Summary

This chapter is interesting because it is not about the larger pursuit of joy, but it is descriptive account of a profound experience between the two religious leaders: the sharing in their meditation traditions. The Archbishop participated in a thoughtful form of clear light of death meditation, and the Dalai Lama received Holy Communion.

The meditation the Dalai Lama asks his guests to participate in focuses on “training our mind by going through quite a detailed process for what we will experience at the time of death” (176). Though this sounds dark, Buddhists practice for “getting ready for another destination in life,” for Buddhists, reincarnation, and for Christians, heaven (176). Before moving from the Buddhist tradition to the Christian tradition, the men playfully joke about their spiritual differences. When the Archbishop calls for silence, the Dalai Lama jokes: “Yes...