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Many Ways to Nirvana: Reflections and Advice on Right Living
Can an ordinary person with family responsibilities achieve Nirvana or Buddhahood? What should be the spiritual limit of ambition for a busy professional? How do you stay positive when confronted with environmental and human injustice? Answering these and a host of other questions from his most recent annual Dharma Celebration, His Holiness delivers a message about the paths to “right living” and the need to overcome negative emotions in order to develop one’s inner consciousness. Wise, compassionate, and always pragmatic, he offers advice on the many issues that confront us every day: how to free ourselves from emotional afflictions and petty cravings, how to transform anxiety into contentment, and how to initiate and keep alive interfaith dialogue in the troubled times we live in.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
19 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,561 books6,173 followersJetsun 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 19, 2018
1981 hat der damals 46-jährige Dalai Lama in Harvard während fünf Tagen eine Reihe von Vorlesungen gehalten; die 10 jeweils etwa 2-stündigen Vorlesungen liegen in diesem Taschenbuch in transkribierter Form vor. Ab der zweiten Veranstaltung hatten die Studenten Gelegenheit, Fragen zu stellen, welche ebenfalls Teil dieses Buches sind.
Nun finde ich es gar nicht so einfach, dazu eine Rezension zu schreiben. Vielleicht vornweg: Obwohl der Titel vermuten lässt, dass der Leser grundlegend in den Buddhismus eingeführt wird, handelt es sich bei diesem Buch keineswegs um eine Einführung für Anfänger. Buddhistische Grundkonzepte werden nicht erklärt (ich war froh um jedes Vorwissen). Viel eher geht der Dalai Lama weiterführend darauf ein und versucht, einen vertiefenden Einblick in das Gedankengut des tibetischen Buddhismus zu geben. Dabei setzt er voraus, dass dem Zuhörer bzw. Leser Begriffe und Konzepte wie Feindzerstörer, Alleinverwirklicher, Hörer, Konsequenz-Schule oder inhärente Existenz vertraut sind. Hinzu kommt, dass seine Ausführungen zum Teil nicht gezielt auf etwas eingehen, sondern doch eher philosophisch anmuten. Aus all diesen Gründen handelt es sich bei dieser Einführung in den Buddhismus auf keinen Fall um eine leichte Lektüre. Vielleicht ist es aber genau das, was das Buch ausmacht: Es fordert den Leser heraus, mitzudenken und den einen oder anderen Satz oder Abschnitt mehrmals zu lesen. Obwohl ich nicht alles verstanden habe (oder anders: es gibt wohl ziemlich viel, das ich nicht verstanden habe…!), habe ich doch das Gefühl, viel über den Buddhismus gelernt zu haben und jetzt das eine oder andere zu verstehen, ohne dies genau in Worte fassen zu können. Daher bin ich auch wirklich glücklich, dass ich nicht aufgegeben habe, als ich erkannt habe, dass es sich bei dem Buch nicht um eine einfache "Einführung für Westler" handelt, wie ich es eigentlich erwartet hätte.
Allen, die sich ernsthaft für den Buddhismus interessieren, kann ich die Harvard-Vorlesungsreihe des Dalai Lama nur empfehlen. Wer sich allerdings noch nicht oder kaum mit dem Buddhismus beschäftigt hat, sollte sich vielleicht zuerst zumindest mit den Grundideen vertraut machen.
Nun finde ich es gar nicht so einfach, dazu eine Rezension zu schreiben. Vielleicht vornweg: Obwohl der Titel vermuten lässt, dass der Leser grundlegend in den Buddhismus eingeführt wird, handelt es sich bei diesem Buch keineswegs um eine Einführung für Anfänger. Buddhistische Grundkonzepte werden nicht erklärt (ich war froh um jedes Vorwissen). Viel eher geht der Dalai Lama weiterführend darauf ein und versucht, einen vertiefenden Einblick in das Gedankengut des tibetischen Buddhismus zu geben. Dabei setzt er voraus, dass dem Zuhörer bzw. Leser Begriffe und Konzepte wie Feindzerstörer, Alleinverwirklicher, Hörer, Konsequenz-Schule oder inhärente Existenz vertraut sind. Hinzu kommt, dass seine Ausführungen zum Teil nicht gezielt auf etwas eingehen, sondern doch eher philosophisch anmuten. Aus all diesen Gründen handelt es sich bei dieser Einführung in den Buddhismus auf keinen Fall um eine leichte Lektüre. Vielleicht ist es aber genau das, was das Buch ausmacht: Es fordert den Leser heraus, mitzudenken und den einen oder anderen Satz oder Abschnitt mehrmals zu lesen. Obwohl ich nicht alles verstanden habe (oder anders: es gibt wohl ziemlich viel, das ich nicht verstanden habe…!), habe ich doch das Gefühl, viel über den Buddhismus gelernt zu haben und jetzt das eine oder andere zu verstehen, ohne dies genau in Worte fassen zu können. Daher bin ich auch wirklich glücklich, dass ich nicht aufgegeben habe, als ich erkannt habe, dass es sich bei dem Buch nicht um eine einfache "Einführung für Westler" handelt, wie ich es eigentlich erwartet hätte.
Allen, die sich ernsthaft für den Buddhismus interessieren, kann ich die Harvard-Vorlesungsreihe des Dalai Lama nur empfehlen. Wer sich allerdings noch nicht oder kaum mit dem Buddhismus beschäftigt hat, sollte sich vielleicht zuerst zumindest mit den Grundideen vertraut machen.
