TC351: The Book of Joy – Relationships and Community

In this week's podcast we conclude our Cafe Book Club review of "The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World". Host Robin Masiewicz and co-host Amy Frost provide a meditation exercise for each one of the Eight Pillars of Joy, and Robin demonstrates a Laughter Yoga exercise that will put a smile on your face.

From the description on Amazon:
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 80s, 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.

This book is filled with the wisdom of these two great spiritual leaders. They share their simple but profound ideas of how a shift in thought or behavior can have a tremendous impact on one's sense of joy, regardless of the challenges we experience. And as we've seen science backs up their claims that humility, humor, acceptance, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity have a significant impact on our level of happiness.
The Eight Pillars of Joy:

Perspectives: There are many different angles
Humility: I try to look humble and modest
Humor: Laughter, joking is much better
Acceptance: The only place where change can begin
Forgiveness: Freeing ourselves from the past
Gratitude: I am fortunate to be alive
Compassion: Something we want to become
Generosity: We are filled with joy

We are grateful that we've been able to share this wonderful book with our audience. If you even need a reminder of how a change of perspective can make a difference, or how acceptance can help you to move forward, feel free to revisit these episode. We encourage you to share the book with your friends and family in the hope that they too will be able to experience more joy in their lives.
Additional Resources:
In the podcast Amy makes a reference to St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus,