The End of Suffering and the Discovery of Happiness: The Path of Tibetan Buddhism

by Dalai Lama XIV

A remarkable and rare overview of the key aspects of Tibetan Buddhism provided by His Holiness the Dalai Lama 
        The End of Suffering and the Discovery of Happiness presents a clear and straightforward road map for how we might end our experience of suffering and discover happiness, drawn by the most celebrated spiritual master of Buddhism—His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
In this insightful volume, he not only describes what religion can contribute to mankind, but also accentuates the significance of truly practicing religion and understanding what it is that mankind really needs.
His Holiness explains the three turnings of the wheel of Dharma; the purpose and the means of generating the mind of enlightenment; and the twelve links of dependent arising, as well as other preliminary concepts. Tsongkhapa’s The Three Principal Aspects of the Path and The Stages of the Path to Enlightenment have also been beautifully described in great detail.
In The End of Suffering and the Discovery of Happiness, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, renowned for his warm-heartedness and his message of love, compassion, and peace offers an illuminating glimpse into the core of Tibetan Buddhism.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion, Nonfiction, Spirituality

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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

[Brian Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an important book, but it's not for everyone. The Dalai Lama is speaking to fellow adepts and scholars to interpret traditional texts, and we get a feel for how he speaks in such situations. The references to texts, traditions, levels of mind and classes of practice are complicated, and in many cases it was totally over my head. Of course the fundamental stress on mindfulness and compassion is always obvious, as in his writing for lay audiences. But in this case the novice reader is introduced to a whole new world of dialogue about the means, steps, and ends of the spiritual journey.

[Ashley Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean... admittedly weird to finish this particular book now. I uh....
yeah.
But lots of good things in this book.

"If you think about this cycle of suffering and its origins with reference to other sentient beings, it will lead to training in compassion. But if you think about these sufferings and their origins with reference to yourself it leads to generation of a determination to be free."

[Valentin Florian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changed my perspective

[Violet Harmon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me da mucha pena tener que puntuar tan bajo un libro del Dalai Lama pero supongo que nadie somos perfectos.
Esta bien intentar se escuetos al enseñar las bases de una filosofía (me niego a llamarlo religión) y sin duda el título ya dice que es una "introducción". Ya en la tienda me dió mala espina que fuera tan fino. Es MUY corto. Y vamos, yo me he quedado igual... Si te lees el portal entero de la wikipedia sobre budismo yo creo que aprendes más.

No quiero un tratado de 5000 páginas sobre las enseñanzas de Buda o las prácticas del budismo, pero si algo más que 4 conceptos pobremente explicados que me han dejado un poco más confusa incluso que antes.

Tendré que animarme con algo más "espeso" si quiero de verdad entender algo de la filosofía milenaria del Dalai Lama.

[Daniel Fuertes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un libro extremadamente breve y que, pese a estar escrito por el mismísimo Dalai Lama, encuentro muy poco acertado para los neófitos occidentales.
Apenas se habla de quién fue el Buda Gotama ni veo que se describa claramente la gran utilidad del budismo, tampoco se mencionan conceptos que creo básicos como el Óctuple Sendero... Sin embargo, se habla de conceptos muy avanzados, más "sesudos" y/o filosóficos como son los cinco agregados o los tipos de seres, los componentes del karma, o las distintas corrientes budistas...
Creo que al título de esta obra le falta una coletilla: "Introducción al budismo tibetano... para aquellos que ya conocen el budismo".

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The one that I got did not have spanish text, as the title here suggests, but it appears to be the same book. The problem is that it is practically just an instruction manual. Not too much in the way of insight, just as if you simply wanted to reconstruct the buddhist religion's practices from not knowing anything about it. Maybe indeed this was the intention, but for a non-buddhist reader it was entirely too technical and only vaguely interesting.

[Sundarraj Kaushik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives a good insight into the Tibetan perspective of Buddhism and Dalai Lama's views on it. The book becomes pedantic at certain places and may not be to the liking of everybody. People who are into Buddhism, specifically Tibetan Buddhism, can appreciated the contents. Others may find certain parts to be too heavy.
Nevertheless a good read.

[Plovers Stratford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another MUST read for someone like myself that is a developing Buddhist. His Holiness is a great man, humble monk and a try Buddha.

Life is waaaay to complicated thanks to our need for stuff. This book will help you understand ways to change yourself and by extension the world.

[Nicolas Bouchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

La première partie est vraiment nébuleuse... mais les parties subséquentes révèlent les notions élémentaires du bouddhisme tibétain, une approche de la vie dont je me sens très proche et qui m'ouvre à de nouvelles richesses.