Lighting the Path: The Dalai Lama teaches on wisdom and compassion

by Dalai Lama XIV

In this accessible and important follow up to The Art of Happiness His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaches us how to live a happier and more spiritual life by fostering compassion and wisdom.

Filled with his trademark honesty and warmth, this book explains how practically applying the values of Buddhism can help you find answers to both the everyday problems we face - relationships, health, work and happiness - and the major issues and changes facing humanity today including globalisation, technology and terrorism.

Drawn from the Dalai Lama's teachings during his fourth visit to Australia and New Zealand, which focused on gaining strength through compassion, Lighting the Path reminds us that we each have the ability to change our own life for the better, and the power to improve the lives of others as well.

Explaining the central tenets of Buddhism, including the Four Noble Truths, Atisha's Lamp for the Path of Enlightenment and the Eight Verses of Mind Training, this book will give you the practical guidance you need to deal with life's challenges and help you develop inner peace.

Genres: Spirituality, Philosophy

159 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

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

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Lighting the Path: The Dalai Lama Teaches on Wisdom and Compassion comprises a selection of teachings and talks given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his tour of Australia and New Zealand in May 2002.”

Once again I find the Dalai Lamas book enlightening. His books are recommended to anyone who wishes to study his teachings or learn anything about Buddhism.

[J. Vanessa]

Can't remember exactly everything, but I do remember how much it helped me. It really made me change the way I see many things, and it made me understand many feelings.
I was SO lucky that my university main library had this book.

[Dave Wordsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource on what it means to be enlightened, and have inner peace. Although I felt I knew some of the basics of Buddhism expounded upon in this one, I also found the simplicity made the work palatable and easier to digest. Upon completion of this read, I considered starting over to re-read it. This isn't something I do often, as even with some great works of fiction - I'm not prepared to re-read them for the sake of trying to have the story survive whatever tests of time, and patience, or endurance which the text hadn't yet opposed. This one has many salvageable tenets and includes the 28 verses from Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment which is in itself complete. A great read for all enthusiasts of the Dalai Lama, and or Tibetan Buddhism. I'll certainly be giving this one another peruse at some stage.