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The Wisdom of Compassion: Stories of Remarkable Encounters and Timeless Insights Kindle Edition
by Dalai Lama (Author), Victor Chan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 out of 5 stars 58 ratings
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The Wisdom of Compassion offers rare insights into the Dalai Lama’s life as he interacts with remarkable people from all walks of life. In these deeply engaging behind-the-scenes stories we see not only the Dalai Lama at his most human, and most humane, but also the way he approaches the world with humour and optimism.
As he empathizes with those who are suffering, and demonstrates the tangible benefits of practising forgiveness and compassion, the Dalai Lama reveals the many lessons he has learned, including how
* his collaborations with leading neuroscientists, psychologists, teachers and students from around the world have taught him how to educate the heart;
* his inspiring friendship with a blind Irishman, the only person he calls his hero, has taught him how one can overcome adversity;
* through his encounters with illiterate grandmothers learning how to harness solar power for their communities, a beggar girl, and his soulmate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he has discovered how compassion can be translated into action.
Enhanced by the Dalai Lama’s seven decades of practice and illuminated through captivating anecdotes, The Wisdom of Compassion can help readers to lead more fulfilling lives. The Dalai Lama also shows how, when we open our hearts and minds to others, we are on the surest path to true happiness.
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''Chan provides an insider's account of the spiritual master's teachings at venues large and small.... Leaving intact the Dalai Lama's distinctive English, Chan vividly conveys the world leader's intense curiosity, intelligence, explosive laughter, keen wisdom, and kindness; his account of the Dalai Lama's conversation with Archbishop Desmond Tutu crackles with energy. Throughout, His Holiness incisively conveys his core teaching that inner transformation is key to alleviating suffering and bringing peace to a violent world. He also listens intently to innovators who are committed to the same goals. Details provide immediacy; carefully placed background information gives context. These inspiring dialogues communicate His Holiness's worldwide appeal and essential commitment to compassion.'' -- Publishers Weekly
''Tales of kindness and understanding from the Dalai Lama...[Readers] will come away with a better sense of the importance of communication, forgiveness and empathy, regardless of the circumstances.'' --Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Book Description
A rare and inspiring insight into the Dalai Lama's daily life and his efforts to translate compassion into action around the world. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
About the Author
Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. His tireless efforts on behalf of human rights and world peace have brought him international recognition. He is the recipient of the Raoul Wallenberg Congressional Human Rights Award, the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2006, His Holiness was recognized with Honorary Citizenship by the Governor General of Canada.
Victor Chan is the author of the Tibet Handbook: A Pilgrimage Guide. Together with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he co-authored The Wisdom of Forgiveness: Intimate Conversations and Journeys (Riverhead, 2004). In 2005 he founded the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education in Vancouver with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
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Product details
ASIN : B00AQK80QA
Publisher : Transworld Digital (20 December 2012)
Language : English
File size : 1295 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
Print length : 274 pages
Page numbers source ISBN : 1594487383Best Sellers Rank: 544,399 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)348 in Tibetan Buddhism (Kindle Store)
686 in Occult Spiritualism
1,610 in New Age MeditationCustomer Reviews:
4.7 out of 5 stars 58 ratings
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J. S. Amies
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful bookReviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 24 August 2018
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This is a must read book. It leads you to take a different view on life. Maybe it will change your life at least a little bit, for the better.
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Shirley M.
5.0 out of 5 stars InterestingReviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 4 November 2017
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Recollections of various interesting encounters the DL has had over the years and insights into compassion.
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Diederik Thuyn
4.0 out of 5 stars MovingReviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 13 October 2013
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Moving stories of overcoming adversity by cultivating an open heart and true compassion, even in hell. An enormous variety of encounters are described here ranging from ex-prisoners and terrorists to Aaron Beck, the father of cognitive behaviour therapy, and Desmond Tutu.
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Khm75
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, easy readReviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on 3 September 2016
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Very insightful - several parts of the book still absorbing my thoughts.
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JPM
3.0 out of 5 stars Value-add readingReviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 1 June 2016
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Makes for nice reading
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===
The Wisdom of Compassion: Stories of Remarkable Encounters and Timeless Insights
Dalai Lama XIV
,
Victor Chan
,
นรา สุภัคโรจน์
(Translator)
4.01
631 ratings68 reviews
The Wisdom of Compassion offers rare insights into the Dalai Lama’s life and his efforts to translate compassion into action through deeply engaging, behind-the-scene stories about his interactions with remarkable people from all walks of life.
This is the Dalai Lama at his most human, and most humane. We see how he approaches the world with playfulness, optimism, and a profound empathy for the suffering of others. Through his own conduct, he shows us the tangible benefits of practicing kindness, forgiveness and compassion. And he demonstrates that opening our hearts and minds to others is the surest path to true happiness.
The Wisdom of Compassion is an intensely personal portrait of the Dalai Lama. It recounts the story of his friendship with a blind Irishman, how they first met and how in later meetings the Dalai Lama comes to call him his one and only hero. It explores the Dalai Lama’s collaboration with a neuroscientist and how it results in significant discoveries about the human brain. It also brings to life poignant accounts of his uncommon encounters with a little beggar girl, a disabled boy in a critical care ward, a man who trains grandmothers to become solar engineers, and many others.
The Dalai Lama’s wisdom principles revolve around the practical application of compassion. Enhanced by his seven decades of practice and elucidated through captivating anecdotes of his own experiences, they will help readers lead more fulfilling lives. As the Dalai Lama has written many years ago: if you want others to be happy, practice compassion; if you want yourself to be happy, practice compassion.
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Dalai Lama XIV
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Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
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Profile Image for Diane S ☔.
Diane S ☔
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January 18, 2013
I have long admired the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people, who no longer have a country. This book has many incidents and meetings that showcase the Dalai Lama's sense of humor as well as his wisdom and compassion. It mentions in the book that just being in the room within twenty feet of his presence, one feels a deep sense of contentment. Would really like to check this out. Think I would really like to go to a Buddhist retreat, well maybe someday. I don't see myself meditating for five hours a day, which is what he does every morning, but I do feel that meditation will benefit not only myself but others as well. Many touching stories, such as his meeting with the Protestants and the Catholics in Northern Ireland. Compelling.
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Diane
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May 10, 2013
This book was not what I was looking for. Parts of it were interesting, like learning about nonprofit organizations and humanitarian efforts. But I would have been better off reading a book actually written by the Dalai Lama and not someone that choose to include so much unnecessary detail (I don't care about a gift visor that doesn't fit the Dalai Lama's head). I did enjoy the stories about Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama acting like two little kids together and their discussions. Other than that I found it hard to stay interested.
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E.A
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February 22, 2014
I love this book, it gives you so much respect for His holiness. He is such a inspirational compassionate person. This books is told by his friend and translator, about them 2 traveling together and what his experience with the dalai lama is like. Its so much more than that though, it definitely is a spiritual break through, and by the end of the book you will want to be a better person. I gave it 4 stars though because, there are some area where the dalai lama is talking and its kind of hard to understand him, but thats how he really speaks- its not a bad book , but more of a heads up to readers. :)
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Irene Chooi
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July 29, 2015
This is the book that started my obsession with the Dalai Lama. It's unfortunate that the author did not do too well in the fluency of his writing, but the essence of the Dalai Lama and what he stands for can clearly be felt. The author also introduces too many characters in a way that makes it difficult to remember and keep track of them. But that still does not detract from the sheer awesomeness of the book. Read it.
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Sabine
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May 27, 2013
This, just as the first book by this author (Wisdom of Forgiveness) is breathtaking, you can feel the warmth and authenticity of the Dalai Lama as if he were there in front of you. The stories told on the various humanitarian projects are amazing, motivating and also very humbling and made you truly think about your own life. Definitely a must read for any human being!
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Patti Mason
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March 7, 2014
It is always good to hear what the Dalai Lama has to say. The message comes through as a heartbeat on all the pages. A warm-hearted attitude will provide the happiest life. Women have a special obligation to promote it, and we all need to focus especially on children.
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======
Summer
June 16, 2013
Plus:
Profound and thought provoking teachings and philosophies, exciting and fascinating characters (Tutu, catholic and protestant religious leaders from north Ireland, Murray Gell-Mann, Sir Ken Robinson, Eckhart Tolle, Aaron Beck, Sir Fazle Hasn Abed, the founder of BRAC, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, and many etc.). At one point I burst into tears over a speech from the African bishop Tutu.
Minus:
The writing is at times boring and tedious in spite of the excitement of the events and people. Puzzling behaviors of the Dalai Lama.
Excerpts:
1. Major causes of suffering are overinflated egos, heightened sense of our own importance, our selfish needs... our over attachment for our wants, our needs. Therefore, any change of perception that leads to a more balanced view of our ego and the world around us is helpful to our mental well-being.
2. We get the angriest with those we love the most, because we expect too much from them.
3. Differences always there. Even with myself, morning one idea, evening another idea. Conflicts always there. Everybody wants happy life, safe life... Try to make peace with more patience... Do u think some sense? If make sense, then pls implement.
4. We pursue short-lived pleasures instead of meaningful happiness... For the Dalai Lama, The only way to achieve sustained well-being and inner-peace is through the cultivation of altruism, through the cultivation of love and compassion.
5. There is a gap between reality and appearance... With the old way of thinking, we try to deal with new problems. But reality has changed and the method of dealing with it is old-fashioned. Reality is always changing.
6. Some kinds of compassion are tinged with attachment. It changes with circumstances. Unbiased compassion, however, is based on the realization that others, even our enemies, have the right to be happy and avoid suffering, just as much as we do.
7. Through training of mind, using intelligence. I understand the value of compassion. I realized the harmfulness of anger, hatred. Use education to train your mind. With practice, my own experience deepen. More unbiased compassion brings me inner peace. Result, better physical health.
8. Love grows brain and brain grows love.
9. Tutu: The glory of God is mind blowing. He can sit and not intervene because he has such an incredible, incredible reverence for our autonomy. He is prepared to let me go to hell. Freely. Rather than compel me to go to heaven.
He weeps when he sees us do the things that we do to each other... God says, I can't force u, i beg u, please for your own sake, make the right choice. I beg u.
When you do the right thing, god forgets about God's divine dignity and he rushes and embraces you, "You came back, you came back. I love you. oh how wonderful you Came back." (Here is where I cried...)
10. Tutu: religion is a morally neutral thing. It is what you do with it. It is like a knife, a knife is good when you're using it for cutting up bread for sandwiches. A knife is bad when you stick it in somebody's gut.
I would not have survived without the faith of knowing that this is God's world and that God is in charge, that evil is not going to prevail despite all appearances to the contrary... Sometimes you want to whisper in God's ear... "we know that you're in charge, but why don't you make this more obvious?"
11. When somebody is sick, there is external medicine and there is internal medicine.
12. The higher beings develop higher energy because of their practice of altruism. The ultimate source of energy is altruism. This energy is always ready, like electricity, we just need to be receptive.
13. A rabbi: We have to do what we can do. Then god helps... If we don't take the initiative, we cannot accept the power.
14. When negative emotions(e.g. Anger) develop, ur whole self becomes like that emotion. So when this strong emotion develops, try to separate urself from that emotion. Then can watch that emotion. Then much easier to see the faults of that emotion. Look from distance and that emotion's intensity weaken.
15. CBT cognitive behavior therapy: for Beck (Aaron T. Beck wrote "Prisoners of Hate"), the driving forces of our psychological malaise are ideas that are unrealistic and self-defeating. He called them "automatic thoughts." Like tinted lenses, they can color and warp people's perceptions and affect their reactions.
16. Beck: we have to be good people, not right people (Not thinking we are right, ur wrong, etc.)
17. CBT is similar to analytic meditation. When emotion comes, use analytic meditation to not let it dominate or influence. But rather analyze its consequences, its benefits, its destructiveness.
18. Get away from selfishness, de-centering; switching, exchanging oneself for others. Group self-centeredness
19. Once afflictive emotion develop, then u can't see the reality. Strong mental projection. 90% of the time, the person who gets angry is wrong.
Beck: when I get angry, I first think that I'm wrong, not from a moral standpoint but from a reality standpoint... My reality is wrong (gap btw truth and appearance)
20. Addiction, being caught up in desire is like drinking salt water. The more u drink, the more u get thirsty.
21. Vernedoe pointed out that in modern art, u don't play by the rules, u play with the rules, and that's an aspect of creative thinking.
22. The Dalai Lama has always attached great importance to developing a realistic approach to life, to our interaction with others around us. He thinks that seeing reality accurately and unflinchingly contributes to our sense of well-being. It's a helpful antidote to distorted thinking.
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Sundarraj Kaushik
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April 15, 2019
It is interesting to contrast this book with https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Both of the are about spiritual leaders who are doing good for the people. There is no doubt about it. Both have been written by authors who are in awe of the leader that they have written about. But the one by Namrita and Francois Gautier is a pure panegyric on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, whereas while it is adulatory, it provides concrete examples of discussions of Dalai Lama with various personalities and the adulation is based on these unlike the one on Sri Sri Ravishankar where it just goes on an on how the organizations setup by Ravi Shankar have done this here and done that there.
