the externals but the internals, to identify our habitual, negative patterns of thinking and replace them with more positive alternatives, to change not the world but the way we experience it.

"Which is all very well," you may be thinking, "but if you had to live/work/sleep with the children/boss/husband I do, no amount of mental gymnastics is going to change things."

So it may seem. But even in the most difficult circumstances, change is possible. It is for this very reason that one of the best-recognized symbols of Buddhism is the lotus, a plant which, though rooted in the filth of the swamps, transcends its surroundings to rise to the surface as a flower of the most extraordinary beauty.

A practice-based psychology

How is such transcendence achieved? Not through hoping or wishing, but by engaging in well-established practices which for thousands of years have been shown to deliver successful results.

"What do Buddhists believe?" is a question often asked. Because belief lies at the heart of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the assumption is that Buddhism too is founded on belief and that Shakyamuni Buddha is the Buddhist equivalent of Jesus or Mohammed.

In fact, Buddhism works according to a completely different model. Buddhists do not worship Buddha; rather, we regard him as an example of what we can all achieve if we quite literally put our minds to it. Buddhism suggests no ultimate divinity who will make things better, but instead provides us with the mental software we need to make things better for ourselves – and, of course, others.

The subtitle of this book, "Finding happiness in an uncertain world," refers to a deliberate process. If we wish to learn the piano or improve our golf game, we know it isn't good enough simply to own the right equipment. We have to learn how to use it, step by step, practicing the relevant techniques until we achieve a level of mastery. So it is with our minds, where the effects of Buddhist practices are observable, repeatable, and measurable.

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