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The Essential Dalai Lama -hh the Dalai Lama
For the first time, the collected wisdom of one of the world's most revered thinkers and spiritual leaders is available in one invaluable volume. This inspirational collection brings together the Dalai Lama's writings on all aspects of life, from suffering, happiness, love and truth, to practical wisdom on the advantages of a virtuous life and how to transform a selfish heart. Starting from the idea of spiritual practice, which reveals the crucial role compassion plays in achieving a life of serenity, this is an indispensable guide to a unique approach that combines realistic advice on today's world with ancient Buddhist thought. The perfect collection for all fans of the Dalai Lama's writings and for anyone curious about his thinking, this is a compendium of wisdom to return to again and again.
Unknown Binding
First published April 1, 1995
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About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,559 books6,168 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 - 30 of 38 reviews
November 30, 2007
I feel terrible for three-starring the Dalai Lama - after all, he's the Dalai Lama! And there were things about this book that I really, really liked. The Dalai Lama's perspectives on moral, ethical and spiritual paths, as well as on the current problems our society is facing with escalating wars, the destruction of the natural environment, the increasing disparity between socioecomonic groups, etc., are really unique. They are firmly grounded in common sense but, when combined with elements of Buddhist philosophy, seem truly fresh. The Dalai Lama's writing (or speechwriting, because much of this book is taken from his public addresses) is engaging and thought-provoking. So I loved his commentary on approaching the major issues of our time with a sense of compassion, tolerance and kindness - how very relevant and, sadly, uncommon - and I particularly enjoyed his reflections on common ground between Buddhism and Christianity.
So why not a five star review? My one problem with this book is that there is a huge section in the middle that delves intensively into Buddhism. Now, I picked this book up because the back cover promised a good introduction to Buddhism, and I wanted an introduction to Buddhism. I know next to nothing about it, and I am interested. But most of the discussion about the Buddhist spiritual path in this book went straight over my head. The speeches that section was taken from, I believe, were given to a Buddhist audience - so they were already acquainted with the basic principles. I'm sure that if I knew more about Buddhism, I would have found those sections much more instructive. As it was, I was left more confused than I was when I started. I guess I will have to keep looking for a book that can provide a good, basic introduction to make Buddhism more accessible to people raised in Western culture. Then at that point, after I understand the basic principles more, I might return to this book and see if I get more out of that huge chunk in the middle that bogged me down this time around.
So why not a five star review? My one problem with this book is that there is a huge section in the middle that delves intensively into Buddhism. Now, I picked this book up because the back cover promised a good introduction to Buddhism, and I wanted an introduction to Buddhism. I know next to nothing about it, and I am interested. But most of the discussion about the Buddhist spiritual path in this book went straight over my head. The speeches that section was taken from, I believe, were given to a Buddhist audience - so they were already acquainted with the basic principles. I'm sure that if I knew more about Buddhism, I would have found those sections much more instructive. As it was, I was left more confused than I was when I started. I guess I will have to keep looking for a book that can provide a good, basic introduction to make Buddhism more accessible to people raised in Western culture. Then at that point, after I understand the basic principles more, I might return to this book and see if I get more out of that huge chunk in the middle that bogged me down this time around.
September 30, 2007
i set out to read this book looking to learn more about the buddhist perspective. while i definitely accomplished that goal, this book also has a lot of nonsense that needed wading through for the casual reader. for example, there was far too much detail on meditation techniques, etc... for my tastes.
the book did do a good job of explaining buddhism's central ideas of interconnectedness and emptiness. however, the logical progression of ideas is often difficult to follow. all of the arguments depend on one or maybe two ideas that you are just expected to accept. the dalai lama stresses that you must convince yourself of these ideas and that you shouldn't accept them as true without experience. unfortunately, i find it close to impossible, for example, to "convince myself" that everyone has lived and will live an uncountable number of lives. herein lies the biggest disappointment for me.
regardless, if one disregards the attempts at logical discourse and takes pieces here and and pieces there, i believe the philosophy does have something to offer for everyday existence.
the book did do a good job of explaining buddhism's central ideas of interconnectedness and emptiness. however, the logical progression of ideas is often difficult to follow. all of the arguments depend on one or maybe two ideas that you are just expected to accept. the dalai lama stresses that you must convince yourself of these ideas and that you shouldn't accept them as true without experience. unfortunately, i find it close to impossible, for example, to "convince myself" that everyone has lived and will live an uncountable number of lives. herein lies the biggest disappointment for me.
regardless, if one disregards the attempts at logical discourse and takes pieces here and and pieces there, i believe the philosophy does have something to offer for everyday existence.
