Summary

Before delving back into the conversation, Abrams informs the reader his overall goal the line of questioning in this chapter: he wants to explore “the relationship between joy and pleasure and between what the Dalai Lama has called happiness at the physical level and happiness at the mental level” (51). In other words, he wants to hear the Dalai Lama’s opinion of the boundary between enjoyment and greed. His first question is also the name of this chapter: “Have you renounced pleasure?” he asks the Dalai Lama (52).

The Dalai Lama answers by clarifying that there are two different types of happiness: “the enjoyment of pleasure” and “happiness at a deeper level through our mind, such as through love, compassion, and generosity” (53). He suggests that when joy and pleasure come from within, the temptation to indulge in pleasures of the senses subsides...