In April 2015, Archbishop Desmond Tutu visited the Dalai Lama's home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate His Holiness's eightieth birthday. Out of their dialogues emerged this book on joy. These two spiritual teachers have struggled with suffering and pain: the Dalai Lama has been in exile from his home in Tibet for 50 years and the Archbishop felt first-hand the sting of racial hatred during apartheid in South Africa.

Yet both of them are known for their smiles, their laughter, and their deep sense of joy. They have shown with their words and deeds that this spiritual quality is a natural result of peace, resilience, and equilibrium; it is far richer and deeper than happiness. During their week together, author, editor, and literary agent Douglas Adams guided their dialogues and wove their ideas into a cogent narrative filled with meaning and fresh insights.

The Book of Joy contains three main sections. In "The Nature of True Joy," the two spiritual leaders share their experiences of suffering, pleasure, and great joy. In "The Obstacles to Joy," they take a sobering look at such challenges as anxiety, anger, sadness and grief, despair, loneliness, envy, illness, and fear of death. The third section deals with their assessments of "The Eight Pillars of Joy." These emanate from the mind -- perspective, humility, humor, acceptance -- and heart --forgiveness, gratitude, compassion and generosity.

Here is a sampler of quotations from these two spiritual elders:

  • "The more time you spend thinking about yourself, the more suffering you will experience."
    — His Holiness the 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. But if you have an open heart and are filled with trust and friendship, even if you are physically alone, even living a hermit's life, you will never feel lonely."
    — Archbishop Desmond Tutu
  • "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?"
    — His Holiness the Dalai Lama
  • "We are fragile creatures, and it is from this weakness, not despite it, that we discover the possibility of true joy."
    — Archbishop Desmond Tutu
  • "Taking care of others, helping others, ultimately is the way to discover your own joy and to have a happy life."
    — His Holiness the Dalai Lama
  • "Discovering more joy does not save us from the inevitability of hardship and heartbreak. In fact, we may cry more easily, but we will laugh more easily too. Perhaps we are just more alive."
    — Archbishop Desmond Tutu