Desmond Tutu and the 14th Dalai Lama are leaders shaped by their fight against authoritarian regimes. But in a new film called Mission: Joy — Finding Happiness in Troubled Times, Tutu says that some suffering is “a necessary ingredient for developing compassion.”
Academy Award-winning director Louie Psihoyos and co-director Peggy Callahan’s film was screened in New Delhi on Tuesday and showed freewheeling interactions between the two spiritual and political figures. It revolves around the Archbishop’s five-day trip to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh in 2015 to celebrate the Tibetan spiritual leader’s 80th birthday. Several philosophical questions and topics are discussed during an interview between Tutu and the Dalai Lama. The film is inspired by the two Nobel Peace Prize laureates’ book The Book of Joy, also co-authored by Doug Abrams who explores their ideas on joy and compassion.
While talking about his experience interviewing these leaders in the film, Abrams says, “Who the hell am I to try to sit down with these two incredible spiritual leaders and try to distil their wisdom? But as Arch says, sometimes you’re the one in the room and it doesn’t matter what your strengths or weaknesses are, you have to just show up.” One might assume that because the two leaders share such an intimate friendship, they must agree entirely on their approach to joy. However, that is not the case. “I don’t think you could find two people on the planet who are more different than the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu,” said Abrams. “But immediately, they recognised each other as what they called their mischievous spiritual brother,” he added.
An insight into friendship
In a world fractured by religious differences, war and violence, Mission: Joy gives its viewers insight into the friendship between two of the world’s best-known spiritual leaders. Despite having met only six times before Desmond Tutu died in 2021, the two leaders shared a unique friendship, embracing each other and walking hand-in-hand like old pals wherever they went. Their friendship was rooted in joy and compassion and a shared sense of purpose — to spread happiness across the world.
In bringing to life their bestselling book, The Book of Joy, the documentary illustrates the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu’s insights on learning to be hopeful in trying times and the importance of suffering in one’s journey to finding happiness among many others.
When asked how one can find joy and cultivate it as a part of their life, the Tibetan spiritual leader discusses humanity’s misplaced search for happiness in material possessions. “The ultimate source of a meaningful life is within ourselves. When you say you are pursuing happiness, you are not going to find it, it’s very elusive,” says the Dalai Lama.
As the documentary progresses, the viewers also get a deeper look into the lives of these leaders and how their difficult pasts shaped them. Both Tutu and the Dalai Lama have a shared history of fighting authoritarian regimes. The latter fought against the Chinese Communist government’s eventual annexation of Tibet while the Archbishop fought apartheid in South Africa.
Tutu says, “In fact, in some ways, some suffering, maybe even intense suffering, is a necessary ingredient for developing compassion.” This statement is made while discussing how Nelson Mandela’s suffering shaped his eventual shift to a non-violent approach toward ending apartheid.
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Some takeaways
One of the key takeaways of Mission: Joy is the importance of showing compassion to others as a means of seeking joy. Archbishop Tutu’s daughter Mpho Tutu van Furth, who also accompanied him on his 2015 trip to India, said in an interview with the Deadline, “Deep faith doesn’t have to be joyless. Religion isn’t all seriousness and solemnity. Giving, generosity, gratitude are all deep wells of joy.”
The Dalai Lama says that negative emotions like anger and sadness are not normal, and if considered as a part of our mind, they can cause us harm. However, Tutu had a much healthier accepting perspective. “I think we ought not to make people feel guilty [for feeling such negative emotions]. Emotions are spontaneous things that arise,” he said.
Before the bright side
While Mission: Joy encapsulates a truly exemplary friendship between the two spiritual leaders, it also has certain shortcomings. On the whole, the conversation throughout the documentary brings up interesting ideas on seeking happiness, encouraging one’s appreciation of joy, and so on. Yet, their observations remain generic and lack a sense of connection with the issues of the time.
Throughout the documentary, the subjects propagate the need to look at the bright side of things no matter how grave the situation may be. While this can be particularly useful in many situations, it is also important to recognise the human need to first accept one’s circumstances and emotions, however dire, before finding the brighter side.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)