Product Description

Here is a moral system based on universal rather than religious principles. Its ultimate goal is happiness for every individual regardless of religious belief. Though the Dalai Lama is himself a practicing Buddhist, his approach to life and the moral compass that guides him can lead each and every one of us-Muslim, Christian, Jew, or Atheist-to a happier, more fulfilling life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16775 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Released on: 2001-05-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.com Review
In a modern society characterized by insensitivity to violence, ambivalence to the suffering of others, and a high-octane profit motive, is talk of ethics anything more than a temporary salve for our collective conscience? The Dalai Lama thinks so. In his Ethics for the New Millennium, the exiled leader of the Tibetan people shows how the basic concerns of all people--happiness based in contentment, appeasement of suffering, forging meaningful relationships--can act as the foundation for a universal ethics.

His medicine isn't always easy to swallow, however, for it demands of the reader more than memorizing precepts or positing hypothetical dilemmas. The Nobel Peace laureate invites us to recognize certain basic facts of existence, such as the interdependence of all things, and from these to recalibrate our hearts and minds, to approach all of our actions in their light. Nothing short of an inner revolution will do. Basic work is required in nurturing our innate tendencies to compassion, tolerance, and generosity. And at the same time, "we need to think, think, think ... like a scientist," reasoning out the best ways to act from a principle of universal responsibility. Like a merging of the care and compassion of Jesus, the cool rationality of the Stoics, the moral program of Ben Franklin, and the psychology of William James, Ethics for the New Millennium is a plea for basic goodness, a blueprint for world peace. --Brian Bruya

From Publishers Weekly
"This is not a religious book," asserts the Dalai Lama about a volume that's his most outspoken to date on moral and social issues. "My aim has been to appeal for an approach to ethics based on universal rather than religious principles." The Dalai Lama adopts this approach because, he notes, the majority of humanity ignores religion, the traditional vehicle for ethics, yet observation shows him that happiness, which he discerns as the prime human goal, depends upon "positive ethical conduct." The entire book, written in simple, direct prose, reflects this sort of step-by-step reasoning, taking on color and drama with numerous anecdotes drawn from the Tibetan leader's personal experience. Methodically, the Dalai Lama explores the foundation of ethics, how ethics affects the individual and the role of ethics in society. He resorts often to Buddhist principles (as in employing the idea of dependent originationAthat nothing arises or exists of itselfAto demonstrate the interrelatedness of all life), but also to native Tibetan ideas and, occasionally, to secular thought or that of other religions. The book represents no radical departure from his previous work, but it does present a number of forceful views on issues ranging from cloning to vivisection to excess wealth ("the life of luxury... is unworthy"), as well as personal flavor not seen in his books since his autobiography, Freedom in Exile. The Dalai Lama refers, for instance, to his unwillingness to sell his watch collection for money to feed the poor as an example of ethical limitation. With its disarmingly frank, kindly manner and authoritative air, the book is what one would expect from a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and could appeal as widely as the Dalai Lama's current bestseller, The Art of Happiness. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-The Dalai Lama examines the world, its ills, and its coming changes in a disarmingly conversational style that engages readers. With a perspective that should appeal to teens weary of negativity, he offers an encouraging view of the future, arguing convincingly that we humans are better than we tend to believe. Avoiding technical terms and dogma, he presents Buddhist values and ethics, chiefly the dynamic of compassion and a recognition of the "complex interlinking of relationships," in such a way that individuals from a variety of cultural or religious backgrounds can understand their application to modern dilemmas and personal choices. Chapters focus on concepts such as restraint, discernment, non-harming, and responsibility as they apply to far-ranging subjects including the environment, disarmament, religion, science, and education. In a world in which many historical boundaries are becoming irrelevant, he focuses upon the essential qualities of humanity that we all share and from which new forms of social organization can evolve. An important book for thoughtful teens to muse over now, and return to in the future.
Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

the Dalai Lama transcends factionalism, denominalism
(sorry in advance) anyone who isn't moved by the kindness & compassion; the hopeful sayings of HH the Dalai Lama is either too cynical or not in touch with the needs of our complex/complicated 'society'.
His wisdom-compassion for all of humanity (and others), his lack of a vested interest, speaks for itself.

transcends all religions
Though self-consciously idealistic and at times maddeningly general, this book is profoundly insightful. What makes this palatable is that the Dalai Lama concedes his Buddhist biases, and then offers a framework for approaching to the worlds' problems (all of them!) that is independent of religion. Noting the danger of religion reinforcing self-centered notions, he references the common ground found in all religions, "overcoming suffering through the practice of ethical discipline and cultivation of love and compassion," and advocates that we learn to reconcile our faith (or atheism) with the multiplicity of other possible faiths.

