The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
What if two of the world's most joyful people sat down together to answer life's most important question: How do we find happiness in the face of suffering?
In April 2015, Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu came together in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate the Dalai Lama's eightieth birthday. Over five extraordinary days, these two spiritual giants traded intimate stories, teased each other relentlessly, and shared their hard-won wisdom about living with joy even in the face of adversity.
Both have survived more than fifty years of exile and oppression. Yet despite their hardships, or as they would say, because of them, they remain two of the most infectiously happy people on the planet.
This New York Times bestseller takes you inside their remarkable week together as they explore the obstacles to joy, including fear, stress, anger, grief, illness, and death. They reveal the Eight Pillars of Joy that provide the foundation for lasting happiness. The book weaves together their personal stories, the latest science on deep happiness, and daily practices that anchor their own spiritual lives.
With over 1 million copies sold, discover why readers worldwide call this book a life-changing gift.
Interesting Facts
Two Nobel Laureates, One Question: Both authors are Nobel Peace Prize winners who have endured extraordinary suffering. The Dalai Lama has lived in exile from Tibet for over fifty years, while Archbishop Tutu fought against apartheid in South Africa. Despite their hardships, they're known as two of the most joyful people on the planet.
Sparked By a Birthday Celebration: The book originated from Archbishop Desmond Tutu's visit to Dharamsala, India in April 2015 to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday. What started as a birthday gathering transformed into five days of deep conversation about finding joy.
Over One Million Copies Sold: The book became an instant New York Times bestseller and has sold over one million copies worldwide. It also won the 2016 Books for a Better Life Award in Spirituality.
Three Authors Collaborated: While the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu are the main voices, Douglas Carlton Abrams served as the third author. He facilitated the dialogues, asked questions, and wove their wisdom into a cohesive narrative. Abrams had worked with Archbishop Tutu for over a decade before this project.
Questions Came From Around the World: The questions posed during their conversations weren't just from Abrams. He collected more than a thousand questions from people worldwide in just three days, asking what they wanted to know from these spiritual leaders.
Eight Pillars of Joy: The book outlines eight specific pillars of joy. Four are qualities of the mind: perspective, humility, humor, and acceptance. Four are qualities of the heart: forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity.
Almost Called "Book of Compassion": No matter what question the interviewer asked, the answer was most often compassion. Abrams nearly changed the title to The Book of Compassion because the theme appeared so frequently.
A Likely Final Meeting: Due to their advancing age and health challenges, this week together was likely their last in-person meeting. Archbishop Tutu was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, and both men had difficulty traveling. Their goodbye was tearful, knowing this might be their final embrace.
Daily Practices Included: Beyond theory, the book provides practical joy exercises readers can try. These include meditation practices that both leaders use to anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives. The Dalai Lama admits that some days he can't come up with an intention, so he simply resolves to help others or at least bring no harm.
Five Cameras Captured Everything: For a week they sat in a pool of soft light while five video cameras filmed around them. The lighting was carefully arranged to protect the Dalai Lama's sensitive eyes.
Dancing For the First Time: During the birthday celebration at the Tibetan Children's Village, the Dalai Lama danced for the first time in his life. Tutu's joyful spirit proved irresistible.
Netflix Brought It to Screen: In 2021, Netflix released Mission: Joy, a documentary featuring footage from their historic meeting. A children's edition called The Little Book of Joy followed in 2022.
Humor Is a Spiritual Indicator: Douglas Abrams observed that after working with numerous spiritual leaders, he's tempted to say that a sense of humor is a universal indicator of spiritual elevation. Both men demonstrated this constantly, with the Archbishop poking fun at reincarnation and the Dalai Lama joking about going to Hell according to Christian tradition.
Quotes
"Joy is the reward, really, of seeking to give joy to others. When you show compassion, when you show caring, when you show love to others, do things for others, joy will come to you." - Dalai Lama
"The most important quality to have toward your day is gratitude for what you have experienced, even for what was hard and what allowed you to learn and grow." - Dalai Lama
"If you are setting out to be joyful you are not going to end up being joyful. You’re going to find yourself turned in on yourself." - Desmond Tutu
"A compassionate concern for others’ well-being is the source of happiness… a self-centered attitude is the source of the problem." - Dalai Lama
"Acceptance, it must be pointed out, is the opposite of resignation and defeat." - Dalai Lama
"Much depends on your attitude. If you are filled with negative judgment and anger, then you will feel separate from other people. You will feel lonely." - Dalai Lama
"As soon as I wake up… I remember that everything is interrelated, the teaching of interdependence. So then I set my intention for the day, that this day should be meaningful." - Dalai Lama
"We are fragile creatures, and it is from this weakness, not despite it, that we discover the possibility of true joy." - Dalai Lama
"There are going to be frustrations in life. The question is not: How do I escape? It is: How can I use this as something positive?" - Desmond Tutu
"The more time you spend thinking about yourself, the more suffering you will experience. The grateful world is a world of joyful people." - Dalai Lama
"Sadly, many of the things that undermine our joy and happiness, we create ourselves. Often it comes from the negative tendencies of the mind, emotional reactivity, or from our inability to appreciate and utilize the resources within us… We create most of our suffering, so it should be logical that we also have the ability to create more joy." - Dalai Lama
"You are made for perfection, but you are not yet perfect. You are a masterpiece in the making." - Desmond Tutu
"Discovering more joy does not, I’m sorry to say, save us from the inevitability of hardship and heartbreak. In fact, we may cry more easily, but we will laugh more easily, too." - Desmond Tutu
"Something is lacking. As one of the seven billion human beings, I believe everyone has the responsibility to develop a happier world. We need, ultimately, to have a greater concern for others’ well-being. In other words, kindness or compassion, which is lacking now." - Dalai Lama
"The goal is not just to create joy for ourselves but, as the Archbishop poetically phrased it, “to be a reservoir of joy, an oasis of peace, a pool of serenity that can ripple out to all those around you.”" - Dalai Lama
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