Customer Reviews

The Essential Dalai Lama: His Important Teachings

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Before reading this book, I have read his two other phenomenal books by His Holiness - The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living and The Art of Happiness at Work. These two books are very practical books with concepts that we can easily relate to and apply to our day to day lives. I read them in a time of sadness and confusion, and they have really helped to put me on the right track again.

The Essential Dalai Lama provided a great introduction of the essential Buddhist concepts to me. The books is actually a collection of chapters from various books by His Holiness. The pace is good for beginners and the ideas are presented in great clarity.

From my point of view, most of the teachings from His Holiness are actually religiously neutral. Many of the concepts are simply ancient wisdoms that have been passed through the experience of many generations. These wisdoms can serve as short-cuts to help all of us, regardless of religious and cultural background, to understand our mind better, to live happier and healthier, and to make this world a better place for our fellow human beings.

To summarize, I think this book could be a bit theoretical as the first introduction to Buddhism. It's easier to read the two books that I mentioned earlier or other books by Thich Nhat Hanh such as Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. On the other hand, for someone who wants to learn the key buddhist concepts in a systematic way for the first time, the Essential Dalai Lama offers an excellent choice.

Normally I am very impressed after reading Dalai Lama books; however, this one didn't leave me with the same feeling.

I suppose the title of this book: "The Essential Dalai Lama - His Important Teachings", was chosen because each chapter of this book consists of an excerpt taken from other Dalai Lama books. I think the best aspect of this book is that even though this book in its entirety is a compilation of sections taken from about 20 different Dalai Lama books, it flows and reads well, as if all the chapters were written for this one book.

The most disappointing feature of this book is that I didn't get anything out of it. Even the chapters that are sections out of what I think are from the "best" Dalai Lama books, are uninspiring in this book because this book lacks the many pages of "lead-in" that the original more thorough books have.

Fortunately, I have read many other Dalai Lama books prior to this one. I find that some of the Dalai Lama books are a waste of time to read, while others are some of the most enlightening books I've ever read.

To date, my two most favorite (5 Star)and highly recommended (essential) Dalai Lama books are:

A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night - A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life

The Heart of the Buddha's Path

I think the Dalai Lama is an amazing man. He exudes peace and calmness. A few years back I was lucky enough to listen to him speak while he was visiting in Seattle. All of Key Arena sat in rapt attention while he spoke.

However, this book doesn't quite do him justice. The beginning few chapters discussing every persons search for happiness is very interesting but doesn't delve into enough depth for me. If you're looking for a more thorough discussion of his views on happiness, conflict, suffering, and injustice, pick up his book The Art of Happiness, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Handbook for Living.

From there it goes on to give an overview of Buddhism and its practice which weren't as thorough as I'd like. If you're looking for a great introduction to Buddhism and the practice of Buddhism, check out Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World

The Essential Dalai Lama His Important Teachings, is a wonderful written and well thought out source of the core not just of Buddhism, but for life. He strikes a cord that transcends religions and opinions to what being a good person really is. What kindness and compassion really are and how by challenging our minds and our energy we can see life for what it really is and in that knowing find peace. I highly recommend this book for everyone.