Leadership. Power. Responsibility. From Sun Tzu to Plato to Machiavelli, sages east and west have advised kings and rulers on how to lead. Their motivations and techniques have varied, but one thing they all have had in common is that their advice has been as relevant to the millions who have read their works as it has been to the few kings and princes they were, on the surface, addressed to.

The nineteenth-century Buddhist monk and luminary Jamgon Mipham's letter to the king of Derge, whose small kingdom straddled China and Tibet during a particularly turbulent period, is similar in the universality of its message. This work, however, is unique in that it stresses compassion, impartiality, self-control, and virtue as essential for long-lasting success--whether as a leader or an individual trying to live a meaningful life. Mipham's historic contribution to ethics and governance, until now little studied outside of Buddhist circles, teaches us the importance of protecting life, fair taxation, environmental sustainability, aiding the poor, and freedom of religion. Both present day leaders and those they lead will find this classic work, finally available in English, profoundly illuminating on political, societal, and personal levels.

Just King: The Tibetan Buddhist Classic on Leading an Ethical Life, Jamgon Mipham, Jose Ignacio Cabezon (Translator) Snow Lion, Paperback, 344 pp,
$ 24.95

Jamgon Mipham (1846-1912) was a Tibetan scholar of outstanding brilliance and versatility. His translated works are eagerly anticipated by English-language readers as he is perhaps the most famous Tibetan Buddhist philosopher.

Jose Ignacio Cabezon (translator) is the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. Formerly a Buddhist monk at Sera Monastery in South India, Professor Cabezon has authored a number of works on Tibetan literature, Buddhist philosophy, and sexuality. He is originally from Cuba and currently resides in California.

CONTENTS: The Just King
Introduction		ix
Homage		3
1.	Self-Control	5
2.	The Wise Ruler	11
3.	The Conduct of Kings	21
4.	Analyzing Your Own and Others' Speech	31
5.	Examining the Members of Your Retinue	41
6.	An Explanation of the Chapter on Kingship from the Satyaka Sutra	53
7.	The Theory of Ethical Kingship according to the Smrtyupasthana Sutra	75
8.	The Suvarnaprabhasottama's "Treatise on Ethics for Kings"	83
9.	On Constancy and Perseverance	89
10.	The Disciplined Ruler	105
11.	Balance and Impartiality	113
12.	Compassion	123
13.	How the Ruler Protects Himself	133
14.	How to Protect the Kingdom	161
15.	On the Need for Consultation	169
16.	How to Cultivate the Ten Virtues	177
17.	The Laws of a Dharma King	183
18.	How to Conquer the World through Skill in Means	197
19.	How to Contemplate the Dharma	211
20.	Meritorious Deeds	219
21.	The Good Qualities of Being Ethical and the Good Qualities of This Treatise on Ethics	229
Final Verses and Colophon		235
Appendix 1: Indian and Tibetan Precursors to Mipham's Treatise		243
Appendix 2: The Thirty-Five Duties of a King as Taught in the Smrtyupasthana Sutra		269
Appendix 3: The Order of the Thirty-Five Practices in Mipham's Treatise and in the Smrtyupasthana Sutra		289
Bibliography		291
Index		301