The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 3 February 2010
by Pico Iyer
The Dalai Lama is one of the most visible political figures in the world today. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his tireless efforts on behalf of world peace, relying on his dedication to Buddhism and nonviolence. He has made himself widely available in causes great and small in an effort to use the symbolism of his role as a Buddhist peacemaker in the hopes of improving life for people all over the world. His dilemma is this, though: how has all of this helped his people, the Tibetans in exile and the millions who live under Chinese occupation of their homeland beyond the Himalayas? His dedication to dialogue and nonviolence arises from his deeply-held Buddhist philosophy, but, after fifty years in exile, what has that accomplished against the unbelievable rigidity of Chinese policy and the reluctance of other powerful nations to adopt the Tibetan cause in opposition to the world's largest market and fastest growing economy? Tibetans in exile grow impatient, some of them yearning for a more active and potentially violent rebellion in Tibet. Yet they continue to support and revere this man, the incarnation of one of Tibet's patron deities, the Buddha of Compassion. What will happen when this simple monk finally dies? China, is likely to declare their own selection of the new Dalai Lama and, by extension, declare the issue of Tibet settled for good. These are complex issues amid Tibet's own not-terribly-certain claim on independence. And, as Patrick French wrote in the compelling Tibet, Tibet, what is the realistic prospect for the future of the Tibetan people within Tibet? When he was just a teenager, Pico Iyer was introduced to the Dalai Lama by his father. For decades he has befriended the Tibetan leader, followed him on his journeys around the world, and has reported on Tibetan issues in his journalism. He is in a unique position to tell us about the life of the Dalai Lama, his day-to-day dilemmas, and even about some of the opposition in the Tibetan community, some of it coming from the Dalai Lama's own family. This book is highly accessible (if sometimes uneven), written from the point of view of a non-Tibetan, non-Buddhist, and largely Western standpoint. There are some very straightforward questions that Iyer asks of the Dalai Lama, and inquires of the situation itself. In an often personal story, the author explores the Dalai Lama's role in the globalized world community and his position with respect to a restive exile community and a supressed Tibetan nation. What can the Dalai Lama do to help his people? It is a question he asks himself. He is a compassionate and open leader, but his pleas have fallen on deaf ears for half a century. Iyer describes the various roles the Dalai Lama must fill, as a simple monk, a philosopher, a world leader, leader of Tibetan Buddhists, leader and chief negotiator for the Tibetan cause. In the end, what happens as Tibet itself continues to disappear? The Dalai Lama's own brother says, in a perhaps typically Buddhist way, that maybe Tibet isn't so important, maybe the Dalai Lama or maybe not even Buddha, as long as the ideas in Buddhism continue to grow in the world: peace, nonviolence, and human potential. But is that what is going on within the many layers of the Tibetan cause?
Also by Pico Iyer: [Video Night in Kathmandu]