My Book Review > The Book of Joy, by HH the Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu

Everyone (well, almost!) agrees that we should do our best to make this world a safer and better world… i.e.: “a happier, kinder, more compassionate world”. Sadly however, most people think it’s a beautiful but unattainable dream. In this book however, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated that it is in our Human Nature to seek happiness and joy; hence, since we are social animals, the only way to be happy and joyful is to look at others, to be compassionate. Indeed, if you focus on yourself, you will feel lonely and sad: “Everybody wants a happy life, and our individual happy life depends on a happy humanity. So we have to think about humanity” said the Dalai Lama. Hence, joy depends on our ability to go beyond ‘self-centeredness’. Archbishop Desmond Tutu added: “We are most joyful when we focus on others, not on ourselves. In short, bringing joy to others is the fastest way to experience joy oneself”. “The people we admire are those who have been other-regarding”… And, citing Martin Luther King: “We must learn to live together as sisters and brothers, or we will perish together as fools”. “A person is a person through other persons”. However, if “we are meant to live in Joy, this doesn’t mean that life will be easy or painless. It means that we can turn our faces to the wind and accept that this is the storm we must pass through. We cannot succeed by denying what exists. The acceptance of reality is the only place from which change can begin” (Desmond Tutu). Later, His Holiness stated: “Religion is not sufficient. I think the only way really is, as we have said, through education. Education is universal. We must teach people, especially our youth, the source of happiness and satisfaction”.

After several days of discussion, the two Nobel laureates concluded that there are eight pillars of Joy: a wider perspective (rejecting self-centeredness), humility, sense of humor and ability to laugh at ourselves, acceptance of life, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity: in other words, sense of otherness and acceptation of reality. "Why be unhappy about something if it can be remedied? And what is the use of being unhappy if it can't be remedied?" asked the Dalai Lama. Yes, ‘The book of Joy’ is enthralling. Written with a dash of humor, it radiates happiness. More importantly, it enabled me to share a fabulous, a beautiful and enriching experience; it brings hope and lightens the path. I really loved it! Kacey Kells.