Customer Reviews

Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World

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Read this book if you want to know of a viable solution to peace between Tibet and China. Thurman gives us 7 jewels. First, because of Thurman's 45 year friendship with His Holiness, Thurman gives the reader an intimate connection to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, specifically, his brilliant mind and his good, pure heart. A mind/heart connection that seeks gentleness, forgiveness, compassion, and wisdom. This is the psychologically mature leader the world desperately needs. I found this part of Thurman's book to be especially engaging. Second, Thurman provides a brief, but truthful account of the history of Tibet and Sino-Tibetan relations with the brutal oppression and cultural genocide of Tibetans by the Chinese Communist Party. Third, Thurman shows us not only his extensive knowledge and passion for Tibetans and Tibetan culture, but his own gentle, compassionate, and altruistic mind/heart connection. We need leaders in the world like this! The fourth jewel is Thurman's feasible, practical vision for how China and Tibet can benefit from a One Country, Two System arrangement. Though the vision has its potential drawbacks, Thurman articulates the overarching win-win outcome. It is doable if both sides can build essential trust. The fifth jewel is Thurman's compassion for both sides in advancing the Dalai Lama's Middle Way approach. The sixth jewel--Thurman's Wisdom of Nonviolence--is salient and woven like a tapestry throughout the book. Here, Thurman stays true to the essence of Buddhism. And I found Thurman's seventh jewel most endearing and inspiring of all--the jewel of abiding Hope. His indefatigable hope that a peaceful solution is entirely possible was invigorating to me. In a world with ecological problems which present dire peril for our planet, Thurman's hope for transcending these anthropogenic problems shines through from the jewel that is essential Thurman, essential Buddhism---a brilliant mind and a Good Heart. Read Thurman---it is sheer joy to be inspired by him! Other recommended readings are Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart and The Meaning of Life from a Buddhist Perspective both by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Although the Dalai Lama is almost a household name in the United States, few people have a clear picture of who he is. Robert Thurman has championed the potential of this simple monk to teach the planet how to survive in peace. The ways of war are no longer practical (if they ever were...), and our creative ability to evolve will require a peaceful world. China would be well served to open a dialoge with the Dalai Lama before he dies, if for no other reason than to show it truly is a Great China, not just another despotic communist state.
This book should be read widely, especially by the Chinese audience in the United States. Although this book is sometimes critical of China, it is often hopeful that China will soon open its arms in friendship. "No matter what part of the world we come from, we are all basically the same human beings. We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. We have the same basic needs and concerns. All human beings want freedom and the right to determine our own destiny as individuals and peoples. That is human nature." from the Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, December 10, 1989.

Followers of the Dharma believe in the interconnectedness of all life and consequently practice non-violence. Here the brilliant teacher and former Buddhist monk, Robert Thurman, in addressing China's occupation and oppression of Tibet advocates a non-violent plan to end China's Tibet 'problem '. His answer is for China to give Tibet internal autonomy while it remains in a kind of "United States of Asia" ie. remaining part of China. Thurman argues for a democratic Tibet with a constitution where the Dalai Lama would renounce political rule over Tibet and would not advocate total independence from China. Tibet would have free elections and the Dalai Lama would remain the spiritual and moral head of Tibet. These are all noble and worthwhile ideals. The problem is they are completely naive. Thurman says China can only win by giving Tibet autonomy, as China by doing this will gain esteem in the eyes of the world. However, Thurman fails to address the most important reason that China will never grant autonomy to a Tibetan autonomous and democratic entity. The crux is that word "democracy". Why would China want an autonomous democracy in its midst? In the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party the results would be dire. Suddenly all of its people would be clamouring for the same thing. Thurman's arguement seems naive in the extreme. However, I never thought I would ever see the collapse of the Soviet Union or the fall of the Berlin Wall in my lifetime, so perhaps anything is possible. Dr. Thurman makes a noble argument.

