Book Excerpts:

SpiritSite.com is pleased to offer excerpts from the following books.  You may click on a book's cover to begin, or on the links below:

Selections from The Art of Happiness:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

Selections from The Way to Freedom:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Selections from Voices from the Heart:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

Selections from Transforming the Mind:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

Selections from An Open Heart:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people.  He is a recipient of the Wallenberg Award (conferred by the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Foundation), the Albert Schweitzer Award, and the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Art of Happiness

The Art of Happiness (review or buy) is based on a series of meetings between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Dr. Howard Cutler, a Phoenix-based psychiatrist.  In The Art of Happiness, Dr. Cutler presents thoughts, meditations, and observations drawn from hundreds of hours of conversations with the Dalai Lama.  Dr. Cutler's meetings with the Dalai Lama began in India in 1982, and continued for more than a decade.

The Way to Freedom

The Way to Freedom (review or buy) is an essential work on Tibetan Buddhism for both neophytes and advanced students.  Based on a fifteenth-century text never before translated for a general audience, it is the revered heart of Tibetan practice, presented in easy-to-understand steps by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.

Voices from the Heart

Voices from the Heart (review or buy) is a collection of essays on effecting personal change in our lives.  Contributors include His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Ram Dass, Thich Nhat Hanh, Dean Ornish, Marianne Williamson, and many more notable writers and speakers.  In the Dalai Lama's essay, "Compassion and Universal Responsibility," he illustrates the importance (and challenge) of treating all people with compassion and understanding.

Transforming the Mind

Based on three days of teaching in London May 1999, Transforming the Mind (review or buy) is an edited version of the Dalai Lama's discourse on one of the most profound and sacred texts in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The Eight Verses on Generating Compassion are known in Tibetan as 'lojong' - literally, transforming your mind.   In this lucid, straightforward commentary on these teachings, H. H. the Dalai Lama shows us how to transform difficult situations into opportunities for spiritual growth.

An Open Heart

An Open Heart (review or buy) is based on a talk given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New York City in 1999.  In the book, the Dalai Lama lays out a course of meditation, from basic practices to more involved mental training.  Such practices can be undertaken at odd moments of the day, at once transforming the aimless or anxious mind into a disciplined and open mind.