The Book of Joy

Johannesburg that was so central to the antiapartheid struggle and the site
of the Soweto Uprising. There he had a slightly larger semidetached
chapel with a stained glass window and actual pews. It was a lovely
cloistered space, and we had spent some beautiful moments of quiet
together in there. It felt like being in the spiritual headquarters of the
anti-apartheid struggle, where the Archbishop had turned to God so many
times in anguish and uncertainty and found direction.
As the Archbishop and Mpho got the bread and wine ready, the Dalai
Lama said, “A Buddhist monk does not take wine or any alcohol—in
principle, that is. But today, with you, I will take a little.” He added,
“Don’t worry, you can rest assured, I will not be drunk.”
“I still won’t let you drink and drive,” the Archbishop replied.
“This is the first time we get to pray together,” the Dalai Lama said.
“One Buddhist, one Christian, brothers. I mentioned to you that since
1975 I have been making pilgrimages to different religious traditions.
Sometimes it takes a major disaster for followers of all different faiths to
come together and see that we are the same, human brothers and sisters. I
consider what we are doing today to be part of the same kind of
pilgrimage. When I look at this statue of Jesus Christ, I am really moved.
I think this teacher has brought immense inspiration to millions of
people. Now it is time for your meditation.”
The Archbishop and Mpho handed out the small prayer booklets and
led the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion. This rite is considered to
be a reenactment of the Last Supper, which was a celebration of the
Jewish Passover meal. Jesus is believed to have said that his followers
should eat the bread and drink the wine as a remembrance of him, and for
many Christians the bread is transformed into Christ’s body and the wine
into his blood. The Eucharist celebrates Jesus’s sacrifice of himself. I had
joined the Archbishop for Eucharist many times, usually as the only Jew,
a point that the Archbishop enjoyed pointing out, often adding that I was
there to make sure the Eucharist was “kosher.” As a non-Christian, I did
not actually receive Communion, so it was a surprise to see the
Archbishop and the Dalai Lama break convention in both of their
traditions.