"Tired of feeling that Tibet is doomed," friend for 45 years of the Dalai Lama, leading scholar and earnest activist, Thurman explains why China can change, how Tibet can survive, and how they can both be happier. He explores the Dalai Lama's appeal, proposes a plan for compromise, and envisions a "Tibet solved, freed, restored" as an environmental sanctuary, a spiritual center, and an economic entity.

My sympathies are with the message here. But, the tone may fail to rouse skeptics towards this noble cause. Some Tibetan scholars, while admiring Thurman's academic record, shrink back at his emotional embrace of his mentor, and have argued that such naivete and hero-worship may detract from rather than further the Tibetan struggle. I'll mention three other books that those opposing Tibet's predicament may find useful in my review. The first third of this narrative I found the most interesting, but it bogs down when it gets to the details, sort of like after a keynote speaker's introduced, gets through the warm-up, and settles down to business over a long, intricate, and detail-laden scheme. I don't fault the concept here, but the presentation and delivery may, I reckon, make some restless in the audience.

I suspect this book will preach to the converted. Nothing wrong with this, but many more may scoff. The tone of this work will unsettle rationalists. It may put off secular readers accustomed to less fulsome praise of any religious leader today. It will not teach you much about Buddhism, or Tibet's milieu; I recommend Thomas Laird's "The Story of Tibet" via conversations with the Dalai Lama, and Pico Iyer's "The Open Road" for context (both reviewed by me). Yet, Thurman does try to account for what many-- not only Laird and Iyer-- attest to in the Dalai Lama's presence: he adapts with inner flexibility to his interlocutor, while radiating a charismatic humility, a balanced power, and an engaging wit that disarms perhaps all but the likes of Chairman Mao or President Hu of the PRC. He's somehow grounded in deep tradition while eager for the latest discoveries in science and technology.

Thurman writes as one who has faith in his subject, literally. He builds upon his immense knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism with his Western sensibility, and his American confidence in righteous transformation for a better world. Tibet becomes a symbol of the "inner revolution" that all can aspire to for transformation, no matter their own beliefs or lack in conventional religion.

Thurman reminds us that the fall of the Soviet empire was predicted by few when it happened. The PRC cannot, he holds, live for long as the jailer next to the prisoner. The six million in Tibet face a genocide; the parallels haunt us with last century's ideological tyranny imposed upon a herded and battered people, their ancient and modern legacy of learning and wisdom, and their rich faith.

He parallels three sections of Buddhism with three roles for Tibet's leader. "If Buddhism is one-third ethics, one-third psychology and religion as therapy, and one-third scientific wisdom," then as a teacher, practitioner, and as a philosopher-scientist, we can work for the recognition of the Dalai Lama as a "Prince of Peace" who in his reincarnations as Avalokiteshvara intervenes for the Tibetans. This may confound outsiders, but he's a sort of renewable messiah. Contrasted with Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Jews, all of whom await a first or second coming of a savior-figure, Tibetans regard the Dalai Lama as their protector who, as the boddhisatva's name can be rendered awkwardly but accurately, "'the looking down compassionately on the suffering' of 'a God.'" That is, he intervenes for his people rather than expecting them to wait for "a God who floats above, aloof in his own freedom and bliss." (128) Heady stuff, as are the claims that Thurman as a believer holds for His Holiness, but he gives an introduction that shifts us from our Western skepticism into Eastern understanding of how Tibetan Buddhism regards its spokesman.

For non-believers, the benefits of the Dalai Lama and an autonomous Tibet would counteract our own economic malaise, moral relativism, and capitalist consumption. The Dalai Lama speaks of shared kindness as our social bond. He knows no religion can be perfect either. He tells Muslims and Christians: "There is no such thing as a religion of hate!" (52); Thurman posits this same claim for a conflicted regime such as Communist China.

