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ChatChat - Claudia Cragg


Dec 24, 2016

To listen to the interview, please click the 'pod' icon next to title. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays one and all. 

KGNU's Claudia Cragg speaks here with Douglas Abrams about his work with His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Reverend Desmond Tutu on 'The Book of Joy'. They have survived more than fifty years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. Despite their hardships or, as they would say, because of them they are two of the most joyful people on the planet.


In April 2015, Archbishop Tutu traveled to the Dalai Lama's home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate His Holiness's eightieth birthday and to create what they hoped would be a gift for others. They looked back on their long lives to answer a single burning question: How do we find joy in the face of life's inevitable suffering?


They traded intimate stories, teased each other continually, and shared their spiritual practices. By the end of a week filled with laughter and punctuated with tears, these two global heroes had stared into the abyss and despair of our time and revealed how to live a life brimming with joy.


We hear from Doug Abrams how the book offers us a rare opportunity to experience their astonishing and unprecedented week together, from the first embrace to the final good-bye.

They explore the Nature of True Joy and confront each of the Obstacles of Joy from fear, stress, and anger to grief, illness, and death. They then offer us the Eight Pillars of Joy, which provide the foundation for lasting happiness. Throughout this wonderful work, they include stories, wisdom, and science. Finally, they share their daily Joy Practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives.