Timeless wisdom on life today from a leading French intellectual and one of the greatest of contemporary spiritual leaders that picks up where The Art of Happiness left off.
French film writer Jean-Claude Carri're had the extraordinary opportunity to sit down for a series of conversations with one of today's most respected and popular spiritual leaders His Holiness, Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama. Those interviews, which make up Violence and Compassion , give readers a historic chance to listen in as two formidable thinkers discuss issues that are of concern to all.
The discussion covers the various problems that confront world civilization today; including terrorism, the population explosion, environmental dangers, and an escalation in random violence. The Dalai Lama exhibits his characteristic warmth and clarity of thought throughout each of these talks, but what readers will find most valuable is his ability to cut through to the essence of each issue and offer insightful guidance. Carri're, though respectful, never settles for pat answers and consistently asks the down-to-earth questions readers themselves would undoubtedly have asked.
The insightful dialogues contained in Violence and Compassion brings humanity the profound wisdom needed to tackle the challenges of the twenty-first century.
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.
These interviews took place in February 1993. The Dalai Lama projected on what he anticipated would be humanity's greatest struggles over the next 30 years, give or take. Thus it's interesting to read this 28 1/2 years later. These included humanity's collective inability to perceive the interdependence of all living beings, leading to a severe crisis of waste and pollution that is usually called "environmental," about which he was generally pessimistic (yes — I confirm this malprediction from the future), and he also considered the prospect of peacefully negotiating our differences and drawing an end to factional and nationalistic violence, about which he was generally optimistic (eh — I wouldn't say that has yet turned out so well). He was even optimistic about Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, but then, Yitzhak Rabin was still alive.
The Dalai Lama and his interviewer speak very generally about politics; the Dalai Lama supports birth control (especially to address what he understands as the crisis of overpopulation) but opposes abortion, as well as the death penalty and eating animals. There is also a thin overview of some Buddhist values, chiefly interdependence, and also nonviolence and the avoidance of dogmatism. But there aren't many details about either politics or spirituality. So, while the juxtaposed themes are neat, there's not much to study here.
Mr. Carriere, in an interview with the Dalai Lama, explores Buddhism’s beliefs and practices. Buddhism is more a way of life than a religion since they don’t believe in any gods. There is no concept of human dignity because humans are on the same level of importance as insects and animals. The Dalai Lama regards Christians and other god believing religions as ignorant and in need of education. The title is misleading since compassion has a different meaning in Buddhism that it does for others. They also discuss politics, which for both authors, is of the leftist progressive view. If you are interested in learning about Buddhism from the leader, this is a book for you. If you are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu or any religion that includes a god, some sections of the book might be insulting to you.
I really loved this book. It was very thought provoking. I did not care for the style of it though which is a dialogue format. It was difficult to distinguish who was saying what at some points.
Discussion between two inteligent, open-minded men. This book created a tranquil atmosphere, it was enjoyable and inspiring. I'm very thankful for this short but powerful journey.