Imagine All the People: A Conversation with the Dalai Lama on Money, Politics, and Life As It Could Be

by Dalai Lama XIV, Ann Benson, Fabien Ouaki (With)

Fabien Ouaki was granted the opportunity to sit down with the Dalai Lama and talk with him about anything, and asked the Dalai Lama for his thoughts on the everyday issues that fill our news, Trade Papers, and our lives. Imagine All the People is the record of these varied and remarkable conversations. Covered are a wide spectrum of topics — political, social, personal and spiritual — including the media and education, marriage and sex, and disarmament and compassion. Blessed by His Holiness' buoyant and insightful thoughts, Imagine All the People allows readers to glimpse the spontaneous workings of an extraordinary mind at once of and above this world. This book includes the full text of "The Global Community and the Need for Universal Responsibility."

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Spirituality, Religion

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

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

[Rensa]

I found this book particularly engaging because it focused more on worldly matters than on Buddhist philosophy. His Holiness the Dalai Lama shares his usual wise and deeply insightful perspectives on topics such as money, health, education etc. I especially enjoyed the section where he spoke about his daily routine — something I've been curious about for a long time! I enjoyed the more personal glimpse into His Holiness as an ordinary man, something his other books don’t explore as deeply. It was an easy and thoroughly interesting read, and I found it utterly lovely.

[Mariano Na]

Not really outstanding. I had overrated expectations before getting down to it.

[Chaya QP]

nice to hear about the dalai lama’s personal opinions straight from his mouth

[David C. Mueller]

This is a good book for folks wanting to get a good overview of the Dalai Lama's views on issues of modern life. You will find where your perspective converge with the author's and where they diverge. The author shows how how his views are derived in large part from the Tibetan Buddhist concept that he is intimately familiar with. His answers clearly demonstrate his position as the political as well as spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Included with the book is the Dalai Lama's statement, "Global Community and the Need for Universal Responsibility," which in my mind is itself worth the cost of the book. The only only document comparable to it is the 1985 statement "The Promise of World Peace," by the Universal House of Justice, the governing body of the Baha'i International Community.

[Brianna]

I really enjoyed hearing straight from the Dalai Lama's mouth on all these issues.

My only complaint would be the bias of the interviewer in the way certain issues were addressed (or not), and the selection of follow up questions.

[Mckinley]

Good to know the mindset and attitudes about world issues from the head of a Buddhist branch.

[Beryl]

uplifting story of hope for the future--particularly helpful at this time.