Das geheime Leben der Dalai Lamas

by Alexander Norman, Ursel Schäfer (Übersetzer), Enrico Heinemann (Übersetzer)

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Genres: Buddhism, History, Nonfiction, Spirituality

Hardcover

First published July 27, 2007

Reviews

[Dechen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and intriguing look into the lives of Dalai Lamas

[Heidi Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very informative piece on the history of the Dalai Lama Buddhist tradition in Tibet. This would be the perfect reference piece for anyone studying the topic!

[Sonam Pelden · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was kinda tough to finish the book. Well written but it is complicated too.

[Ania · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did not end up being what I expected. I thought it would be briefly about the history of the institution of the Dalai Lama, and mostly about different controversial aspects of different Dalai Lama's lives.
What the book actually turned out to be is a very detailed history of buddhism, leading up to the formation of the institution of the Dalai Lama, and then about the Dalai Lamas themselves. It was very interesting, and a lot of concepts in the buddhist faith were duly described or put into context by the author. It read like a history textbook basically - every sentence was a statement of fact. I cannot imagine how much research must have went into writing this book, and how much knowledge the author must have to be able to write it in such an orderly fashion.
Some things that stuck out to me were that many concepts in the buddhist faith are similar to some concepts in Christianity, which the author would accordingly point out. For example, miracles taking place and then those locations being used as sacred places of worship. Other things that stuck out and just seemed crazy to me were: the whole existence of "hermitages" so buildings with lots of rooms with no windows and only one loose brick to be able to put food in each individual room for the person inside, who would meditate almost all day - and entered such a hermitage by choice! One of the past Dalai Lama's grandmother went into a hermitage for 44 years and came out a few months before she died. According to some explorer who visited such a building, the thumping he could hear from inside some rooms were the people working on mastering levitation actually falling down. This just blows my mind when thinking of how solitary confinement is used as punishment in prisons (at least in movies and stuff) in the western world, while here people go in by choice. Also, what can a person actually do in a small dark room for so many years, let alone a few days? With no light and nothing to do except meditate, how did they not go insane? How did they even perceive time or anything while inside? How did their body handle it? How did they actually cope inside? This I just can't comprehend.
Something else that astonished me was that it has been scientifically tested and proven that in a certain form of meditation (I don't remember the name) people are able to raise and lower their body temperature - beyond very high fever temperatures. Another thing: how reincarnation in Buddhism is not based on a soul being reborn into another person. Buddhism doesn't believe in souls, so it's more on a "stream of consciousness" basis, which in practice means that there can be more than one incarnation of the same deity or person at the same time, and they can be in different orders e.g. today there may be a 5th incarnation, when in history there already was a 6th and 7th.
A final (and more recently usual) thing that I noticed, especially when reading about the history of the different religious influences in Tibet and how they developed and how conflicts came about and were resolved was that as usual - people being inherently flawed ruined everything. The history is just as bloody and conflict-ridden as that of Christianity. I may have started this book with the mindset that Buddhism is a peaceful religion, which admittedly may have been based on the wrong things and also been ignorant, but finding out the real deal didn't shock me at all.

So in general: yes, I would recommend reading this book, but it' better to start it knowing what one's getting into. It's really eye-opening and I think a great starting point if someone wants to find out more about Buddhism and the history of Tibet.

[Gautam Doshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting for those wanting to learn about the history of Tibet and the politics and events that has led to the installation of the institution of the Dalai Lamas and Tibet's current occupation by China which led His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to seek shelter in India.

[AskHistorians]

This is a little more complex of a work than "The Story of Tibet." They both tell the same history of Tibet, but "Secret Lives" goes over a more in depth and detailed account, giving you the names of the small players that Laird leaves out. Norman also uses European sources taking note of their interesting perspective and making sure to point out where they were wrong in their analyses.

[Enrico · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drop all other books about the history of Tibet.
One only needs this one to get a comprehensive view of Tibet.
Richly detailed interspersed with personal recollections from His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama...

[M. J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine history of the Dalai Lamas, their part in the development of Tibet and its problematic relations with China. Some of the dalai lamas waged wars and inflicted grisly punishments on enemies. Well researched and informative.