The Dalai Lama's Book of Love and Compassion

by Dalai Lama XIV

The Dalai Lama is one of the most renowned and beloved spiritual leaders in the world. In this small book, intended to speak to everyone, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike, he simply and clearly addresses the concerns of modern life.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Buddhism, Spirituality, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2002

About the author

Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India.

Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.

On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.

After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.

Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.

Reviews

[Antonomasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this much more likeable than The Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom - not surprising really as it was on the idea of metta that I clicked with Buddhism. After a day spent in an office listening to people who bitched about celebrities for no reason I could comprehend, and often seeing more such on the internet, here were people who got what I thought! In the metta meditation I always liked the fourth part, about 'everybody' – I often felt that way anyway just people-watching on buses and trains (especially if they weren't overcrowded). Most of this book I simply found sweet and warm and cosy, although it was occasionally trite: e.g. “we should look to the next century to be one of dialogue” - to be fair the book is based on material from 1996 when the West was still in the afterglow of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and religious fundamentalists, increasing economic inequality, failure to do enough about climate change, and the possibility that robots will have taken most jobs in a few decades were not really preying on people's minds.

The most interesting page philosophically was one which discussed tolerance, saying that true tolerance only occurs when a person has the power to take effective negative action and decides not to do so. Helplessness is not tolerance. He says So my tolerance towards the Chinese is actually quite open to question – is it really genuine tolerance or not?

[Mark Baines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting.
This was recommended by Bob Cummins of Sodak ltd in a podcast on behavioural safety that I listened to recently. I thought it quite unrelated to the primary topic so thought I'd check it out as Bob's recommendations are usually 'on point'; and so it proves!
More awareness now, and more thinking to be done, as well as re-reading this delightful little book. The Q&A at the back was also interesting; addressing genuine questions from an event.

[Lamia Saud · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt its an ok coffee table book, but too generic for my liking.

[Swamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, good insight. More than teaching helps to think deeper.

[Madalina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small, but insightful. It has a good message, but nothing we haven't heard before.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise summary of his philosophy

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4

[Wouter Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small, easy to read and full of wisdom. Anybody in the world can learn something from this tiny book, even if they read it start to finish whilst on the loo.

[Deborah A. Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dalai Lama presents a down-to-earth spin about Love and Compassion in a way we can all relate to. He writes about practical ways we can easily transform difficult emotions into Love and Compassion in our everyday lives. By 'Love' the Dalai Lama refers to the genuine respect for the well-being of others.