Understanding the Dalai Lama

by Rajiv Mehrotra

Overview

His Holiness The Dalai Lama, the remarkable exiled spiritual and temporal head of Tibet, is a statesman for our troubled times. This collection of 11 essays by scholars, writers, theologians, and others whose lives he has touched represents a broad spectrum of perspectives on this Nobel Peace Prize recipient who is also a living Buddha to six million followers.

Included among the contributions are personal reflections by those who have been privileged to get to know His Holiness, as well as illuminating introductions to some of his core beliefs.

Editor Rajiv Mehrotra, who contributes the book’s first essay, says of the Dalai Lama, "As with all truly great and inspiring leaders, his life is his message and philosophy." The essays in this volume shed light on that fascinating life . . . painting the portrait of a tireless champion of compassion, altruism, and peace who is both deeply spiritual and disarmingly human.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781401926144
Publisher:	Hay House Inc.
Publication date:	06/15/2009
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Rajiv Mehrotra, a personal student of the Dalai Lama and the author/editor of several books, was educated at the University of Delhi, the University of Oxford, and Columbia University. For more than three decades he has been a familiar face on public television in India, notably as the anchor of an in-depth, one-on-one talk show. He is presently secretary/trustee of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and managing trustee of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust. He is also a trustee of the Norbulingka Institute of Tibetan Culture, has functioned as a judge of the Templeton Prize for Spirituality, and has served on the governing councils of the Sri Aurobindo Society and the Film and Television Institute of India. An independent documentary filmmaker, he has won several international awards and five national awards from the president of India. He was nominated as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, and twice invited to speak at plenary sessions.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 The Dalai Lama: An Introduction Rajiv Mehrotra 1

2 The Dalai Lama Reincarnation Institution; the Current, Great Fourteenth; and His Roles and Teachings Robert A. F. Thurman 15

3 A Journey Isabel Hilton 35

4 Writing with His Holiness Alexander Norman 45

5 Making Kindness Stand to Reason Pico Iyer 59

6 A Simple Monk Sulak Sivaraksa 73

7 A Very Human...Human Being Mary Craig 83

8 A Portrait of the Dalai Lama Matthieu Ricard 89

9 The Ocean of Wisdom as Human and Spiritual Presence Brother Wayne Teasdale 97

10 The Buddha of Compassion in Our Midst Nick Ribush 113

11 Universal Responsibility in the Dalai Lama's Worldview Bharati Puri 121

12 Universal Responsibility and the Roots of Empathy and Compassion Daniel Goleman 139

13 Universal Responsibility: A Christian Consideration Raimon Panikkar 153

14 Gentle Bridges and Golden Seeds: The Dalai Lama Dialogues with Science Swati Chopra 167

15 The Dalai Lama as a Political Strategist Senthil Ram 181

16 His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama: A Monarch or a Socialist Ela Gandhi 197

17 The Dalai Lama and India Dalip Mehta 205

18 The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Monastic Academia Thupten Jinpa 215

19 An Unconventional Tibetan Perspective Bhuchung Tsering 231

20 A Journey Through Bylakuppe Anees Jung 237

21 In Praise of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche 243

22 The Praise of the Dalai Lama: Musings Jeffrey Hopkins 255

23 The Dalai Lama and History U.R. Anantha Murthy 263

Contributors' Bio Notes 265

Acknowledgments 270

About the Editor 271

Editorial Reviews

Of the making of books by, for, and about His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, arguably the most recognizable religious leader of our time since the death of Mother Teresa, there is and will be no end. The Hampton Roads book is a pocket-sized selection of one- and two-page reflections on "Tibet and Life in Exile," "The World Today," and "Life, Death, and Rebirth." It should serve as an excellent teaser for readers new to the Dalai Lama and a handy portable for his followers. The Hay House book is a collection of varied-but uniformly respectful, not to say worshipful-views of His Holiness, personal, political, and theological. Many readers will find Robert A.F. Thurman's thumbnail sketch of the Dalai Lama useful. For larger collections.

—Graham Christian

Library Journal