The Dalai Lama compares four trends in the 21st century that augur well. War is seen as not the answer to geopolitical conflict; capitalism no less than communism gains trust so much as individual initiative; spirituality offers solace and meaning to those for whom "the dictates of materialistic science" have been found wanting; environmental preservation has gained our awareness as a necessity. (94) Thurman prophesies an Asian Switzerland. The book at this point may bog down with a lot of enthusiastic brainstorming, but the ideals and the possibilities open up what, for fifty years, no other methods have succeeded in doing to advance Tibet's freedom.

He and the Dalai Lama imagine Tibet as a possible land of true freedom. But, governments, consumers, corporations, armies: all would have to change their evil ways. Thurman provides detailed speculation combined with the Dalai Lama's own words on many policies and agendas that could be worked out, if China listened, if the rest of the nations cared, and if we believed enough to act for change. He concludes with no index, but a brief bibliography and websites where you can get involved; the maps and photos dazzle with color and detail; his Ten Points of Hope do rally the committed with an inspiring, eloquent, and idealistic conclusion.

Can the Dalai Lama as a philosopher-king, in his next incarnation, evade the Chinese puppet of a "False Lama" that has interfered in the Panchen Lama's similar case? Thurman urges a federation between Tibet and China as a way to ease tensions. John and Elizabeth Roberts in "Freeing Tibet" (an excellent counterpart reviewed by me, with diplomatic and cultural history combined with boycott strategies, divestment goals, and plans for activists to apply to Tibetan liberation; published later in 2008 than this book, so covering Beijing Olympics protests and reprisals after the Tibetan national uprising) seem less optimistic than Thurman. They cite the Dalai Lama's bold plan to get the world to notice Tibet. He'll come back next life as "a beautiful woman"!

In the current crisis over Tibet, this book by Thurman is topical, to the point, with some practical suggestions as to the resolution of the conflict with China. The tremendous forbearance of the Dalai Lama receives here a spokesman for the peaceful resolution of the Tibetan tragedy in the form of the status of autonomy, and it is hard to see how the Chinese expect to simply ignore the realities of the situation that has emerged and that is so prejudicial to the Chinese self-image. Thurman reminds us that Tibetan Buddhism is an immense legacy whose destruction by any party could only backfire in ignominy.
The tensions of the Tiber/China conflict are tremendous, Thurman's calm is the context for a convincing plea, but will China have the presence of mind to listen?

Of course I am kidding, but not really. The Tibetan diaspora claims a higher moral approach politics. The Dalai Lama and his supporters say they are operating on the basis of compassion and nonviolence. It is one of the reasons why they feel they will achieve a restitution of the rights of the Tibetan peoples and religion. This is why the Dalai Lama matters. He aspires to change political reality, the changes coming about as a result of the application of Buddhist principles. Buddhism posits three root causes of suffering: they are greed, aversion and delusion. Delusion is not seeing the world as it is. If the diaspora's claim to Tibet honors these principles than the aspiration must not derive from desire for material gain or even possession of a land, nor hatred of the Chinese. Nor must its claim be based on anything other than the truth. And it is truth that is compromised in Thurman's book as in the propaganda of the diaspora.

Of course, the Dalai Lama matters. He articulates a wonderful vision of compassion. As Thurman points out, he has captivated the West with his own humanity and Gandhian ideas of political change. This is truly impressive but when it comes to truth both the diaspora and certain supporters like Thurman come up short. Robert Thurman represents what is known in both Zen and Tibetan Buddhism as "crazy wisdom." Years ago when I heard Thurman speak, that may have been an adequate characterization of his inspired presentation. But even then, the crazy might have outweighed the wisdom, but it was a toss up. Thurman is an ecstatic devotee. In his enthusiasm and belief he says things that are hardly wise. Several months ago in a book talk when this book had just come out, I was both shocked and ashamed of some of the things he said. He ranted about the Chinese in a way that smacked of racism. I walked out of the talk with a feeling that an ally of the diaspora such as
Thurman was a good screaming partner for the Chinese who so self-righteously call the Dalai Lama evil and a devil. One rant deserves the other, hardly the spirit of compassion.

