Tag: Philosophy

An Appeal to the World

An Appeal to the World: The Way to Peace in a Time of Division
Author: His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Franz Alt
Published: November 7, 2017
113 pages

Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Read: February 19, 2018
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars

Book Description from Goodreads:

#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • NEW FROM HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA, A LITTLE BOOK OF GREAT WISDOM FOR TROUBLED TIMES • FEATURES EXCLUSIVE NEW MATERIAL ON THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY

We have entered a time marked by division. Politicians call for borders, not inclusion. Economic inequality strains cohesion. Religion breeds violence. And yet the need for unity has never been more urgent, for the crises facing humanity are, increasingly, global. How do we move forward?

In this brief yet profound address to the entire world, His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet reveals that we all hold the seeds of world peace within us: “I see with ever greater clarity that our spiritual well-being depends,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner writes, “on our innate human nature, our natural affinity for goodness, compassion, and caring for others.”

Already a major international bestseller, An Appeal to the World, the new book by one of the most revered spiritual leaders of our time, outlines both the inward and outward paths to peace, addressing a wide range of contemporary topics—from war, climate change, and materialism to meditation, universal ethics, and even neuroscience. Here is a small book that can truly change the world.

Jessica’s Review:

An Appeal to the World is literally a small book that gives quite the impact. It is 5×7 and just over 100 pages. It can very easily be held in your hand. I will admit I knew basically nothing about the Dalai Lama before reading this. I won a copy in a giveaway on Goodreads. I was glad to win it and I learned some things. Among them the Dalai Lama loves laughing and has to have humor in his life! He gives his thoughts on many topics including world peace, gender equality, religion, secular ethics, and even his opinions on Donald Trump (he is not a fan.)

What he says makes sense and it causes you to think. I would love to meet him and hear what he has to say and see what makes him laugh! He loves laughter, and laughter can be the best medicine.

There are also sections that talk about the Dalai Lama’s life, which makes a great introduction to those such as myself who are unfamiliar with him.

The only critique I have to offer is that I was under the impression that this was a book written by Dalai Lama. That was why I entered the giveaway. It is actually an interview where questions are asked and he gives his answers. I was disappointed in that.

Thank you Goodreads for my copy. It was a pleasure to read.
An Appeal to the World is recommended.

About His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV (Bio from Goodreads):

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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