The surprise about the book is that the author is a Chinese, well not exactly from mainland China but from Hong Kong, probably that explains. The author is a follows Dalai Lama's activities closely when he is not organizing a meeting between the spiritual leader and other towering personnel who are either intellectuals or are out helping people in need.
Of the various meetings that are related in the book some of them are with Ken Robinson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu a neuroscientist from the University of Wisconsin, Richard Davidson, Aaron Beck, interactions with University students in Canada, Sanjit Roy from India who has setup a Barefoot College to educate and empower the poor in the rural India.
In a very interesting conversation between the Dalai Lama and Aaron Beck has Beck stating this "I think, I have been wronged; you did wrong to me. So I have to examine: Did you really wrong me? You may not have, I may have misunderstood what you did, so we have to analyze. And then the second thing is: Even if you did wrong, does that make you a bad person? And, if you are a bad person, do I have to kill you, do I have to punish you! So that is the whole sequence". Profound is the apt word.
Another snippet that stuck in my mind is from the chapter on Matthieu Ricard who was a personal attendant of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, one of the foremost meditation masters of Tibetan Buddhism and the tutor of Dalai Lama. In meeting arranged by the author and Matthieu in Delhi with a group of humanitarians in Delhi the following is stated by the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama states "My approach: Today's reality is whole world just one body. Everything is a part of me. Understanding this helps reduce negative emotions. Hatred comes because we don't appreciate interdependence. We cause harm, sometimes unintentionally, because we are greedy for money, power. We think these things will make us happy. This is a misunderstanding. Real happiness comes from peace of mind. The only way to obtain is to be altruistic, be compassionate". The author interprets this as "We need to actively help others and we should do t with a genuine sense of compassion, not pity. At a minimum, we should not harm others. Not harming others is a logical extension of idea of interdependence. Since everything is a part of us, harming others would hurt ourselves". He then quotes the following commentary "A human being is part of a whole, called by us 'Universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." While it appears to be a commentary by Dalai Lama, it is a quote by Albert Einstein in 1954.
A wonderfully written book. Do Read
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Anna
995 reviews
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September 28, 2013
I love the message of the Dalai Lama and therefore, this book: "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion; if you want to be happy, practice compassion." It also amuses me that the author asks himself the question in everyday life "What would the Dalai Lama do?" I suspect the answer isn't much different when answering the "What would Jesus do" question.
Author Victor Chan (obviously a fan) describes the Dalai Lama as attuned to human suffering, always aware of his surroundings, having an always active compassion radar and emanating goodness. I love the comment that the Dalai Lama notices that Chan can't sit cross-legged for long and gets him a chair. (I guess I love that because I can't do it either.) The Dalai Lama sees himself as a simple Buddhist monk without special powers and only a limited ability to help. He looks at things from multiple perspectives fostering a sense of care and mindfulness in thinking and interacting. Apparently, he is also something of a joker - Desmond Tutu playfully chastises him for behaving like a naughty schoolboy rather than a holy man! And he shares dirty jokes with his brother! Really?!
According to Chan, the Dalai Lama is a great believer in empiricism and scientific method. I hope this is true. I also hope that the studies that show that more compassionate people have better health; do better in school if they learn empathy, altruism and compassion; and altruism is the clearest way to genuine life satisfaction. I would certainly like these things to be (scientifically) true. Chan and the Dalai Lama are also big believers in meditation practice triggering compassion. I'm going to have to work on my compassion without meditation because I just have no interest!
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Dan Gorman
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July 31, 2013
This isn't going to break any new ground, since the Dalai Lama has been writing for decades, and his teachings are many thousands of years old. The book's jacket is a bit deceptive, too - the primary author here is Victor Chan, the Dalai Lama's co-writer. Chan recounts recent public lectures given by the Dalai Lama in recent years and summarizes important contextual information; His Holiness figures substantially in the dialogue portions of the book. My best guess is that the Dalai Lama selected the particular incidents to discuss, proofed the transcripts of his speeches & descriptions of his moods at different times, and then Chan filled in the rest. Still, it's a fun book to read, and the Dalai Lama's Buddhist teachings should be of interest to both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Chan is an engaging, earnest writer. Of course, this book is hagiography, but since the subject certainly deserves hagiography, it's OK. A worthwhile read that may make readers seek out more material co-authored by the Dalai Lama.
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