Thurman's book has an air of condescension. He says that the Chinese are not physically fit to live on the Tibetan plateau and the illness they will inevitably get there will drive them out. The greed of the rest of the world, which the Chinese so cleverly manipulates, keeps nations from censuring the Chinese and not recognizing Tibetan independence. The Dalai Lama is really the Tibetan's god-king and living Buddha so his call for democracy is irrelevant. Tibet was some kind of Shangri-La out of which the Chinese cruelly drove the Dalai Lama.

Let's start with these large questions. One: Yes there are ethnic biological adaptations for extreme environments. Peruvians have physiologically evolved at high altitudes differently than Tibetans. Eskimos and Pima Indians have different special adaptations. But that is hardly a rationale for sending the Spanish of the Andes, the retirees of Tucson, the dark skinned residents of the Netherlands, the Hispanic illegales of the U.S. or the East Indian migrants of Assam back to where they came from. While the lowland Chinese may have troubles adapting, natural selection will work that out over time. It has elsewhere with sometimes serious medical repercussions. Despite how various people got where they are, the world is too mixed now to unravel. The Lamistic Buddhists were not the indigenous population of the Tibetan plateau. It might be nice to imagine solutions like the separation of Greeks and Turks after World War I, but the plight of the Kurds, Palestinis, Chechens, Darfurians, is not so simply solved. Personally I might send the Orangemen of Northern Ireland back to England, Wales and Scotland. It is the right wing (sometimes racist) who wants to send people back to where they came from. Is that a principle that either Thurman or the Dalai Lama wants to embrace? The Zionists scream that the Arab world has plenty of room for the people they ethnically cleansed. That is true of China too, but people who so advocate are lousy company to keep.

Two: Forty years before Americans, Europeans and East Indians were buying toys from China, hardly any nation recognized Tibetan independence. Despite central Tibet's freedom from Chinese control from 1911 until 1950, no country recognized a Tibetan passport. Britain, its surrogate India, and China hacked away at pieces of Tibet granting privileges of autonomy when it suited their interests and backing away for profit or when needing to make a deal with each other. The greed of Wal-Mart for Chinese junk was not an element in this all. On p. xvii Thurman says that the world befuddled by the cold war let China seize and dismember Tibet. Bad history. Much more complicated. Everyone acknowledged Tibet as part of China. See Goldstein A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State, A History of Modern Tibet, volume 2: The Calm before the Storm: 1951-1955 (Philip E. Lilienthal Books) and Shakya The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947.

Three: It is odd that as spiritual leaders, Dalai Lamas over time have had to cede to political pressure from aristocrats, the heads of great monasteries, fighting monks, ethnic minorities, and the rabble of Lhasa. They backed off of principled positions that they might liked to have taken if they truly ruled Tibet as incarnations of living Buddhas. The 13th Dalai Lama revoked his modernizations under pressure from the great monasteries fearing for their prerogatives and disliking the British uniforms his new army had adopted. The 14th could do nothing to control the rioting mobs who, acting on untrue rumors that the Chinese were about to seize him, murdered his representatives. He fled Lhasa leaving the country to the mercy of the Chinese occupiers who acted only after it was clear the Tibetan government couldn't or wouldn't reestablish order. No one has investigated the odd pattern of Dalai (and Panchen) Lamas strategy of flight. Mongolia, China, and India have received them.

Thurman disagrees with the Dalai Lama's attempts to make democracy more important than himself in Tibetan affairs. For Thurman he is a "shining, perfect Buddha who showed us a way to freedom, love and happiness." Who needs contentious representatives in a legislature with such a leader. Thurman thinks the Tibetan people feel the same, but as the above paragraph illustrates they have an odd way of showing it.