June 21, 2023
I do appreciate the knowledge contained in this book, but the style of writing of the two Buddhists books I have read is hard to easily take into the mind without deep concentration. The writing of a Buddhist is never in the perspective of "I" experiences because it is in their belief system that they are constantly thinking of others besides themselves even when in writing a situation would be more appropriate to say "I". Reading a book in the humanity or "we" perspective is unfortunately hard for the beginning learner of this belief system, at least in my experience so far. I can often see myself from the perspective of other's shoes and how something might make them feel, but I haven't quite got to this level of non-existent perspective of myself. I agree that every human being is equally deserving a life without suffering and filled with happiness and that if we all cared about each other, then we could possibly achieve a utopia. I also can see that I can be selfish and unforgiving as most humans are. I wish there was a better worded way of getting through these teachings to achieve a better understanding and clarity on these beliefs. As the Dahlai Lama says, even a teacher can be flawed in their lessons, but it is very hard to say that someone out there in the world of Buddhists can do better to decode this encrypted code of a belief system I wish to know better. If you know a Buddhist guide for real current life situations of the Western world, please send it my way.
April 11, 2019
This hurts. I have given exactly 11 books a one star review in my lifetime on Goodreads, and only 2 other ones this year. But this was really bad. If you haven’t been studying Buddhism for, like, a freak ton of time, or even have a basic understanding of it, you’re going to be lost. The technical terms used in here just clogged the book up so much that sometimes, I would read an entire chapter and wonder what in the world I had just learned. Nothing? It felt like nothing. And even then, there wasn’t a whole lot of learning happening. I felt like a lot of this was just opinion and very old teachings translated into kind of modern English. I don’t know. I really don’t have anything good to say about this book, so I’m just going to not.
April 28, 2020
I love The Dalai Lama, but I did not enjoy this book. Most of the book is devoted to problems related to the practice of Buddhism. While I am very interested in The Dharma, there are better, clearer books about it than this one. You might want to read Part I, The Vision, and Part IV, A World in Harmony and skip the two Buddhist sections. You can always go back and read them later, as there is no chronology or story arc to follow.
February 19, 2009
I am finding it hard to get through this book, which is usually not my style. I agree with a review I just read, especially noting " wading through the nonsense" as one of the comments. Lots of good advice and things to ponder, but a whole lot of " what the hell did he just say???" in between.
November 12, 2014
Deep, moving and awesome.
August 11, 2017
This is an excellent book, and I hope to read it again soon. Unlike the others books by the Dalai Lama that I have read, this volume does not repeat itself. My only problem is that I found some of the chapters (especially on advanced meditation) difficult to follow. I also need to go back to a more basic book about Buddhism, and take notes. Then I will return to this book with hopefully a better understanding.
June 10, 2025
This fluctuated between accessible and inspiring to very confusing and jargon-y (if using Buddhist terms and referencing its scripture can be described as such!) Overall it sparked great conversation with James and I am happy I read it.
September 11, 2012
It could be argued that the Dalai Lama is one of the best teachers of the human condition of our time. The early chapters in "The Essential Dalai Lama" are useful for everyone. His Holiness speaks of things like the Four Noble Truths that consists of principles how all human beings are conditioned to suffer and desire happiness. Negative and afflicting emotions (hate, jealousy, pride, etc.) cause suffering; and the purpose of religion ought be to dispel delusion and ignorance that cause suffering and impede happiness.
However, once the topics shift to things like the nature of reality, time, the interdependence arising of all things, and the concept of "Emptiness" because things do not exist in an absolute way, readers that are not dedicated students of Buddhism may get lost as concepts get complicated very fast in Buddhist philosophy. The criticism of Eastern philosophy that teaching can be "either too simple, or too complex" is very on point here. If a reader is not familiar with some basic terminology, the reader won't typically find full explanations here.
