The Book of Joy – Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu: Review and Summary

Winners of Nobel Peace Prizes His Eternity After more than 50 years of oppression and exile, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are celebrating His Holiness’ 80th birthday in Dharamsala, India. Among the topics covered were the Obstacles to Joy, the Eight Pillars of Joy, spiritual practices, and the Nature of True Joy.

From the first embrace to the final goodbye, the book provides unparalleled insight into their journey. Regarded as a humble monk, the Dalai Lama talks about his daily Joy Practices, which are the basis of his mental and spiritual health. We should all aim for the peace, bravery, and happiness that the book portrays, which is based on real-life experiences of agony and turmoil.

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About the Author

His holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, calls himself an ordinary Buddhist monk. He is the Tibetan people’s and Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader. He received the US Congressional Gold Medal in 2007 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He was identified as the 13th Dalai Lama’s reincarnation at the age of two.

He was born in 1935 into a modest farming family in northern Tibet. He has been a fervent supporter of a universal, secular strategy for fostering core human values. The Dalai Lama has been in constant communication and cooperation with scientists from many fields for more over thirty years, particularly via the Mind and Life Institute, which he co-founded.

The Dalai Lama makes a lot of trips to spread compassion and generosity, interfaith understanding, environmental respect, and, most importantly, world peace. He resides in Dharamsala, India, in exile.

Archbishop Emeritus of Southern Africa Desmond Mpilo Tutu rose to prominence as a leading figure in the fight for racial harmony and justice in South Africa. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Nelson Mandela named Tutu chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1994, where he helped countries move past tyranny and civil war in a novel way. He served as The Elders’ first chair, bringing together world leaders to promote human rights and peace.

Archbishop Tutu is revered as a symbol of hope and a strong advocate for morality. He has always taught love and compassion for everyone and has a great concern for the needs of people everywhere.

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Douglas Abrams works as a literary agent, editor, and writer. In order to assist dreamers in building a more intelligent, healthy, and equitable society, he founded and serves as president of Idea Architects, a creative book and media organisation.

Before starting his own literary agency, Doug was a senior editor at HarperCollins and the religion editor at the University of California Press for nine years. He has been cowriting and editing with Desmond Tutu for more than ten years. He is a great believer in the ability of media and literature to spark the next phase of cultural evolution on a global scale.

Review

Although the question is timeless, their response is urgently important.”
Time Magazine

[An] exquisite book…An intimate glimpse into the minds of two of the world’s spiritual guides and their foundation for an attainable and practical approach to experiencing a more enriching and sustainable life of abundant joy.
Awareness of the Shelf

This sparkling, wise, and immediately useful gift to readers from two remarkable spiritual masters offers hope that joy is possible for everyone even in the most difficult circumstances and describes a clear path for attaining it.

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Magazines Weekly

Joy and compassion are more needed in the world than ever before, and the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu are the perfect pair to demonstrate how to accomplish it. We are given the gift of their wisdom and are taken on a trip through their friendship in this lovely book. A beacon of love and optimism in this earth.
That’s Sir Richard Branson.

This novel takes you right into the heart of the close connection between these two amazing people. Additionally, the book deftly examines the essence of joy itself, including the delusions that overshadow it, the barriers that obstruct it, the activities that foster it, and the foundations that uphold it.

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Summary

The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and editor Douglas Abrams collaborated to explore pleasure and happiness in The Book of pleasure: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World. A week-long discussion between these two spiritual teachers in Dharamsala, India, which may have been their final encounter because of political and health issues, is captured in the book.

Archbishop Tutu’s presence at Dharamsala marks the start of the story. Eight pillars of joy are identified by Archbishop Tutu and the Dalai Lama during their conversations. These are separated into two categories: mental characteristics (humour, perspective, humility, and acceptance) and emotional qualities (forgiveness, appreciation, compassion, and generosity).

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Personal tales and lessons from both leaders are woven throughout the book, highlighting their experiences with hardship, chiefly the exile of the Dalai Lama from Tibet and Archbishop Tutu’s contribution to South Africa’s fight against apartheid.

Their observations on overcoming the barriers to happiness—such as fear, stress, anxiety, frustration, wrath, sorrow, grief, despair, loneliness, envy, suffering, adversity, disease, and the dread of dying—are contextualised by these stories.

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