Freedom in Exile, The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama

271 pages

This year one of my new year's resolutions was to branch out in my reading genres. I read a lot of books that my girls like but I felt it was important to learn some things this year in my reading rather than just be entertained.

The Dalai Lama is a remarkable person and I have wanted to read his autobiography for a long time. I knew about what had happened in Tibet but only had a surface knowledge. This book was a great education about the Dalai Lama's childhood, his training, the Chinese invasion, his exile, and his experiences through 1990. I wish he would write another book that covers the last 20 years. The Dalai Lama is a man who loves people and who is gentle and kind. The Chinese committed some Nazi-like atrocities against his people, yet he remains forgiving and hopeful for his people's future with the Chinese. One of the things that I really liked about him is his ability to learn from every experience he has.

The book presented a heartbreaking look at what communism does to a peace-loving country. Tibet sounded beautiful before the Chinese, with its people respecting life and nature. The Chinese have basically destroyed the country and its people. I learned a lot about Buddhism. Parts of it were very fascinating, in particular the belief that the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lamas and the evidence to support that. It was fun to read that he was a typical boy. At times he didn't take his training seriously. I loved reading about how the Tibetan monks debate with one another. I would love to see that. In contrast to the Chinese was the Indian people. They have done a lot for the Tibetan refugees despite the sweeping poverty in their country. This is such a good book.

I read - on a blog I think - that the author kept a journal of favorite quotes from the books she read. I wanted to start doing that. Here are some favorites from this book:

"All had gone well until the man turned to Lobsang Samten (the Dalai Lama's brother) (who spoke some Chinese) and asked him what was the Tibetan word for 'Kill him'...The idea of killing even an insect was so far from his mind that he was lost for words...This story is another illustration of the differences between Chinese and Tibetan attitudes. To one, the killing of human beings was a fact of life; to the other, it was unthinkable."

(Speaking of his first experiences with the Indian government) "This was in direct contrast to my experience in the People's Republic, where the received opinion was that you can change people's minds by bullying them. I could now make comparisons and see for myself that this was faulty thinking. Only through the development of mutual respect, and in a spirit of truth, can friendship come about. By these means it is possible to move human minds, but never by force."

(Speaking about the charitable Christian organizations) "This is one area where we can learn from our Christian brothers and sisters: it would be very useful if Buddhists could make a similar contribution to society. I feel that Buddhist monks and nuns tend to talk a great deal about compassion without doing much about it."

"So far, I have received only support for my belief that wherever you go, people everywhere are basically the same, despite certain superficial differences. They all, like myself, seek happiness: no one wants suffering."

"Another observation is that there are a lot of people in the West who live very comfortably in large cities, but virtually isolated from the broad mass of humanity. I find this very strange - that under the circumstances of such material well-being and with thousands of brothers and sisters for neighbors, so many people appear able to show their true feelings only to their cats and dogs. This indicates a lack of spiritual values, I feel. Part of the problem here is perhaps the intense competitiveness of life in these countries, which seems to breed fear and a deep sense of insecurity...For me, this sense of alienation is symbolized by something I once saw at the home of a very rich man whose guest I was on one of my trips abroad. It was a very large private house, obviously designed expressly for convenience and comfort, and fitted with every kind of appliance. However, when I went into the bathroom, I could not help noticing two large bottles of pills on the shelf above the hand basin. One contained tranquilizers, the other sleeping pills. This was proof, too, that material prosperity alone cannot bring about lasting happiness."

"It would be much more constructive if people tried to understand their supposed enemies. Learning to forgive is much more useful than merely picking up a stone and throwing it at the object of one's anger, the more so when the provocation is extreme. For it is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others."

"I believe that this suffering is caused by ignorance, and that people inflict pain on others in pursuit of their own happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through cultivation of altruism, of love, of compassion, and through the elimination of anger, selfishness and greed."