December 20, 2018
Many Ways to Nirvana is a selection of discourses given by the Dalai Lama on Buddhist teachings, mostly in India. Even more useful than the discourses are the Dalai Lama's responses to questions from the audience.
Buddhism is at the same time attractive to us Occidentals for its refreshing contrasts with Judaeo-Christian religions and Islam while being difficult to follow with all the endless categorizations, such as the Eightfold Path, the Four Seals of Buddhism, the Six Perfections, and the Four Noble Truths. This endless classification of elements of practice enroute to enlightenment is alien to the Western mind. It seems to call for extensive memorization.
Still, there is much to be gained from reading books like this, especially when written by someone as articulate as the Dalai Lama.
Buddhism is at the same time attractive to us Occidentals for its refreshing contrasts with Judaeo-Christian religions and Islam while being difficult to follow with all the endless categorizations, such as the Eightfold Path, the Four Seals of Buddhism, the Six Perfections, and the Four Noble Truths. This endless classification of elements of practice enroute to enlightenment is alien to the Western mind. It seems to call for extensive memorization.
Still, there is much to be gained from reading books like this, especially when written by someone as articulate as the Dalai Lama.
July 27, 2012
I love the concept and believe this dalai is a great man.
Connecting with this book was a struggle and perhaps it's because my expectations were unrealistic.
Connecting with this book was a struggle and perhaps it's because my expectations were unrealistic.
March 9, 2022
Here are some key points I have taken from this book:
- The disadvantages of hatred in that it is the internal killer of the mind.
- compassion is our purpose
- We should welcome opposing views to sharpen the mind through debates
- People who feel pain and pleasure (everyone) have the right to exist happily
- The way you perceive your situation makes a difference to mental health
- Everything is impermanent
- Mental suffering is the product of intelligence and material things cannot fix it
- He encourages us to use our intelligence to combat our intelligence
- Debates open the mind
- If your mental attitude is right even surrounded by hositility, that person can be peaceful
- There are two truths, conventional and ultimate. Negative emotions can form based on appearances
- A biased mind means not able to see reality clearly
- How does anger arise? It is assisted by grasping at things considering them to be true and inherently real
- Anger can be hard to control, but nothing good comes of it
- Mind is clarity and awareness
- We are the masters of our reality
- The body and mind are the basis for all kinds of suffering so it is not unexpected that suffering should arise
- When we get angry, we lose our ability to make proper judgments and therefore lose our wisdom
- Things only exist by the power of name and do not truly exist
- The disadvantages of hatred in that it is the internal killer of the mind.
- compassion is our purpose
- We should welcome opposing views to sharpen the mind through debates
- People who feel pain and pleasure (everyone) have the right to exist happily
- The way you perceive your situation makes a difference to mental health
- Everything is impermanent
- Mental suffering is the product of intelligence and material things cannot fix it
- He encourages us to use our intelligence to combat our intelligence
- Debates open the mind
- If your mental attitude is right even surrounded by hositility, that person can be peaceful
- There are two truths, conventional and ultimate. Negative emotions can form based on appearances
- A biased mind means not able to see reality clearly
- How does anger arise? It is assisted by grasping at things considering them to be true and inherently real
- Anger can be hard to control, but nothing good comes of it
- Mind is clarity and awareness
- We are the masters of our reality
- The body and mind are the basis for all kinds of suffering so it is not unexpected that suffering should arise
- When we get angry, we lose our ability to make proper judgments and therefore lose our wisdom
- Things only exist by the power of name and do not truly exist
September 28, 2007
The only way you should have to reach nirvana is honest and love.
November 28, 2015
Good Dharma book, inspirational with key points addressing precious human birth, Buddhist Logic and Philosophy, and Hinayana/Mahayana differences
February 15, 2023
The back cover promises one thing, the book is about another. That’s how it felt like to me, at least.
About 45% of the book presents in a quite sophisticated way some Buddhist tenets - unless one is well-versed in the philosophy it’s quite a hard read. The other part is easier to digest and was more thought-provoking for me. Since some things felt like they could have been explained more in depth, but weren’t, I don’t feel like it was written for a beginner in Buddhism.
About 45% of the book presents in a quite sophisticated way some Buddhist tenets - unless one is well-versed in the philosophy it’s quite a hard read. The other part is easier to digest and was more thought-provoking for me. Since some things felt like they could have been explained more in depth, but weren’t, I don’t feel like it was written for a beginner in Buddhism.
October 4, 2021
Hard as a beginner to keep up with all the different terms, numbers of things and the rather abstract concept. first book in a while which i had to quit. i think my expectations were wrong to get a good overview in simple words.
May 29, 2022
after reading this book, i've learned how complex Buddhism really is. i was slightly confused in certain areas, but the general points were well understood. the book was alright. kinda mid, ngl. (sorry)
April 11, 2023
Excelente libro que introduce un poco en el budismo pero al mismo tiempo abre nuevas preguntas y curiosidades sobre el tema. Una doble leída al libro nunca esta de más, total es corto y se aprende algo nuevo en cada leída
Read
January 31, 2021....
September 12, 2021
Found the Q&A sections most interesting, a good reminder to continue meditating
Want to read
October 12, 2024Wird in "The Power of Now" von Eckhart Tolle empfohlen
May 5, 2015
Dharma discourse: the four seals of Buddhism are introduced then in following chapters they found the foundation for discussion of emotion, the six perfections, and cultivating equanimity. Ends with the Four Noble Truths with the eight verses of thought transformation.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews