" Compassion is what makes our lives meaningful. It is the source of all lasting happiness and joy. And it is the foundation of a good heart, the heart of one who acts out of a desire to help others. Through kindness, through affection, through honesty, through truth and justice toward all others we ensure our own benefit. This is not a matter for complicated theorizing. It is a matter of common sense. There is no denying that consideration of others is worthwhile. There is no denying that our happiness is inextricably bound up with the happiness of others. There is no denying that if society suffers we ourselves suffer. Nor is there any denying that the more our hearts and minds are afflicted with ill-will, the more miserable we become. Thus we can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion"-
--His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Ethics for the New Millennium, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Riverhead Books, Paperback, 237 pages, $16.00

Tenzin Gyatso was born in Amdo, Tibet in 1935 and was recognized as the fourteenth incarnation in the line of Dalai Lamas. Today he is known the world over as a great spiritual teacher, a tireless worker for peace, and a man with a gift for conveying great truths in a manner accessible to all. Since the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959, he has headed the Tibetan government-in-exile from Dharamsala, India.