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Voice for the Voiceless: Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People
In this unique book, His Holiness the Dalai Lama tells the full story of his 75-year struggle with China to save Tibet and its people.
Instant New York Times Bestseller
The Dalai Lama has had to contend with the People’s Republic of China his entire life. He was 15 years old when communist China invaded Tibet in 1950, only 19 when he had his first meeting with Chairman Mao in Beijing, and 24 when he was forced to escape to India and became a leader in exile. Almost 75 years after China’s initial invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama has faced communist China’s leaders – Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping – in his effort to protect Tibet and its people.
In Voice for the Voiceless, the Dalai Lama reminds the world of Tibet’s unresolved struggle for freedom and the hardship his people continue to face in their homeland. The book captures his extraordinary life, uncovering what it means to lose your home to a repressive invader and build a life in exile; dealing with the existential crisis of a nation, its people, and its culture and religion; and envisioning the path forward.
Voice for the Voiceless is a powerful testimony from a global icon, sharing both his pain and his enduring hope in his people’s ongoing quest to restore dignity and freedom.
Instant New York Times Bestseller
The Dalai Lama has had to contend with the People’s Republic of China his entire life. He was 15 years old when communist China invaded Tibet in 1950, only 19 when he had his first meeting with Chairman Mao in Beijing, and 24 when he was forced to escape to India and became a leader in exile. Almost 75 years after China’s initial invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama has faced communist China’s leaders – Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping – in his effort to protect Tibet and its people.
In Voice for the Voiceless, the Dalai Lama reminds the world of Tibet’s unresolved struggle for freedom and the hardship his people continue to face in their homeland. The book captures his extraordinary life, uncovering what it means to lose your home to a repressive invader and build a life in exile; dealing with the existential crisis of a nation, its people, and its culture and religion; and envisioning the path forward.
Voice for the Voiceless is a powerful testimony from a global icon, sharing both his pain and his enduring hope in his people’s ongoing quest to restore dignity and freedom.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 13, 2025
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About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,554 books6,198 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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September 12, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Voice for the Voiceless by the Dalai Lama is a book that works on many levels. It’s part biography, part historical retelling, part manifesto, and—most importantly—a pathway to peace. The balance of these elements makes it both deeply personal and globally relevant.
Reading this book, it becomes impossible to ignore the injustice faced by the Tibetan people under Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama’s words not only highlight their suffering but also place it within the larger context of our shared planet. The Tibetan Plateau—often called the “third pole”—is home to vital mineral wealth, unique habitats, and environmental systems that affect the entire world. If it is harmed, we all suffer.
On a personal level, I was struck by how the Dalai Lama blends profound compassion with undeniable strength. He is, in his own peaceful Buddhist way, a complete bad ass—a spiritual leader who leads with humility, wisdom, and resilience. He embodies what it means to be a role model for humanity.
This book left me inspired, challenged, and full of admiration. It’s more than a read—it’s a call to awareness, to justice, and to peace.
Hard cover and audio.
Voice for the Voiceless by the Dalai Lama is a book that works on many levels. It’s part biography, part historical retelling, part manifesto, and—most importantly—a pathway to peace. The balance of these elements makes it both deeply personal and globally relevant.
Reading this book, it becomes impossible to ignore the injustice faced by the Tibetan people under Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama’s words not only highlight their suffering but also place it within the larger context of our shared planet. The Tibetan Plateau—often called the “third pole”—is home to vital mineral wealth, unique habitats, and environmental systems that affect the entire world. If it is harmed, we all suffer.
On a personal level, I was struck by how the Dalai Lama blends profound compassion with undeniable strength. He is, in his own peaceful Buddhist way, a complete bad ass—a spiritual leader who leads with humility, wisdom, and resilience. He embodies what it means to be a role model for humanity.
This book left me inspired, challenged, and full of admiration. It’s more than a read—it’s a call to awareness, to justice, and to peace.
Hard cover and audio.
Displaying 1 of 1 review