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Dalai Lama Links
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
The Government of Tibet In Exile
The Nobel Prize Internet Archive
1989 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
The Dalai Lama on China, hatred, and optimism.

See excerpts from Dalai Lama's Book of Transformation, The Meaning of Life, Buddha Heart, Buddha Mind, and Stages of Meditation.

"I am convinced that human nature is basically gentle, not aggressive. And every one of us has a responsibility to act as if all out thoughts, words, and deeds matter. For, really, they do. Our lives have both purpose and meaning."
- from Ethics for the New Millennium by Dalai Lama

As I was reading Ethics for the New Millennium, I found it to be very interesting and thought provoking. In the book, The Dalai Lama calls for a non-religious spiritual revolution, a social revolution that would result in a world in which all in existence is treated with the respect and dignity inherently deserved. He discusses the causes and cures for the societal problems of today in a very convincing manner. This is a book that I will read many times.

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and formerly the ruler of Tibet. He is believed to be a reincarnation of the Buddha and the 14th Dalai Lama. It is said that when he dies, his soul will enter the body of a newborn boy. After being identified by traditional tests, the boy will become the new Dalai Lama.

The first person holding the title of Dalai Lama was Sonam Gyatso, grand lama of the Drepung monastery and leader of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) sect, who received it in 1578 from the Mongol chief Altan Khan; it was then applied retroactively to the previous leaders of the sect. In 1642 another Mongol chief, Gushri Khan, installed the fifth Dalai Lama as Tibet's spiritual and temporal ruler. His successors governed Tibet-first as tributaries of the Mongols, but from 1720 to 1911 as vassals of the emperor of China.

When the Chinese Communists occupied Tibet in 1950, they came into increasing conflict with Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. He left the country after an unsuccessful rebellion in 1959 and thereafter lived in India. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for leading the nonviolent opposition to continued Chinese rule in Tibet. In 1995 the Dalai Lama came into conflict with Chinese authorities over the identification of a new Panchen Lama (the second most senior Tibetan religious authority). In 1996 he published Violence and Compassion, in which he and French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière consider topics of political and spiritual interest.

Freedom in Exile : The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama

Ethics for the New Millennium by Dalai Lama

The Art of Happiness : A Handbook for Living

The Four Noble Truths : Fundamentals of the Buddhist Teachings His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama