The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World (Unabridged)
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4.5 • 34 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Two great spiritual masters share their own hard-won wisdom about living with joy even in the face of adversity.
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
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
If you’re looking for abiding satisfaction and happiness, you might as well turn to the experts. In 2015, author Douglas Abrams brought together the Dalai Lama and renowned South African theologian Archbishop Desmond Tutu for a week of incredible joint interviews about the importance of joy and how to achieve it. It turns out happiness isn’t about ignoring life’s painful realities, but about having compassion for others even when you’re experiencing your darkest moments—something that’s vital for both body and soul. This powerful audiobook features Abrams’ own narration along with two actors who speak the words of the Dalai Lama and the archbishop. As we’re given some seriously amazing, change-your-whole-life wisdom, Abrams provides background into the two icons’ longtime friendship, showing how they inspire each other with a shared sense of playful humor. Regardless of your religious and spiritual beliefs, The Book of Joy is full of precious insights about becoming a better and happier person.
Customer Reviews
Splendidly Insightful
Prior to reading this book I knew of both the Archbishop and His Holiness only from afar and with a great many preconceptions about men like them. But having listened to this audiobook most closely I am glad that even people who have experienced great suffering, injustice, and grandiosity can remain humble and joyful even in such a fragmented world as ours. Thank you both for the work you do and I hope that you continue to live lives that are both joyful and at the same time contributory to the greater good of mankind. Thank you also Mr. Douglas Abrams for your part in bringing these two great souls together and I hope that you continue facilitating many other meetings between such sages for many years to come.
Light yet profound
Loved the book! Was sooo inspiring and funny at times! Touching book, straight to the heart