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The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Douglas Carlton Abrams
Table of Contents
DAY 1 The Nature of True Joy
Why Are You Not Morose?
Nothing Beautiful Comes Without
Some Suffering
Have You Renounced Pleasure?
Our Greatest Joy
Lunch: The Meeting of Two
Mischievous People Is Wonderful
DAYS 2 & 3 The Obstacles to Joy
You Are a Masterpiece in the
Making
Fear, Stress, and Anxiety: I
Would-Be Very Nervous
Frustration and Anger: I Would
Shout
Sadness and Grief: The Hard Times
Knit Us More Closely Together
Despair: The World Is in Such
Turmoil
Loneliness: No Need for
Introduction
Envy: That Guy Goes Past Yet
Again in His Mercedes-Benz
Suffering and Adversity: Passing
through Difficulties
Illness and Fear of Death: I
Prefer to Go to Hell
Meditation: Now I’ll Tell You a
Secret Thing
DAYS 4 & 5 The Eight Pillars of Joy
1. Perspective: There Are Many
Different Angles
2. Humility: I Tried to Look
Humble and Modest
3. Humor: Laughter, Joking Is
Much Better
4. Acceptance: The Only Place
Where Change Can Begin
5. Forgiveness: Freeing Ourselves
from the Past
6. Gratitude: I Am Fortunate to
Be Alive
7. Compassion: Something We Want
to Become
8. Generosity: We Are Filled with
Joy
The Invitation to Joy
To celebrate one of our special birthdays, we met for a week in Dharamsala to enjoy our friendship and to create something that we hope will be a birthday gift for others.
There is perhaps nothing more joyous than birth, and yet so much of life is spent in sadness, stress, and suffering. We hope this small book will be an invitation to more joy and more happiness.
No dark fate determines the future. We do. Each day and each moment, we are able to create and re-create our lives and the very quality of human life on our planet.
This is the power we wield. Lasting happiness cannot be found in the pursuit of any goal or achievement. It does not reside in fortune or fame.
It resides only in the human mind and heart, and it is here that we hope you will find it. Our co-writer, Douglas Abrams, has kindly agreed to assist us in this project and interviewed us over the course of a week in Dharamsala.
We have asked him to weave our voices together and offer his own as our narrator so that we can share not only our views and our experience but also what scientists and others have found to be the wellsprings of joy.
You don’t need to believe us. Indeed, nothing we say should be taken as an article of faith. We are sharing what two friends, from very different worlds, have witnessed and learned in our long lives.
We hope you will discover whether what is included here is true by applying it in your own life. Every day is a new opportunity to begin again.
Every day is your birthday. May this book be a blessing for all sentient beings, and for all of God’s children including you.
About the Author
Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. He is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan People and of Tibetan Buddhism. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and the US Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. Born in 1935 to a poor farming family in northeastern Tibet, he was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama. He has been a passionate advocate for a secular universal approach to cultivating fundamental human values.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Southern Africa, became a prominent leader in the crusade for justice and racial reconciliation in South Africa. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. In 1994, Tutu was appointed chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission by Nelson Mandela, where he pioneered a new way for countries to move forward after experiencing civil conflict and oppression.
Douglas Abrams is an author, editor, and literary agent. He is the founder and president of Idea Architects, a creative book and media agency helping visionaries to create a wiser, healthier, and more just world. Doug has worked with Desmond Tutu as his cowriter and editor for more than a decade. Before founding his own literary agency, he was a senior editor at HarperCollins and also served for nine years as the religion editor at the University of California Press.
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