Kindness, Clarity and Insight

by Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins

In this collection of talks given by the Dalai Lama during his tour of North America, His Holiness discusses a wide variety of spiritual and human concerns with his characteristic warmth, wit and perception. Not limited to Buddhists or to religious believers, the Dalai Lama's direct, practical message speaks to people everywhere of the importance of kindness, love and compassion. Appealing both to the mind and to the heart, he urges all humanity to consider the delicacy of the current world situation and to work at reshaping attitudes for a better society. His message of hope celebrates the indomitable human spirit and affirms the ever present potential for individual and social transformation.

In the chapters the Dalai Lama elucidates with insight and profundity and various topics of Buddhist doctrines. These include training and transforming the mind through meditation, the luminous nature of mind, deities in Tibetan Buddhism, and penetrating beyond appearance to the true natgure of persons and other phenomena. A concluding discourse explains the basic meeting points of thought between the old and new schools in Tibet--especially the Nying-ma and Ge-luk-to show their common aim, despite their use of different techniques, to manifest the innate mind of clear light.

About the Author:

Jeffrey Hopkins is Associate Professor of Northern Buddhist Studies and former director of the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Virginia. He has translated and edited many tibetan texts, working closely with tibetan scholars and is the author of Meditation on Emptiness. He has accompanied the Dalai Lama as translator, on his visits to North America, southeast Asia and Australia.