Four: Tibet as Shangri-La. Read Tibetan history. The above examples should suffice. I know probably twenty or thirty Americans who are dedicated practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. All hold their teacher/guru (most of whom are Tibetans) and the Dalai Lama in great reverence. Not one of these twenty or thirty knows anything about Tibetan history except the cliché's propagated by the Tibetan government in exile. Nor do they want to know.

It is hard for me to read Thurman's book (and I admit I skimmed much of it). I, oh so, agree with him that the Dalai Lama is one of the most extraordinary humans to live on this planet in this time. He is a true exemplar of compassion, and the dream toward which he leans is one I too wish would come to pass. In granting Tibet the kind of autonomy he envisions, China might indeed set an example for the rest of the world and begin an era of peace built on true nonharming rather than personal and national self-interest. Yes Bob many of us share that dream. But some of us also feel its should be based on a truthful understanding of history not more self-serving propaganda no matter how well intentioned. Remember the higher (Buddhist) moral standard toward which the Dalai Lama wants us to reach.

So let us look at some more specifics in Thurman's book. p. 14 The Dalai Lama's momma from eastern Tibet didn't know she was bearing a reincarnated Lama. Miracle of miracles, she had a dream of his coming (and the eventual Chinese threat). But then she also had other incarnated offspring, and when the family accompanied the young chosen one to Lhasa and were granted all sorts of estates, they promptly got themselves into much hot water with accusations of misuing their newly acquired status, especially the dad. Later a brother or two got in bed with defeated Chiang Kai-shek (one of the more corrupt world leaders) on Taiwan and the CIA whose aid to the Tibetans was a cynical response to the Cold War. Quoting Thurman about momma's dream: "The [DL] daily presents the potential of this alchemy to us all." I guess so if life is the stuff that dreams are made of. But there is more to it among us thoughtful unbelievers.

p. 29: "Whenever and wherever monasticism dominated, militarism was weakened." And the reverse. He says that this applies to Christianity also. Heaven save us from religious zealots. Professor Thurman, who I thought was a great scholar, hasn't read his history. Was it Stalin who said that the Pope has no armies. But Popes certainly did lots of damage using monasteries, armies and Catholic princes. Thurman says that the 5th DL demilitarized and defeudalized Tibet and instituted mass monasticism. The goal was "the evolutionary education of all citizens, more like university-state unity than church-state unity." Then how did Tibet get to be a country with virtual serfdom and fighting monks enforcing monastic power for centuries before the Chinese invaded? And how come the people of Kham and Amdo often perferred warlords allied with the Chinese to the rule of Lhasa. Thurman does tell us the 6th DL was abused as a youth by his regents and grew into a wastrel who may have been assassinated. I don't understand such behavior from an incarnated Lama. Somehow his Buddha lineage got overwhelmed or did those who discovered him make a mistake. The masses apparently loved him, despite his un-Buddha-like behavior. Sounds to me more like ordinary history than Shangri-La, but maybe he had crazy wisdom in a way that transcends ordinary understanding. p. 32: Thurman says that in the early 1930s the 13th DL claimed he was going to die 10 years before his time so his successor would be old enough to stave off the Chinese communists. He was mighty prescient because at that time they were an almost negligible force in China. And he should have kicked the bucket even earlier because the 19 year old 14th DL was no match for the complexities of his time. But then nothing is out of the question for a believer in incarnate buddhas.

p. 43ff.: "....mass monasticism is the only remedy against rampant militarism human societies have ever developed." I don't know what to say. What follows this sentence is a garbled set of claims about how 20% of supposed manpower nations put into the military when allocated to monasteries is somehow good for the society. One can't criticize this because it is unsubstantiated. The real economy of Tibetan monasticism is unknown. Whether is will ever be knowable in traditional Tibet depends on historical documentation, the availability of which is questionable. That most monks entered of their own free will or pursued higher spiritual goals in Tibetan monasteries is also questionable. It certainly was not the case in Buddhist monasteries elsewhere. They came around for food, took care of monastery business, performed rituals, sterilely studied texts, collected rents, avoided working in the fields, etc. It was a living, a vocation for younger sons.

