One of the most acclaimed and perceptive observers of globalism and Buddhism now gives us the first serious consideration for Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama's work and ideas as a politician, scientist, and philosopher.
Pico Iyer has been engaged in conversation with the Dalai Lama (a friend of his father's) for the last three decades in an ongoing exploration of his message and its effectiveness. Now, in this insightful, impassioned book, Iyer captures the paradoxes of the Dalai Lama's position: though he has brought the ideas of Tibet to world attention, Tibet itself is being remade as a Chinese province; though he was born in one of the remotest, least developed places on earth, he has become a champion of globalism and technology. He is a religious leader who warns against being needlessly distracted by religion; a Tibetan head of state who suggests that exile from Tibet can be an opportunity; an incarnation of a Tibetan god who stresses his everyday humanity.
Moving from Dharamsala, India the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile to Lhasa, Tibet, to venues in the West, where the Dalai Lama's pragmatism, rigor, and scholarship are sometimes lost on an audience yearning for mystical visions, The Open Road illuminates the hidden life, the transforming ideas, and the daily challenges of a global icon.
Open Road: The Global Journey of the XIVth Dalai Lama, Pico Iyer, Knopf Publisher, Paperback, 2008, 275 Pages, $15.95
Pico Iyer is the author of six works of nonfiction and two novels. He has covered the Tibetan question for Time, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and many other publications for more than twenty years.
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Contents: THE OPEN ROAD: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama |
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IN PUBLIC |
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The Conundrum |
5 |
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The Fairy Tale |
33 |
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The Icon |
55 |
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IN PRIVATE |
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The Philosopher |
85 |
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The Mystery |
111 |
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The Monk |
143 |
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IN PRACTICE |
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The Globalist |
167 |
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The Politician |
207 |
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The Future |
243 |
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Reading |
261 |
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In Gratitude |
269 |
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