Each of us struggles with the existential questions of meaning, purpose, and responsibility. In The Meaning of Life, the Dalai Lama examines these questions from the Buddhist perspective, skillfully guiding us to a clearer understanding that can liberate us from the prison of selfishness and suffering. The Dalai Lama bases his explanations on the Buddha's teachings of dependent arising, showing how every aspect of our suffering -- unhappiness, pain, even old age and death -- is ultimately rooted in our misunderstanding of our true nature.

Through detailed discussion and lively questions-and-answers, the teachings of the Meaning of Life address the myriad challenges we may meet daily -- dealing with aggression from both within and without; facing illness and helping someone who is dying; expanding our capacity to feel love for all beings; and reconciling personal responsibility with the doctrine of selflessness -- all suffused with the Dalai Lama's incomparable intelligence, wit, and kindness.

First published as: The Meaning of LIfe: Buddhist Perspective on Cause and Effect

Wheel of Life: Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect, Dalai Lama, Wisdom Publications, Paperback, 16 pages, $17.95

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born in 1935 to a peasant family in northeastern Tibet and was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. The world's foremost Buddhist leader, he travels extensively, speaking eloquently in favor of ecumenical understanding, kindness and compassion, respect for the environment, and above all, world peace.

CONTENTS: Wheel of Life: Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect
Foreword		vii
Introduction by Jeffrey Hopkins		1
Technical Note		29
The Wheel of Life: The Lectures
1	The Buddhist Worldview	33
2	Life Impelled by Ignorance	57
3	Levels of the Path	77
4	The Value of Altruism	95
5	Compassion and Wisdom Combined	111
Notes		123
Glossary		131
Bibliography		137
Index		143