An Appeal to the World: The Way to Peace in a Time of Division

By Dalai Lama and Franz Alt

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"Makes the case for unity in a world rife with divisions." —New York Times Book Review

In this brief yet profound address to global humanity, 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 the rise of nationalism, Trump presidency, refugee crisis, climate catastrophes, and materialism to meditation, universal ethics, and even neuroscience. Here is a small book that can truly change the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9780062835550

Dalai Lama

His Holiness the Fourteenth DALAI LAMA, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and of Tibetan Buddhism. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. He is the author of, among many other books, the international bestseller An Appeal to the World and the New York Times bestseller The Book of Joy, which he coauthored with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He lives in exile in Dharamsala, India.

Book preview

HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA and Dr. Franz Alt will be donating all royalties from this little book to German Aid to Tibetans.

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Preface: I Don’t Have Any Enemies by Franz Alt

An Appeal by the Dalai Lama for Secular Ethics and Peace

Educating the Heart: A Conversation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama

On President Trump

On Overcoming Division

On Nationalism

On the Refugee Crisis

On the Education of the Heart

On Spirituality

On Religion

On Global Responsibility

On Secular Ethics

On Neuroscience

On Compassion

On the Science of Meditation

On Happiness

On Mortality

On World Peace

On Gender Equality

On Inner Values

On Mindfulness

On the Essence of Religion

On War

On the Next Generation

On the Future of Tibet

On China

On Human Rights in Tibet

On Political Resistance

On Freedom for Tibet

On the Preservation of Tibetan Culture

On the Return of the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama Story: An Inspiring Life

The Dalai Lama: A Life in Dates

An Excerpt from Call for Revolution

About the Coauthor: Franz Alt

Copyright

About the Publisher

PREFACE

I DON’T HAVE ANY ENEMIES

I DON’T HAVE any enemies, only people I haven’t met yet, the Dalai Lama told me over 20 years ago. He also said, We have the most to learn from our enemies. In a way, they are our best teachers. So wise and yet so realistic are the words of the most prominent refugee in the world – and also one of the oldest – after 58 years of exile in India. Even though he has been forced to live outside his Chinese-occupied homeland since 1959, he does not harbor any hatred of Chinese people or their leadership. On the contrary, he sometimes calls himself a Communist Buddhist or a Buddhist Communist and says he even prays for the Communist leaders in Beijing, adding with a laugh, In Europe I would vote for the Green party, because the problem of the environment is a question of our survival.

Over the course of 35 years, we have met over 30 times and had 15 television interviews. Rarely have I encountered such an empathetic interview subject or one so full of humor. None of them has laughed more than he has. It is no coincidence that he has been voted the nicest person in the world in surveys. Over the last few years, the Dalai Lama has come to consider ethics across religious divisions to be more and more important. And today he goes a step further, making a statement unparalleled for a religious leader: Ethics are more important than religion. We are not members of a particular religion at birth. But ethics are innate. In the talks he gives worldwide, he refers to secular ethics beyond all religions with growing frequency. Albert Schweitzer had another term for the same concept: reverence for life.

The Dalai Lama’s secular ethics transcend national, religious, and cultural boundaries and define values that are innate in all people and apply to everyone alike. Rather than superficial, material values, these are inner values such as mindfulness, compassion,

Reviews for An Appeal to the World

[lisa_francine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A serious of interviews transcribed into this small & powerful book. Much food for thought from the Honorable Dalai Lama XIV.

[erwinkennythomas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Dalai Lama’s An Appeal to the World is a moving primer of his message for the 21st century. In an interview with television journalist Franz Alt, His Holiness the Dalai Lama addressed both the inward and outward paths of peace, war, climate change, materialism, meditation, universal ethics, and even neuroscience.His Holiness discussed six principles: 1) nonviolence—of which he has become a symbol to free Tibet; 2) tolerance—he envisions no peace unless there is peace among religions; 3) each religion’s uniqueness; 4) the meaning of religion today—the Dalai Lama sees a religious person as one who collaborates in preserving the earth; 5) patience—His Holiness saw himself working on this virtue; and 6) death and rebirth—he has no clue what will happen.Still the Dalai Lama presents the world with a “childlike faith” in political miracles saying, “One day we will cooperate well with China.” He pins his greatest hope on China’s young people, and the 400 million who are Buddhists. His Holiness viewed the 65 years of Chinese Communism as an enormous spiritual void, as compared with 1,300 years of Tibetan Buddhism.

[over.the.edge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An Appeal To The World:The Way To Peace In A Time of Division🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒
By Dalai Lama
2017
William Morrow/ Harper Collins

The practice of mindfulness. . . .Inclusion, empathy and esp ETHICS, are things we should become more aware of, within ourselves and the world we live in...
Wonderful, brief but very deep
Highly Recommended

[wassilissa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Das Büchlein fasst die Botschaft des Dalai Lama (Gewaltlosigkeit, Toleranz, Religiöse Offenheit, Bewahrung der Schöpfung, Geduld, Wiedergeburt) zusammen. Andere Bücher seiner Heiligkeit sind ausführlicher, aber vll. ist gerade deshalb dieses Buch als informative Einführung recht gut geeignet. Wenn doch einfach jeder danach handeln würde! Die Welt wäre ein besserer Ort!Das Buch zu kaufen ist auf jeden Fall positiv: Seine Heiligkeit, der Dalai Lama, der Fernsehjournalist Dr. Franz Alt sowie der Verlag Benevento Publishing spenden Honorar und Gewinn aus diesem kleinen Buch der Deutschen Tibethilfe.

[tomdonaghey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

AN APPEAL TO THE WORLD by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with Franz Alt doing the interviews, is a small book with a big message. In less than 100 pages His Holiness shares his latest revelations with the world. His message hopes to convey a “way to peace in a time of division.”For the most part, the book is an interview with Ph.D. Franz Alt asking the questions in his best interview manner and the Dalai Lama responding. They talk about Spirituality, the Education of the Heart, War, The Next Generation, even Mr. Trump, along the way revealing this religious leader in exile’s views on these and many other subjects. The most revealing thing in the entire book is this religious leader’s view on what is most important for the World to learn and for each individual to hold in their heart. It is not religion, it is ethics and morality. Teaching these two things, learning these two things, bringing forth these elements of our inner humanity, he feels is far more important than impressing the artificial construct of any religion upon the heart of mankind. Nurturing what we are born with, an innate need to do good, is more worthwhile than any tract or text on spirituality. God is within us all, no matter what name you give that leader, so let us find the common ground and shake off the chains that hold us back from being one world, one people.Or something like that.Short, sweet, on point, wasting no time to get to the important points, AN APPEAL TO THE WORLD is an opening salvo for humanity. The question remains, “Is humanity too selfish, ignorant, small-minded, or any of a thousand other things, to do what is truly important?”Probably.