p. 71: The DL advocates democratic autonomy within China. Thurman says that the Chinese must take the risk that the Tibetans won't vote for independence. But Thurman implies that because of Tibetan reverence for the DL and Tibetan pragmatism, the Chinese don't have to worry. Once given autonomy Tibetans won't opt for independence. There is good reason for worry. It was the Tibetans not going along with the Dalai Lama that led to the uprising in Eastern Tibet and rumor fed mobs seizing of Lhasa which led to a violent Chinese response. Before that, on Mao's instruction, the occupiers followed a go slow strategy in Central Tibetan. When the introduction of reforms into Eastern Tibet set off a rebellion, Mao criticized, "Han chauvinism," and promised no social changes for five or ten years. And the central Tibetans were not happy to see Kham refugees who they thought inferior and burdened their economy. So from the Chinese point of view it is naïve to see autonomy as anything other than a cover. But the Tibetans are more than entitled to their freedom and land, as are the Chechens, the Puerto Ricans, Osetians, Basques, and the slave states prior to the civil war, the Palestinians, the Kurds, the Navajo, etc. etc. Where is the magic wand that would make it so and the ethnic group which will share their desired piece of the earth with others who also claim it. The Tibetan government has never stopped speaking of Tibetan areas of China which have long since been regarded as China proper.

p. 106: Thurman insensitively uses the English translation of the expression, "Lebensraum," or "living space" to hint that China seeks the resources of its neighbors and their territory for its growing billions. Them's fighting words and bad taste because of its allusion to Nazism.

Although I admire what the Dalai Lama is trying to do and think that Thurman is well intentioned. His has done a service in presenting the truly heroic behavior of the Dalai Lama. The pictures in the book are intriguing. Nonetheless, historical truth demands much more than Thurman has given. And the complexities of the current world asks more of us who would like realizable solutions. The Communist Chinese have behaved abominably toward Tibetans and their own people. Chinese history contains both great achievements and great tragedies. China is undergoing a transformation unlike any the world has seen before: an impoverished economically frozen command economy experiencing something akin to the industrial revolution in thirty years. The Communist rulers will hold on to power with whatever force they need, and they will act with the arrogance the Chinese have expressed for the last three thousand years. The US is little different, e.g. Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, etc. etc.. I don't think the Dalai Lama is correct in thinking that peaceful transformation of Chinese control over Tibet will come like the nonviolent evaporation of the Soviet Union or South African apartheid. But in the vast scale of Chinese development, Tibet may not just be worth it, or as the economic improvements in China mature, the leadership won't feel the need to control religious life, and the Tibetans can go back to their monasteries and mysteries if they then so desire. We can pray and agitate as the Dalai Lama is doing. But lets keep to the facts. It will serve that cause better.

Charlie Fisher author of Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World

While Professor Thurman may be highly regarded with respect to his scholarship within Tibetan Buddhism, he is obviously not very objective when it comes to the Dalai Lama. This book comes over as being a somewhat sycophantic portrait of the Tibetan Buddhist leader. It's clear that Professor Thurman has a great deal of faith in the Dalai Lama, which is understandable since he obviously has a close, affectionate relationship with him and has learned a great deal about Tibetan Buddhism from him, but unless you are a great fan of the Dalai Lama and want to regard him as a 'superman', this book is not for you. If you're looking for an objective assessment of the Dalai Lama's contribution to the worlds of religion and politics, this is not for you either.

