The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On the tarmac at Dharamsala’s tiny airport, Desmond Tutu — cancer back, leaning on a cane — reached up and kissed the Dalai Lama on both cheeks. The Dalai Lama, taken from his parents at two and raised in a palace where nobody kissed anyone, flinched, then laughed. Each called the other his “mischievous spiritual brother.” Waiting in the wings before a joint talk once, the Dalai Lama had pretended to choke him. “Hey, the cameras are on us,” Tutu said. “Act like a holy man.” Douglas Abrams filmed the week that followed: five days of dialogue on one question. How do you stay joyful after life has taken the thing you love most?

Douglas Abrams on SummaryShelf

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World