Customer Reviews

Dalai Lama, My Son: A Mother's Autobiography

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Dalai Lama, My Son is the autobiography of his late mother, Diki Tsering. It is a fascinating story told with unpretentious dignity to her granddaughter and edited with reverence and respect by her grandson. We learn firsthand what it was like to be a mother, daughter, bride, wife, and daughter-in-law in the traditional world of Tibet at the beginning of this century. Diki Tsering began life as a commoner, and while her husband's family was not poor, her role as a wife was arduous. After the recognition of her son, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, she became a public figure of the highest order in her society, but she maintained her values and perspective. Diki Tsering disclosed things about her children's personalities that only a mother would know, and added humanity to her description of momentous and terrible events by giving us homely details like the foods they ate during their climactic state visit to China, the appearance of the wives of Chinese government officials, and the disguises she helped to sew for their escape into India. Readers of other books by or about the Dalai Lama and his family (Freedom in Exile, Seven Years in Tibet, Kundun, etc.) will appreciate seeing this saga through the eyes of his mother. Everyone will enjoy the physical beauty of the book itself, with it's dramatic cover, elegant layout, and historical photographs.

This is a magnificent autobigraphy. Also, a very upsetting one. The "Tibet in Exile" website claims that Tibet had women's rights. This book by the Dalai Lama's mother claims otherwise. In Amdo, which is Eastern Tibet, they had a custom that seemed to work for adultery. But not for women. The family of the woman who was the offender were required to kill her. Dike Tsering goes into more detail. Also, if a man died leaving his wife alone, she was required not to marry for three years. Then the family would conduct "secret negotiations" for profit. This caused many Tibetan women to commit suicide. The book also displays the tremendous impact of astrology. How you got married, who you married, and so forth. The astrologer was consulted on all matters of importance in the family. And there were ghosts. One ghost was resposible for the deaths of four of her children. In Lhasa, there were tremendous class distinctions! And Diki Tsering displays them simply as horrible snobs. This applys to the aristocrats who lived off their "bonded laborers". And wouldn't even call them by name. They also acted like Diki Tsering was nothing but "a farm hand". The two regents who controlled Tibet while the Dalai Lama was growing up were Reting Rinpoche and Taktra Rinpoche. Reting was the first regent, until he was supposedly assasinated by Taktra Rinpoche. The author also believes, as did the people of Tibet, that Taktra Rinpoche poinsoned her husband, the father of the Dalai Lama, because he was friends with Reting Rinpoche. Nevertheless, Reting Rinpoche was not without violence. A Tsipan Lungshar led a movemovement for reform. Reting Rinpoche had his eyes goughed out as punishment. I find the testimony of Diki Tsering very good. She is really strong and seems to speak with great truth. I believe her about the ghosts and the astrology. But about the other issues, and as a follower of Tibetan Buddhism, I am more depressed than usual! But I do feel that this is a must read for people who do want to save Tibet. We have to know our "weakspots" so that they don't come back later to haunt us. And I don't mean ghosts! Please buy and read the book. Thank you very much.

If you're looking for an in-depth portrait of the Dalai Lama as a child, you will probably be disappointed here. This is not the story of "Dalai Lama, My Son," but of the mother. The first almost half of the book tells of her youth and married life in Ambo, or Qinghai Province. A few pages in the middle do describe the Dalai Lama's early character leading to his selection. From there on, his mother refers to him as "His Holiness" and says little about him, but tells her personal and family story after fate plunged them into politics.

I did enjoy the book, though, especially the first part. I've lived and traveled in the Himilayan foothills of southern China. Reading the author's description of her familie's life style -- celebrations, marriage, story telling, being snowed in during winter -- made me want to go back and see more.

A famous missionary doctor, Dr. Paul Brand, once said his ideal lifestyle, apart from a need for modern medicine, would be that of an Indian villager. This account of the Tibetan lifestyle, and my own travels through the minority areas of Yunnan Province, confirm how much that is human and natural we lose in our surrender to technology: rhythms of the seasons, traditions, the hard pleasure of sowing and reaping, and what it means to depend on family and community.

The later part of the book is interesting sometimes, but is a bit like the story of a pawn who wanders onto a chessboard by mistake and gets moved around by both sides without quite knowing what is going on.