Robert Thurman's enthusiasm for the Dalai Lama comes across as somewhat 'cultish', and if this book is intended to sell the Tibetan leader to the Chinese Government so that progress can be made on the issue of Tibet (as it appears to aspire to do), it would have been better for someone more objective with a clearer and more realistic view of the Dalai Lama's achievements to have written it. For example, Thurman writes:

'He is a Prince of Peace and Philosopher King of Tibet, by which I mean that he walks successfully in the path of loving meekness so powerfully pointed out and exemplified by Jesus, while also fulfilling the ideals of Plato in action. He is the champion of the Buddha's wisdom, deep, vast and exquisite for his carry one Shakyamuni's scientific teaching of the ultimate freedom of voidness, his religious teaching of the vast art of compassionate action, and his psychological teaching of the power of beauty to liberate. The Dalai Lama calls himself a simple Shakya monk but he is also Shakyamuni's devoted heir. He reaches out to all humans, nonreligious as well as followers of every kind of religion, as upholder of the common human religion of kindness, embracing all, regardless of belief system, in the church of life in the rite of human kindness.....' (pages xiii-xiv)

And so it goes on. Thurman leaves us in no doubt that he is definitely a fan!

However, despite the Dalai Lama's great renown, there are many controversial areas in his career such as his secret support of the Tibetan Resistance movement whilst preaching non-violence, his being in the employ of the CIA in the 60's, his willingness to associate himself with commercial ventures such as advertising Apple computers and editing Vogue magazine, the active opposition to those who opposed the Dalai Lama's attempt to unify all the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism under him - indeed, the leader of that resistance movement, Gunthang Tsultrim was murdered and the assassin claimed that he was paid by the Tibetan Government in Exile. There is also the issue of the ostracism of the practitioners of the Buddhist Deity Dorje Shugden who refused to follow the Dalai Lama's puzzling ban of the practice and, as a result, are denied travel, access to education, shops and medical facilities in their own community. The Tibetan Government in Exile even changed the constitution so that Shugden practitioners could never hold government office.

All these controversies, as well as many others such as the Karmapa issue, are not mentioned in the book. This book should therefore be seen for what it is - a highly coloured and exuberant personal portrait of the Dalai Lama by one of his oldest friends and colleagues, but hardly a realistic or objective assessment of the Tibetan Leader's abilities and achievements and as such has limited value unless you, too, are an unquestioning fan.

The Dalai Lama's life is devoted to peace and non-violence - but few are aware of how he's achieved a worldwide reputation for such. WHY THE DALAI LAMA MATTERS blends a history of Tibet with a survey of political and social change, weaving in the Dalai Lama's biography in the process. Any library strong in human rights issues, Asian history or Eastern spirituality and religion needs WHY THE DALAI LAMA matters.

While I wasn't expecting anything groundbreaking in this book, neither was I expecting unmitigated dreck from professor Thurman. Unfortunately that what this book amounts to.

The history of 20th century Sino-Tibetan relations are given a relatively cursory and heavily biased accounting. This book will not serve as an introductory text to the issue. Most of the proposals issued by Thurman amount to little more than ill-conceived delusions completly detached from any sense of reality. The transformation of Tibet into a financial and banking center akin to an Asian Switzerland chief among them. I won't even insult the reader by having to explain why this is unrealistic. Neither is turning all of "Greater" Tibet into one giant nature preserve.

I particularly enjoyed how he was able to rationalize the ethnic cleansing of several million Chinese by depopulating all urban areas from his idealized Tibetan urheimat in under a paragraph. Most of the rest is in the same vein, one giant socio-economic system built upon monumental egotism and wishful thinking pretty much sums it up.

I wish I could say that it was at least readable, but it is lacking even there. The writing is simply atrocious and reads like it was written by an undergraduate with no proofreading whatsoever. Reading lines like "joyous Tibetans dancing from joy for joyous western tourists" is simply wince inducing.

Less a history lesson or feasible plan of action than a self-indulgent palliative for Free Tibet hippies in light of the recent Lhasa riots.

While I'm a big fan of the Dali Lami, this book was unbearable. The author is so hopelessly sycophantic that I couldn't stomach reading the whole thing. It's long on childish hero-worship and short on substance. This is not a serious book for serious people. Save your money.

So NOT recommended.