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The Just King: The Tibetan Buddhist Classic on Leading an Ethical Life
A translation of a popular Buddhist work on worldly ethics by Tibet's most famous philosopher.
Leadership. Power. Responsibility. From Sun Tzu to Plato to Machiavelli, sages east and west have advised kings and rulers on how to lead. Their motivations and techniques have varied, but one thing they all have had in common is that their advice has been as relevant to the millions who have read their works as it has been to the few kings and princes they were, on the surface, addressed to.
The nineteenth-century Buddhist monk and luminary Jamgön Mipham’s letter to the king of Dergé, whose small kingdom straddled China and Tibet during a particularly turbulent period, is similar in the universality of its message. This work, however, is unique in that it stresses compassion, impartiality, self-control, and virtue as essential for long-lasting success—whether as a leader or an individual trying to live a meaningful life. Mipham’s historic contribution to ethics and governance, until now little studied outside of Buddhist circles, teaches us the importance of protecting life, fair taxation, environmental sustainability, aiding the poor, and freedom of religion. Both present day leaders and those they lead will find this classic work, finally available in English, profoundly illuminating on political, societal, and personal levels.
Leadership. Power. Responsibility. From Sun Tzu to Plato to Machiavelli, sages east and west have advised kings and rulers on how to lead. Their motivations and techniques have varied, but one thing they all have had in common is that their advice has been as relevant to the millions who have read their works as it has been to the few kings and princes they were, on the surface, addressed to.
The nineteenth-century Buddhist monk and luminary Jamgön Mipham’s letter to the king of Dergé, whose small kingdom straddled China and Tibet during a particularly turbulent period, is similar in the universality of its message. This work, however, is unique in that it stresses compassion, impartiality, self-control, and virtue as essential for long-lasting success—whether as a leader or an individual trying to live a meaningful life. Mipham’s historic contribution to ethics and governance, until now little studied outside of Buddhist circles, teaches us the importance of protecting life, fair taxation, environmental sustainability, aiding the poor, and freedom of religion. Both present day leaders and those they lead will find this classic work, finally available in English, profoundly illuminating on political, societal, and personal levels.
- GenresBuddhism
344 pages, Paperback
Published July 18, 2017
10 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Jamgön Mipham
71 books18 followersJu Mipham Rinpoche (Tibetan ཇུ་མི་ཕམ་, Wylie 'ju mi pham) or Jamgön Mipham Gyatso (འཇམ་མགོན་མི་ཕམ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, 'jam mgon mi pham rgya mtsho) was a great Nyingma master and writer of the 19th century, student of Jamgön Kongtrul, Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo and Patrul Rinpoche.
Like all Tibetan authors, Mipham Rinpoche uses several names in the colophons to his works, which may then be rendered into English in several ways, including:
Dhih
Jampal Dorje
Jampal Gyepé Dorjé (Wyl. ‘jam dpal dgyes pa’i rdo rje)
Lodrö Drimé
Mipham Choklé Namgyal
Mipham Gyatso
Mipham Jampal Gyepa'i Dorje
Like all Tibetan authors, Mipham Rinpoche uses several names in the colophons to his works, which may then be rendered into English in several ways, including:
Dhih
Jampal Dorje
Jampal Gyepé Dorjé (Wyl. ‘jam dpal dgyes pa’i rdo rje)
Lodrö Drimé
Mipham Choklé Namgyal
Mipham Gyatso
Mipham Jampal Gyepa'i Dorje
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 15, 2019
Although from a scholarly perspective this book is a masterpiece, if you are reading it from the perspective of a corporate leader, you probably won’t find anything too revolutionary. The important thing is putting in the effort, and taking time to reflect. This book serves as an excellent jumping off point for that exercise, especially as it comes from a different philosophical tradition than you may be used to and can stimulate thought from a new perspective. One advantage this book does have over some contemporary leadership literature is that Mipham’s work is very authoritative, and written in a brave conciliatory voice. It is not the typical “self-help book for privileged tech entrepreneurs” or merely a “human manual for sociopaths” like so many of the pamphlets of modern-day, self-appointed gurus of leadership.
Full review here → https://chadkohalyk.com/2019/08/15/trickle-down-ethical-leadership/
Displaying 1 of 1 review