I have read a book with the Dalai Lama's name on the cover before. It was A Call For Revolution which was co-written with Sophia Stril-Rever. I reviewed it on this blog here.
The Dalai Lama has what seems to be a precursor book called The Art of Happiness written with the psychiatrist Dr. Howard C. Cutler. I have not read The Art of Happiness, however. So I can't be sure how comparable it is to The Book of Joy. Both books do have similar themes.
The context of the coming together of the authors of The Book of Joy was that Archbishop Tutu joined the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala because the South African government wouldn't give the Dalai Lama a visa. The Archbishop also met exiled Tibetans in Dharamsala. He wanted to assure them that they could take back Tibet just as Black South Africans had managed to reclaim South Africa from those who had imposed apartheid on them.
In addition to the Tibetan Buddhist and Christian aspects, The Book of Joy addresses the scientific study of meditation. The Dalai Lama said that he found the scientific approach to meditation inspiring.
We learn from The Book of Joy that the Archbishop Tutu's daughter, Mpho, is a lesbian who sought to become an Anglican minister. Unfortunately, she was forced to choose between her marriage to a woman and her church. The Anglican Church officially does not allow its clergy to have same sex marriages. Yet the Episcopalian Church of the United States, which was originally derived from the Anglican Church, does allow its clergy to marry members of the same sex. This is why Archbishop Tutu's daughter, Mpho Tutu Van Furth chose to become an Episcopalian priest. The Archbishop supported his daughter's choices.
I had previously read about South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was mentioned in this book. I had first encountered it in the novel How The Water Falls by K.P. Kollenborn which I reviewed here, and in the novel He Does Not Die A Death of Shame by Jack Hoffmann which I reviewed here. This commission dealt with testimony from witnesses and with applications for amnesty from those who violated the rights of individuals during the struggle against apartheid.
The commission was chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I believe that Archbishop Tutu would have played his role in chairing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with integrity. When I started this book, I knew nothing about Desmond Tutu other than his name. Now I respect him. I know now that he received the Nobel Peace Prize. I am also aware that he is deceased. This is public information. I don't believe that the concept of spoilers applies to non-fiction books especially when the facts involved are well known.
You should read this book for the synergy between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu. I am convinced that together they sparked insights that might not exist otherwise.
I was amused by the Dalai Lama's agile riposte to the Chinese Communist Party's insistence that they want to find the 15th Dalai Lama. He said let them recognize the reincarnations of their own deceased Communist leaders before they become involved with finding the next Dalai Lama. He mentions recently dead Chinese leaders. I'd love to know about the reincarnation of Chairman Mao myself.
This book is intended for general readers, not academic scholars. There are no footnotes or endnotes. I also searched in vain for an index or a bibliography. If the readers of this blog do want academic scholarship on the Dalai Lama or Desmond Tutu, they might search the websites of local college libraries for such content. If they have no borrowing privileges there, they may still actually go to the library. They will probably be able to be view it there. I have gone to the libraries of universities that I don't attend and examined books on the premises. Academic librarians have no problems with courteous users who respect the rules of the library.
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