Recommended Books

This page is dedicated to recommendations or reviews for books about Buddhism, Tibet, Tibetan culture or books by the Dalai Lama. These recommendations or reviews come from readers in the Buffalo, NY Community and are intended to help you select from literally thousands of titles about these topics and to see what your neighbors are reading.

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The Way to Freedom
by: His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama
Published by: The Library of Tibet

Based on a 14th-century text and never before translated for a general audience, The Way to Freedom; is considered by Tibetans to be the essence of 1,000 years of Buddhist teachings and the heart of Tibetan practice.  Presented in easy to understand steps, this is the essential primer on Tibetan Buddhism for both non-practitioners and avid students.  This readable treatise cogently considers the timely necessity and benefit of spiritual study, the criteria for selecting a teacher, the logical reasoning of key Buddhist concepts, The Four Noble Truths, and the Bodhisattva model of ideals and action.

It is the initial volume in the landmark "Library of Tibet" series.  Based on the "Stages of the Path" scriptures of Tsong-Khapa (1357-1419), it presents the essence of Tibetan Buddhism. Coverage spans teaching, refuge, the guru, rebirth as continuity of consciousness, the nature of impermanence, suffering, freedom from delusion, and developing compassion.  Dedicating to others the merit from our actions and purifying negativities by cherishing others and by virtuous activity are all seen as fitting the Buddhist definition of ethics as harmlessness, while our precious human birth offers a chance to tame the mind according to the scope of our motives.

Mark Wm. Gunther, Ph.D.

A Lifetime of Wisdom
by: His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama
Published by: Marlowe & Company

It is an anthology that draws from several diverse sources to illuminate the multifaceted life of the 14th Dalai Lama.  Both those who follow the Tibetan spiritual leader closely and those who are merely interested in seeing what prompts the global attention can benefit from this array of autobiography, biography, conversation, spiritual commentary and essays.  Commentary, such as that found in an excerpt from Stages of Meditation, rests comfortably alongside more popular pieces such as an essay by Heinrich Harrer, whose time teaching the Dalai Lama was chronicled in Seven Years in Tibet. There are also interviews with His Holiness by actor/performance artist Spalding Gray and travel writer Pico Iyer.

Readers who want to appreciate and understand the scope and depth of the Dalai Lama’s wisdom must currently select from a variety of books.  Now, A Lifetime of Wisdom brings together those writings that, taken together, constitute an essential account of the Dalai Lama’s teaching legacy.  It includes accounts of the Dalai Lama’s early days as a child plucked from obscurity to rule over Tibet, his struggles with the Chinese who invaded his country, and his tireless efforts on behalf of human rights and world peace.  Readers will come away with a comprehensive sense of the Dalai Lama’s fundamental themes, from personal happiness to world peace.

Mark Wm. Gunther, Ph.D.