Global Summit Speakers Insist Joy is Attainable in Troubled Times

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Today's cumulative sense of gloom and doom – sometimes known by the German term zeitgeist, or "spirit of the times" – can be understood given the instances of war, fear-driven politics and a global pandemic that brought the world to a halt for two years.

Yet, say proponents, even in troubled times, whether personal or universal, there still exists the opportunity to cultivate joy – a state of being in which one's personal satisfaction and contentment rests not on the acquisition of money, goods or power, but on the expression of love and service to others.

That's the overall message of the Global Joy Summit, an online festival happening Nov. 13-16 that builds upon the work of both spiritual leaders and scientists pushing back against the angst that burdens millions of people after the tumult of recent years. The event brought together some 30 speakers ranging from university professors and social scientists to yoga teachers, Christian prelates, Buddhist monks, actors and musicians.

The summit opened Nov. 13 with a collective online "watch party" featuring the movie, "Mission: JOY," a documentary featuring the friendship of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the late South African Anglican leader, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Dalai Lama escaped Tibet in 1958 when the Chinese overran his country and has spent his lifetime as a leader in exile opposing the Chinese Communist regime. Archbishop Tutu was the spiritual leader of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and in the 1990s chaired its unprecedented Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the post-apartheid process through which the white oppressors of South Africa's Black majority confessed to their crimes and sought forgiveness.

Rather than darkening their hearts and souls, the respective suffering endured by both men left them with an extraordinary mutual commitment to foster peace and reconciliation in a violence-ridden world. While they differed on some details – such as the Dalai Lama's belief that emotions lik hatred and anger can be eliminated through rigorous spiritual discipline – the 21st century's two most famous holy men were unequivocal in their convictions that the world needs joy more than ever, and that true joy must be cultivated from within, not from without.

"Mission: JOY" resulted from a 2016 publication, "The Book of Joy," co-written by Douglas Abrams, His Holiness and the late archbishop, who died less than a year ago after repeated bouts with cancer. Archbishop Tutu's infectious giggle and the Dalai Lama's full-throated laugh punctuate their dialogue, expressed by the way the two men, both holders of the Nobel Peace Prize, continually tease one another and hold hands as they speak the same truths from their respective belief traditions. The movie was available for 48 hours after its initial Nov. 13 showing but can be accessed with the purchase of a package of videos from the summit.

The second day of the summit opened with an unlikely theme: the "inseparability of joy and sorrow." Underscoring the conversations of Archbishop Tutu and the Dalai Lama, a series of scientists, spiritual leaders and noted comic actor Rainn Wilson, a Baha'i, stressed that the cultivation of joy holds the key to a fulfilling personal life and to the well-being of communities as well.

'An extraordinary ordinary woman'

The second-day series began with a 47-minute interview with Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry of the Episcopal Church by Peggy Callahan, co-director of the "Mission: JOY" documentary. Noted for his animated sermon on love at the wedding of Britain's Prince Harry and actress Megan Markle, Bishop Curry said he learned to develop joy from watching the example of his late grandmother, who moved in to care for his family after his mother suffered a brain hemorrhage that left her in a coma.

"Grandma was an incredibly extraordinary ordinary woman," Bishop Curry told Ms. Callahan. "She grew up in segregated South child of sharecroppers. She buried two children and her husband, had two sons go off to war and come back. Yet she was a vibrant remarkable person who just kept smiling and living."

"Grandma was a dyed-in-the-wool, rock-ribbed Baptist. She wasn't a shouter herself, but she got energy from watching others in church shouting and singing. She was in touch with the power we call Spirit, God. That's the same energy that created the world in the first place. That was enough to get her thru the week. She's my hero."

"My grandmother may not be unique," Bishop Curry said. "There are people around us, people who are connected to the energy of goodness and compassion. That energy I call God."

Bishop Curry added that those in need of joy today can find it from resources other than a faith community, but he encourages people to join in "communities of people, healthy, loving, liberating.

"Find those communities and dwell there," the bishop said.

'The Science of Emodiversity'

Mr. Abrams, the "Book of Joy" co-author, interviewed two University of California-Berkeley professors who work with the Greater Good Science Center, Dacher Keltner and Emiliana Simon-Thomas. Their segment was titled "The Science of Emodiversity: Making Friends with All of Our Emotions as the Foundation of Joy."

Both researchers acknowledged they've struggled individually with what some might call "negative" emotions – Keltner with anxiety and Simon-Thomas with anger. However, both said that their research led them to see that all emotions are an inherent part of being human; it's how people manage their emotions that make the difference in their lives and relationships.

"How do we know if an emotion is going sour?" Dr. Simon-Thomas asked rhetorically. "Is it causing harm? Anger has an adaptive purpose, such as anger at injustice. But if that solution is to punch someone in the face, that's not good, both in a self-directed way and the way we interact. If the emotional experience is causing harm, it's not helping anymore."

Brooding over one's perceived hurts, which scientists call "rumination," makes the situation worse, said Dr. Keltner.

"We know that emotions have a patterned response that lasts maybe 20 seconds," Dr. Keltner said. "Then the mind gets involved – making sense of it, making light of it, then getting a sense of what the context means. The opportunities for continuing an emotion are how we interpret or misinterpret them. Science calls it rumination; it can last for a long time."

Sadness vs. depression

Dr. Keltner said that it's essential to recognize the difference between sadness, which he sees as a benefit, and depression, in which one detaches from emotions and life.

"Sadness benefits us because it causes us to slow down to reflect," the professor explained. "Loss brings appreciation. Tears mark what is sacred to me, and this is what I share with people I care about. We need to stop stifling our sadness, stop medicating it. Sadness tells us what we care about."

Drs. Keltner and Simon-Thomas suggested that contemplative literature offers many techniques, such as meditation, to help people embrace the full range of their emotions to cultivate joy. Dr. Keltner said he was particularly interested in the revival of ritual.

"Modern life has de-ritualized our social connections," he said. "There are many ways to engage in ritual: honoring the morning, chanting, greeting, rituals around food. The final piece that's lacking in most studies is culture – art, music, literature, poems. People derive enormous joy from that."

Dr. Simon-Thomas added: "Engage with other people; dwell in space of connection and support, whether sadness or joy. Share emotion. We're more deprived than we need to be in interacting with one another."

The Global Joy Summit continues through Nov. 16. The Nov. 15 theme is "Joy is An Inside (Out) Job." The Nov. 16 theme is "Interconnection and Ubuntu." ("Ubuntu" is an African concept of mutually beneficial human community).

Participants may register for free to gain access to each day's videos for 48 hours. Packages for long-term access may be purchased.

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011. Email the Editor for permission to reproduce this content elsewhere.