Forever humble yet endlessly inspiring, the Dalai Lama offers words that will resonate deeply in the heart of any reader. Starting with the recognition that from the very core of our being we desire contentment, he reminds us, "If we want to be happy, the important thing is to promote the positive and useful aspects in each of us and to reduce the negative". And the best way to do this, he says, is to cultivate compassion.

Not limiting the scope of his analysis to our relationships with friends and family, His Holiness also emphasizes the importance of compassion between nations and among the world's religions. Indeed, compassion cannot become truly transformative, he says, until it is extended to all, even those who harm us. With such an attitude, we become capable of changing the world for good.

Compassionate Life, The Dalai Lama, Wisdom Publications, Paperback, 110 pages, $11.95

Tenzin Gyatso was born in Amdo, Tibet in 1935 and was recognized as the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, .spintual and temporal leader of Tibet. Since the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959, he has served as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. Today he is known the world over as a great spintual teacher and a ereless worker for peace.