Root to Flourish READS: ‘The Book of JOY: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World'

"The ultimate source of happiness is within us.”

-- His Holiness The Dalai Lama

This is a ‘Root to Flourish READS’ post, a monthly blog post feature offering a book recommendation. It’ll always be a book I’ve read and loved, and a book I believe can be beneficial in enhancing emotional wellbeing!

What’s it about?

‘The Book of Joy’ chronicles a week long visit between His Holiness The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a prominent leader in the crusade for justice and racial reconciliation in South Africa.

They look back over their own long lives - filled with hardship, struggle, and challenge - and attempt to provide an answer to the question: How do we find joy in the face of life’s inevitable suffering?

They explore the ‘Nature of True Joy,’ the ‘Obstacles to Joy,’ and provide the ‘Eight Pillars of Joy,’ as well as an Appendix of ‘Joy Practices.’

Why I love it 

I am not blindly optimistic. I am not toxically positive. I will never advise my clients to simply “think positive.” It’s not all puppies, and unicorns, and rainbows, people …

We must acknowledge the difficulties, the struggles, the hardships, and also acknowledge the good.

I love this book because these two men have lived real lives of pain, turmoil, and threat. And, perhaps not in spite of, but because of those experiences, they positively exude peace, courage, and joy. They teach us how not to ignore or sugar coat what is difficult, but instead to acknowledge such hardships, and from that place, to cultivate joy.

I’m also a practical person.

This book delivers on that front too: the ‘Joy Practices’ appendix is full of concrete, actionable wisdom.

(You might find that many of the books I recommend are both spiritual and practical - a combination I adore and find extremely potent in effecting long-term change.).

How might it enhance emotional wellbeing?

As the title proclaims, this book is about joy. It helps us understand joy, what gets in the way of our joy, and how to be more joyful.

I particularly find the ‘Obstacles to Joy’ section of the book immensely helpful. These chapters illuminate how we get in our own way, and how we create and maintain hurdles to our own happiness. So much of my work with my clients is exploring these patterns, cultivating awareness around them, and guiding and supporting them to become empowered to make different choices and shift them for new outcomes.

It provides knowledge, and concrete steps on a path forward, to creating a joyful life.

The Dalai Lama says: “The ultimate source of happiness is within us.” And this book is a primer on how to access that inner source.

What next?

I’m a GIANT fan of the public library, borrow the book today!

If you want to buy the book, you can find it here, on Bookshop.org, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World. (I love Bookshop.org - it’s a site that allows you to buy books from independent bookstores!)

Or, if you’d rather listen to it, again, you can borrow it from the library, or it’s on Audible, The Book of Joy.