In the first of three sections, The Foundation of Ethics, he highlights some of the world's problems, and questions material wealth as a solution to happiness, noting that material things may in themselves cause anxiety, frustration, and discontent. Though the humor was completely unintentional, I laughed at his recounting of visiting the home of a wealthy family and noticing the stockpile of meds in a medicine cabinet that happened to be ajar.

The second section, Ethics and the Individual, functions sort of as a self-help book, though it's pretty insightful in a ways that sound obvious only once you've thought of it in the context of a given problem. For example, he notes that most people assume "discipline" is something that you impose against your will, but points out that "ethical discipline is something that we adopt voluntarily on the basis of full recognition of its benefits." Later, he cites Shantideva and the central truism of Bodhisattva- basically, if you're confronting a problem that is solveable, then you must learn to immediately find the means to act on it; if the problem has no solution, then it's best not to worry about it.

The final section, Ethics and Society, is by far the most ambitious, but also the most inspiring. The Dalai Lama notes that children in today's society are brought up to acquire knowledge, but not to learn compassion. The negative impact of this, he says, can be aggressive competitiveness toward peers, greed, and scorn for the less fortunate. Astutely, he attributes this to the historical separation of learning compassion outside of school in church- whereas today church has declined and schools haven't picked up the slack. Realistically, he suggests that schools address this gap by offering students substantial practice in ethical debate and non-violent conflict resolution. He suggests that "On seeing his parents wrangling, a child that had understood the value of dialogue would instinctively say, "Oh, no. That's not the way. You have to talk, to discuss things properly."

The Dalai Lama's biggest challenge is that he places on each individual some level of accountability for the corrupt leadership we so often blame for our problems. "When people possess healthy values, and where they practice ethical discipline in their own lives out of concern for others, the public officials produced by that society will quite naturally respect those same values." The easiest criticism of the Dalai Lama (and my own, before reading this book), is that he is too idealistic. His answer, which unfortunately isn't that well backed up, is that ideals are "the engine of progress", that it is a mistake to always try to be realistic in politics as history is full of examples of positive changes driven by idealism.

Fell quite short of my expectations...
Although I thoroughly enjoyed many parts of this book and would recommend it to many people, I would not recommend it to everyone. I have given it a 3 star rating because of two main reasons.

1) The Dalai Lama fails to provide convincing arguments to those who don't already have views similar to his (i.e. that selflessness and non-violence are essential values), which is why this book will not appeal to those who need his advice the most. Compared to the Dalai Lama, I found M.K. Gandhi could make much more compelling rational arguments to convince skeptics of the necessity of being compassionate.

2) The title is misleading. I expected that the Dalai Lama had done much thinking about the modern world and wanted to propose his solutions to its major problems. I was very interested in learning what wisdom he had come up with. Instead, most of his thinking has revolved around traditional south Asian philosophies. Although these philosophies apply perfectly to the modern world, he did not show this well. Indeed he did not make any special effort to describe how the current problems could be resolved using these philosophies.

Here's a brief synopsis of the book:

In the first of three sections, the Dalai Lama explains that ethical conduct does not require adherence to religion, so long as one realizes everyone's right to be happy and not to suffer. He also argues that everyone desires to be happy, but that only those who manage to reach an inner peace that is independent of outside circumstances (such as wealth or poverty, political repression or freedom, sickness or health, etc.) can truly increase their happiness. He also makes a good argument for how happiness is easier to attain when we're shown compassion by others and how we can also help make others happy by showing them compassion.

To show that it is in our interest to make others happy by showing them compassion, he makes a rather complex philosophical discussion on how our interests are connected to other's interests so that our happiness is connected to other's happiness. I don't know if it's just me, but I found this part very complicated and not very convincing.

In the second part, he describes how each individual can develop this caring and compassionate nature. By restraining negative emotions (anger, envy, etc.), we avoid disregarding others and we end up reducing suffering both for others and ourselves. By developing compassion for all, even for those who would harm us, we can further develop virtues like forgiveness, humility, generosity. By dealing properly with unavoidable suffering (like aging, sickness, etc.), we can even strengthen our ability to have compassion and restrain our negative emotions, so that suffering may provide a good opportunity to learn.

In the third section, he tries to apply the principle of compassion to the level of society. There isn't much new there and he doesn't provide much to convince those who don't believe what he believes, it therefore sounds more like political correctness: care for the environment, care for the poor, care for peace, etc.

If you think like the Dalai Lama you will love this book, since he teaches you how you can become a better person. If you don't think like him, this book will fail to convince you and you will not learn any of the lessons he is teaching in this book. It's up to you to choose.