A Simple Path (Hardcover)

by Dalai Lama XIV (Author), Ian Cumming (Photographer), Thupten Jinpa (Translator), His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This beautifully illustrated full color gift book combines the wisdom of His Holiness the Dalai Lama with inspiring images of the Tibetan people, Buddhist monks and nuns, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the stunning landscapes of Nepal and Tibet.

About the Author
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the exiled spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1989. He is the author of many books about Buddhism. He lives in Dharamsala, India.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Thorsons (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007105509
• ISBN-13: 978-0007105502
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 7.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #848,983 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply beautiful, March 8, 2001

By	A. Hogan (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

thorsons have done us a great service with the publication of this book. HH the dalai Lama gave a lecture on the 4 noble truths in england, and instead of merely publishing the text[good enough in and of itself},Thorsons has interspersed scores of color pictures of some of the finest photographs available,throughout the volume. Heavy bonded glossy photograhic paper is used,highlighting this amazing volume. The typeset is bold and clear,the pictures are breathtaking!Monasteries, monks praying, pilgrims outside the ptola palace,children playing...absolutely stunning photgraphs, perfectly compliment the text of His Holiness.And at this price?!?! What an exquisite book, and what a bargain. Absolutely magnificent! Highest recommendation.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple Path / Graduate Level Book, December 23, 2003

By	Buster Paris (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Simple Path: Basic Buddhist Teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Paperback)

(3.75 Stars)

The cover of the book is so warm and inviting. His Holiness The Dalai Lama smiling at you with mouth and eyes. Every time I look at it I smile. I'm tempted to cut the cover off and frame it...

The book discusses in great detail the 4 Noble Truths.

It's difficult to write a review on books regarding Buddhism. Everyone's experience will be different and everyone's understanding will be different and I don't want to discourage anyone from exploring The Path...

For myself I found this book difficult to follow. Someone else may take to it better and find it an easier to understand (I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer)

I felt like a freshmen walking in late to a lecture and the audience and class this was for was all graduate students. I felt like I missed the beginning of the talk and that the level of content was for more advanced students.

I do not recommend this to a newcomer to Buddhism, again I found the "level" to be more advanced, but that's your call and like I said you may take to it better than I did and hey - it's your path.

I did get things out of the book and did learn some things. I felt incredibly honored to be reading the words of HH The Dalai Lama and that's what kept me reading.

The photographs are absolutely beautiful! - and again - I love the cover!

83 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gorgeous volume with luscious photographs, October 27, 2000

By	Mark Meyer (Kenmore, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I must confess, I picked up this book because it was just so lovely! It is nicely bound, on superb high quality glossy paper, with stunning photographs of Tibet. Everything about it just makes you want to cradle, or worship, it.

Then there's the text. They took a lecture that H. H. the Dalai Lama gave on the 4 Noble Truths and cut it (thank heavens) and put it in the book. The result is weird. The extremely philosophical treatise makes an odd accompaniment to scenes of Tibet. On the one hand, you're reading about how all the world is suffering and we are ignorant louts for getting so caught up in this illusion, and then we glance at the photograph (every pair of pages has one, so you're always looking at something wonderful). I thought, "Gee, if I'm not supposed to care about the world, or I'm not supposed to delight in its pleasures and glories, then what is all this color and visual drama? Illusion?" Thus, the book highlights in an unwitting way one of the paradoxes of Buddhism... we try to disentangle ourselves from the grosser life of merely sensate pleasure but we can and should still love the world. Who says Christianity has a corner on the market of paradox?!

Still, there are some real textual gems and pearls scattered in the pages, and it is quick reading because of all the pictures. Occasionally you'll have to slog through a passage on Tibetan cosmology and physics, which sounds pretty medieval, but then you come across a glorious section that makes your heart sing.

It's a fun ride!