The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams

 In 2015 Desmond Tutu was invited to attend a celebration of the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday.  The two men had met before and had developed a quick and deep bond.  The week before the celebration the two men met daily to talk about different aspects of finding joy.  They were lead by Douglas Abrams and their discussions were recorded. In writing the book, Abrams adds notes about current scientific research that supports the concepts put forward by the two men.  He also gives some history of each man's journey in life and contributions to the world.  The book ends with descriptions of different practices performed by the two religious leaders that support the eight-fold path to joy discussed in the book. 

Last week I was having some emotional struggles including feelings that I lacked sources of joy in my life. I usually turn to a fluffy clean romance in such cases, but I had read several of those lately, and was a bit tired of them. I found this title by chance, and checked it out because I admire the work of both the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. The book turned out to be, not only delightful, but insightful.  It is delightful because the author describes the caring and joyful interactions between these two spiritual giants. He recounts gentle teasing and light heartedness, as well as gestures of genuine affection. The two men really do seem to be dear friends, despite the differences in their religious views. Abrams makes a point to emphasis that they agree more than they differ on their views of how to bring joy into life.  What I loved most about the book is that His Holiness and His Grace didn't give slick, carefully scripted sermons about Joy.  Instead they were just sharing simple principles they learned from long lives of both suffering and service.  The whole book feels very authentic, like the reader is able to sit down and have tea with two of the greatest forces for good in our generation.  I also liked the suggested practices at the end of the book.  Some are meditation practices, and some are prayer practices.  I am considering purchasing the ebook version for my kindle so I can go back and review those again. (2016, 386 p.)