Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lamaand Archbishop Desmond Tutu have survived more than fifty years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. Despite their hardships—or, as they would say, because ofthem—they are two ofthe most joyful people on the planet.
InApril 2015, Archbishop Tutu traveled to the Dalai Lama‘s home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate His Holiness’s eightieth birthday and to create what they hoped would be a gift for others. They looked back on their long lives to answer a single burning question: How do we find joyinthe face of life’s inevitable suffering?
They traded intimate stories, teased each other continually, and shared their spiritual practices. By the end ofa week filled with laughter and punctuated with tears, these two global heroes had stared into theabyss and despair of our time and revealed how to live a life brimming with joy.
This bookoffers us a rare opportunity to experience their astonishing and unprecendented week together, from the first embrace to the final good-bye.
We get to listen as they explore the Nature of True Joyand confront each ofthe Obstacles ofJoy—from fear, stress, and anger to grief, illness, and death. They then offer us the Eight Pillars ofJoy, which provide the foundation for lastinghappiness. Throughout, they include stories, wisdom, and science. Finally, they share their daily Joy Practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives.
TheArchbishop has never claimed sainthood, and the Dalai Lama considers himself a simple monk. In this unique collaboration, they offer us the reflection of real lives filled with painand turmoil inthe midst of which they have been able to discover a level of peace, of courage, and ofjoy to which we can all aspire in our own lives.