Despite the quarrel below, there is little about what Westerners call Buddhism in this book. What most Asians call Buddhism is a mixture of polytheism, various superstitions, practical concern about evil spirits, and a cycle of annual festivals, with priests occupying a respected but mostly ceremonial position. One of the most surprising things about this very open and simple account is that the Dalai Lama's mother is allowed to speak as a typical Asian in this respect.

In fact, there may be more about ghosts here than about the author's most famous son. Tsering blamed them for the loss of four of her children (out of sixteen), and did not seem embarrassed by the odd character of the stories she told. Her stories set me thinking. One of the foundational myths of Tibetan Buddhism is the tale of how the monk Phadmasambhava conquered the demons of Tibet, and having conquered them, put them to work for the forces of good. Tsering's experiences with ghosts might cause some to reconsider the relative merits of the "tolerant" Buddhist approach and the more confrontational Christian approach to powers and principalities. One also wonders, of course, what relationship these spirits bare to the diseases that marred the lifestyle of such peasants.

Author, Jesus and the Religions of Man

d.marshall@sun.ac.jp

This book relates some of the details of the life of Diki Tsering, the mother of the Dalai Lama. It begins with her childhood in early Twentieth Century Tibet, where she was born into a peasant family. She tells stories of her life as a child, explaining the special relationship she had with her grandparents, and describing the festivals in great detail. She describes her wedding ceremony as a 17-year-old bride, and her new life as stranger and household worker in her husband's family home. As a peasant, Diki Tsering was not rich, but she also was not from the bottom rungs of society, since her family always had a few servants or paid laborers working for them. When one of her children, Lhamo Dhondup, was recognized as the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, her life changed dramatically. The family was moved to Lhasa, were they became acquainted with aristocratic society and were given large land holdings and servants. As the mother of the Dalai Lama, she was then able to live the life of an aristocrat and travel widely. However, she was also subject to the dangers of Tibetan and international politics, which eventually led to her flight from Tibet in 1958.

The beginning of the book is quite fascinating, with its descriptions of customs and peasant practices in rural Tibet. Her later descriptions of life in Lhasa and travels are not quite as detailed or engaging, but they do provide interesting documentation of Tibetan history at a crucial point in time.

A serious, yet interesting audio book about the story of the Dalai Lama as told from his mother's perspective. Only 4 cassettes long, this unabridged version of the book drew me into the unique culture of Tibet in the early 20th century. The music was peaceful as well as the voice of the reader. In addition, I recommend the breath-taking video "Kandu"; also about the upbringing of the Dalai Lama.

This is a great read, so good I read in two days. This book gives an honest look into a time and place long gone. I especially like how everyday topics such as marriage, birth and burial cermonies are brought to life with the words of someone who actually experienced the life. This woman was a strong lady who with stregnth and humility faced what life had to offer her.

I beleave this book was insightful. It was fairly simple to read, and was worded well. however, reading this, and several other books for an honors project, i must say that it takes a different reader to enjoy. i also read invading tibet, which i thought was much more fun to read. Dalai lama my son is a good book, but to me it seemed flat.

This book I skimmed through in a few hours. I was suprised at its simplicity. Through this miraculous, simple, earthy MOTHER came a miracle. This story and it is a STORY has many levels. Simple, basic GOOD people live all over the world and give birth...

Real Buddhism died when the Chinese dictators invaded, raped and killed Tibet. This book about the life of Diki Tsering, the mother of the Dalai Lama is the last voice you will hear from the Buddhist world. Diki Tsering's values, words and thoughts are the same as those expressed by people during the Gupta Dynasty in India, the T'ang and Sung Dynasties in China, and in Japan until 1850, when Perry invaded Japan. It is therefore a valuable book worthy of intense study.

as someone mentioned "The last Buddhism in the World ": I would like to tell you that you are behind the hill. There are many kinds of Buddhism. Tibet is just the one and it's named because Chinese-- tried to colonize it in the past. I am not saying Tibet Buddhism is bad, instead, I love it. Please do not just write something you want, but make it useful too. Some error can be memorized by someone naive in the area and it will damage the story itself.