The Dalai Lama explains well how important Buddhist teachings are based on a system of logic. However, there are assumptions made that foundational premises must be accepted as truth before logic can follow. For example, the cyclical nature of things regarding reincarnation, and the Six Realms - all which very clearly reside under the umbrella of belief. With the tremendous amount of continuing body of writings within the varied different Buddhists traditions, the book reads more like treatises on a different topics, rather than a comprehensive overview of Buddhism as a whole.
I would recommend this book provisionally, if one is already student of Buddhist teachings with an understanding of its basic principles, these teachings will enhance that understanding. Or, if a reader wishes to decide if they wanted to become a student - or not. So, with the noble intent to dispel ignorance and lead to happiness - I would suggest that this book could be expected to both enlighten AND confuse!
However, once the topics shift to things like the nature of reality, time, the interdependence arising of all things, and the concept of "Emptiness" because things do not exist in an absolute way, readers that are not dedicated students of Buddhism may get lost as concepts get complicated very fast in Buddhist philosophy. The criticism of Eastern philosophy that teaching can be "either too simple, or too complex" is very on point here. If a reader is not familiar with some basic terminology, the reader won't typically find full explanations here.
The Dalai Lama explains well how important Buddhist teachings are based on a system of logic. However, there are assumptions made that foundational premises must be accepted as truth before logic can follow. For example, the cyclical nature of things regarding reincarnation, and the Six Realms - all which very clearly reside under the umbrella of belief. With the tremendous amount of continuing body of writings within the varied different Buddhists traditions, the book reads more like treatises on a different topics, rather than a comprehensive overview of Buddhism as a whole.
I would recommend this book provisionally, if one is already student of Buddhist teachings with an understanding of its basic principles, these teachings will enhance that understanding. Or, if a reader wishes to decide if they wanted to become a student - or not. So, with the noble intent to dispel ignorance and lead to happiness - I would suggest that this book could be expected to both enlighten AND confuse!
October 24, 2015
This is a great intro to his teachings, obviously. It give you not only a good sense of his Buddhist beliefs but also what he calls "secular ethics". With the latter you can improve your life without converting your religion. Basically it boils down to let compassion for others, especially your enemies, guide your choices in life, the kind of thing Jesus meant when he preached folks to "turn the other cheek". Mr. Lama (please read that which your tongue firmly in your cheek) even devotes a chapter to comparing Christianity with Buddhism. Interesting stuff.
As a Buddhist, I found his suggestions on visualizations during meditation particularly helpful. His explanations on emptiness, are still beyond me. I've read his explanations few times and it has yet to sink it. It will, though.
I think this book would be a good read for even non-Buddhists, though some of the Buddhist-centric teachings may not be your cup of tea, there's enough of the aforementioned secular ethics to interest a diverse lot of people.
As a Buddhist, I found his suggestions on visualizations during meditation particularly helpful. His explanations on emptiness, are still beyond me. I've read his explanations few times and it has yet to sink it. It will, though.
I think this book would be a good read for even non-Buddhists, though some of the Buddhist-centric teachings may not be your cup of tea, there's enough of the aforementioned secular ethics to interest a diverse lot of people.
August 19, 2012
After reading "The Essential Dalai Lama" I learned a few more points about Buddhism. As I understand it, the biggest difference between Buddhism and Christianity the faith that I grew up with and accept is that Buddhism looks more to personal enlightenment rather than receiving it from a higher power (God). Karma (action = results) is an important part of enlightenment in which it can take a soul eons to learn life’s many lessons and reach a high spiritual level.
Where Christianity and Buddhism align as far I can see is the idea of people working together for the greater good. Also, the idea in Buddhism of the 4 Nobel Truths which explains peoples desires and decisions to avoid suffering and have pleasure makes sense in any faith. Buddhism also teaches people not to fear death reminding us that it is a normal process and just a transition. Anyway, an interesting and inspiring but at times challenging read.
Where Christianity and Buddhism align as far I can see is the idea of people working together for the greater good. Also, the idea in Buddhism of the 4 Nobel Truths which explains peoples desires and decisions to avoid suffering and have pleasure makes sense in any faith. Buddhism also teaches people not to fear death reminding us that it is a normal process and just a transition. Anyway, an interesting and inspiring but at times challenging read.
October 12, 2009
wow. I've got a major headache after trying to decipher half of what was said in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed most of it- but some of the sections just had my head spinning- it seemed as though he was using a lot of circular definitions and whatnot.
