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

This slender volume manages to bring a message of peace and hope to this reader. The Dalai Lama is an extraordinary religious and political leader while both giving up his country and his religion.

He was exiled from Tibet by the oppressive Chinese government after their 1951 takeover of the country. In 1987, the Dali Lama tried “the middle way” to remain autonomous within the Chinese government. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. In 2011 he gave up political control of the country. He now seems to give up religion as well and embrace a broader secular ethics.

The book is a small series of questions posed to the Dalai Lama by Dr. Franz Alt, a television journalist and author. His questions are thought-provoking and the answers are thoughtful and deep. Several of the answers directly address the current political climate and state of religious wars and conflicts. The world is certainly better for having this man in it. I suggest we laugh along with him as we consider the state of our world.