In this episode host Robin Masiewicz and co-host Amy Frost begin their review of The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams.

The book explores how to live a more joyous life and is broken down into the “Eight Pillars”: Perspectives, Humility, Humor, Acceptance, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Compassion, and Generosity. This is one of a hundred or so (!) books  that the Dalai Lama has authored or lent his name to, and the first one with Archbishop Tutu.

The Four Independent Brain Circuits
In this week’s show, Robin mentions the “four independent brain circuits that influence our well-being. According to Davidson:
“There are four independent brain circuits that influence our lasting well-being, Davidson explained. The first is “our ability to maintain positive states.” It makes sense that the ability to maintain positive states or positive emotions would directly impact one’s ability to experience happiness. These two great spiritual leaders were saying that the fastest way to this state is to start with love and compassion.
The second circuit is responsible for “our ability to recover from negative states.” What was most fascinating to me was that these circuits were totally independent. One could be good at maintaining positive states but easily fall into an abyss of a negative state from which one had a hard time recovering. That explained a lot in my life.
The third circuit, also independent but essential to the others, is “our ability to focus and avoid mind-wandering.” This of course was the circuit that so much of meditation exists to develop. Whether it was focusing on one’s breath, or a mantra, or the analytic meditation that the Dalai Lama did each morning, this ability to focus one’s attention was fundamental.
The fourth and final circuit is “our ability to be generous.” That was amazing to me: that we had an entire brain circuit, one of four, devoted to generosity. It is no wonder that our brains feel so good when we help others or are helped by others, or even witness others being helped, which Ekman had described as the elevation that is one dimension of joy. There was strong and compelling research that we come factory equipped for cooperation, compassion, and generosity.”
― Dalai Lama, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

The Book of Joy from Human Journey on Vimeo.
Next week Robin and Amy will discuss “Perspectives”, the first of the “Eight Pillars of Joy”.
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

Join us as we cover this amazing book! We will be continuing through the end of April.