This is the second book I've read by the Dalai Lama, and I was surprised by what I found in this. His 'voice' seemed different...I suppose that could be because most of the chapters apparently came from speeches he gave...but still, it seemed to be a relatively significant departure from the style of My Land, My People. (that being said, it's been a few months since I read his autobiography, and it's also 6am...having been up all night, my mind probably sucks right now!)
personal highlights: chapters on interconnectedness & recognizing/"living with" death
This is the second book I've read by the Dalai Lama, and I was surprised by what I found in this. His 'voice' seemed different...I suppose that could be because most of the chapters apparently came from speeches he gave...but still, it seemed to be a relatively significant departure from the style of My Land, My People. (that being said, it's been a few months since I read his autobiography, and it's also 6am...having been up all night, my mind probably sucks right now!)
personal highlights: chapters on interconnectedness & recognizing/"living with" death
October 10, 2015
So far this book is excellent! It really makes you aware of how you are towards others is how you make "your world" to be compassionate is to create a better world. My mother read this and recommended it to my husband and I've since picked it up and decided to read it. It is a deep read and, for me, requires time with no distractions to really "get it". So far so Good!!!
September 29, 2009
Teachings of the 14th Dalai Lama, which educates the uninitiated to the buddist life, but one can also learn some great moral teachings from the words of the Dalai Lama, even if your of other denominations. A man of peace speaks to need to finding inner peace, conflict resolution within the confines of compassion, and how to get the most out of life.
October 10, 2009
This book is full of wisdom and great truths. It can get heavy at times, especially when he extensively discusses Buddhism. There were times when I exclaimed aloud "Man, he just blew my mind!" and had to stop reading, in order to take it in. But it's worth it. If your Buddhist or not, there is something here for everyone. Even his own interpretation of Christian thought!
September 4, 2012
This was basically a recap of the last few books I've read by or about the Dalai Lama and Buddhism in general. Which isn't a bad thing. It reinforces the ideas and principles that attracted me to his words of wisdom in the first place. I believe this book would be best served as an introduction to the Dalai Lama and Buddhism for those curious about it.
June 29, 2015
A life changing read: this book gives a (seemingly) thorough and accessible overview of the philosophy and practices of Tibetan Buddhism.The Dalai Lama advocates for the development of compassion and tolerance for all sentient beings and the corollary development of a sense of universal responsibility towards all other sentient beings.
February 29, 2008
interesting exposure to ideas... my favorite being the sin of "wrong view"! uninteresting writing style. disclosure: i read ~80% of it. the chapters on meditative breathing could not keep my attention.
Currently reading
December 13, 2008Thanks to Dee for this one. I started reading it when you gave it to me, but picked it up again this morning. My favorite quote so far, ""It's better not to have the itching than to have the pleasure of scratching."
February 18, 2010
I feel bad just giving three stars to this book. It was a bit hard to read at times, although the messages are awesome, of course. It's almost like I would have had to really study it harder as I went. I always like hearing his wisdom, though.
Want to read
April 16, 2013The first several chapters were very accessible and thought-provoking. The rest of the chapters are probably thought-provoking, but they started to use so much Buddhist terminology I may as well have been reading a foreign language. I'll come back to the book after Buddhism For Dummies.
October 20, 2007
I've been enjoying reading the wisdom of the Dalai Lama, but this edition was a slow read for me. Maybe I wasn't in the right mind space.
June 4, 2008
first dalai lama book- everything makes so much sense.
April 3, 2009
An excellent distillation of the Dalai Lama's thoughts/teachings/writings for those just beginning to explore the way toward enlightenment. Highly recommended.
August 19, 2009
The text is taken from various talks & translated by various translators, so the resulting compilation is repetitive & at the same time inconsistent, but it is still a very useful & helpful book.
February 2, 2011
I liked this book. It was interesting and helpfull.
October 12, 2011
These are a excerpts from talks and teachings given by the Dalai Lama. Although he is a highly spiritual man, he is down to earth, practical, and has a great sense of humor.
July 12, 2012
Some of the chapters that tried to explain Buddhist teachings were a bit hard to grasp with just one read, but all in all a very good book. The Dalai Lama is one of my living heros.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews