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Whats most striking to me is that she hasnt researched Happiness in the eastern world. The whole buddhist religion is based on trying to find happiness.
The best book that I read on the subject was "The Art of Happiness" by the Dalai Lama.

Bunch of Eastern stuff...Hagakure, Book of 5 rings, art of war, tao te ching

Subtle art of not giving a fuck,
The art of happiness

But the one book I always keep...The boy scout handbook

Interesting/Recommended:
The Snowball, Alice Schroeder

Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts

The Art of Happiness, HH Dalai Lama

Getting Things Done (I know I'm late to the party...)

Shop Class as Soulcraft, Matthew Crawford (I heard about that one here, thank-you HN)

On Writing, Stephen King

I highly recommend The Art of Happiness by Cutler.

Read this book: The Art of Happiness, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Handbook for Living

Buddhism is almost by definition compassion.

Something the Dali Lama talks about in the book "The Art of Happiness".

Or has science come up with a way to observe that now?

Fatal Revenant by Stephen Donaldson

The Art of Happiness by HH Dalai Lama

I would really recommend reading "How to Live: A Life of Montaigne" by Sarah Bakewell, "The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living" by the Dalai Lama, and "The Consolations of Philosophy" by Alain De Botton.

They're not about being a "powerful man." All three are about the philosophy of leading a life that makes you happy without compromising the way you live in order to fit in with the notions and judgements of others.

Both sapiens and The art of happiness were great books I've read.

Sapiens made history very interesting, I loved the idea behind our species being able to believe in the concept of a Created Myth( capitalism , companies, money, socialism, religion) as the main thing that made homo sapiens thrive.

The view of empires as not something bad and how they shaped our world of today and we essentially living in a global empire as well was a great point.

Buddhism is truly incredible and while I don't consider myself a Buddhist I have very similar approach to life.

Having a western psychologist/ researcher having conversations on topics about suffering, happiness, death, loneliness with Dalai Lama and how their separate views of the world interacted was awesome.

I wish I could answer your question but that would mean I'd have reached Budhha-hood :). Helping others is about the most meaningful thing you can do. What else is there?

All I can say is to try it out and see how you feel. You can support families in Africa for $10 a month.

If you want theory then you could try the following books:
1. "The Art Of Happiness" - (Interviews with Dalai Lama).
2. "A New Earth"

I made a goal to read 100 books this year. I'm through 87 so far. Most of them have been non-fiction. Using this year to learn things outside of technology has been time very well spent for me. Here are some of my top books this year.

- Currency Wars, James Rickards

- The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein

- What Technology Wants, Kevin Kelly

- The Art Of Happiness, Dalai Lama

- Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen

- The Four Agreements, Miguel Ruiz

- Man's Search For Meaning, Viktor Frankl

- Understanding Power, Noam Chomsky

- The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander

- Good To Great, Jim Collins

- Abundance, Peter Diamandis

- The Mystery Of Capital, Hernando De Soto

- Pathologies Of Power, Paul Farmer

- Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff

- Seeing Like A State, James Scott

- Ishmael, Daniel Quinn

- Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, Richard Feynman

- Beyond Fear, Bruce Schneier

- The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan

- The Birth Of Plenty, William Bernstein

Good article, but it leads you to believe that meditation is the key to his happiness.

I'm not here to discount the potential benefits of meditation but I think it's important to keep in mind how much effort the monks put into living an altruistic life.

Meditation may help bring to the surface subconscious thoughts and feelings, but the responsibility of taking action and improving negative circumstances that are realized through meditation is the real chance for improvement. Meditation without action I would argue is meaningless.

I guess my point is, there is so much much that plays a role in the overall happiness other than meditation. I read "The Art of Happiness" recently where an American psychologist interviews the Dalai Lama and juxtaposes western and eastern schools of thought on the pursuit of happiness. I highly recommend it if you haven't checked it out before.