- Featured Magazines
- Let's Get Cooking!
- News, Politics, and Business
- Lifestyle Magazines
- Popular Magazines
- All Magazines
- See all
1 of 3 copies available
The occasion was a big birthday. And it inspired two close friends to get together in Dharamsala for a talk about something very important to them. The friends were His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The subject was joy. Both winners of the Nobel Prize, both great spiritual masters and moral leaders of our time, they are also known for being among the most infectiously happy people on the planet.
From the beginning the book was envisioned as a three-layer birthday cake: their own stories and teachings about joy, the most recent findings in the science of deep happiness, and the daily practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives. Both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu have been tested by great personal and national adversity, and here they share their personal stories of struggle and renewal. Now that they are both in their eighties, they especially want to spread the core message that to have joy yourself, you must bring joy to others.
Most of all, during that landmark week in Dharamsala, they demonstrated by their own exuberance, compassion, and humor how joy can be transformed from a fleeting emotion into an enduring way of life.
Narration Credits:
Douglas Carlton Abrams, read by the author
Dalai Lama, read by Francois Chau
Desmond Tutu, read by Peter Francis James
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
September 20, 2016 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780735207189
- File size: 294137 KB
- Duration: 10:12:47
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, interviewed by Douglas Abrams, give enlightening advice on how to achieve joy even during difficult times. Douglas Abrams is both an excellent author and interviewer who knows how to present a question most effectively and how to relay the answers of these widely respected spiritual leaders clearly and informatively. All three voices are differentiated beautifully, with Francois Chau channeling the Dalai Lama's peacefulness and Peter Francis James providing a judicious tone to represent Desmond Tutu. These two Nobel Prize winners teach joy by sharing their own journeys and practices. The narration makes listeners feel like they're in the same room as these wise men, welcomed and at peace. The pillars of joy are clearly outlined and explained. D.Z. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from August 15, 2016
Cultivating joy was the subject of a five-day conversation between the Dalai Lama and Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of South Africa, held in 2015 at the former's residence in exile in Dharamsala, India. The two Nobel Peace Prize recipients argued for a "true joy that was not dependent on the vicissitudes of circumstance," writes Abrams, who moderated the rare meeting between the two friends on the occasion of the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday. Highlighting the men's playful joking and delight in each other's company, Abrams carefully balances their strong voices during intense discussions on the many obstacles to joy (including fear, anger, and adversity) and ways to cultivate greater well-being, using as a framework the "eight pillars of joy" (perspective, humility, humor, acceptance, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity). Throughout, Abrams skillfully incorporates information about each leader's life and work, basic Buddhist principles undergirding the Dalai Lama's perspectives, and current scientific research. The dialogue intentionally focuses on areas of common ground accessible to readers of any faith or none, though Christians can be assured that Tutu's contributions are infused with his deep love of God. 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.
-