Books and writing
My Land and My People (1962)
McGraw-Hill. His first autobiography written three years into exile. It tells of his childhood in Amdo and Lhasa, the Chinese arrival and the flight of 1959. Scholars treat it as the founding text for later accounts of his life. A 2014 doctoral thesis at the University of Barcelona called it the “textual epicenter” of his later autobiography and biography.
Universitat de Barcelona: Thesis on My Land and My People (1962) · Wikipedia: 14th Dalai Lama
Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama (1990)
HarperCollins. His second autobiography. It covers his birth to a farming family, his selection, his dealings with Beijing and his life in India. It also compares Tibetan Buddhism and Western science. He wrote it to counter what he called Chinese claims about Tibetan history. Kirkus called it “an earnest, inspiring, and wholly captivating classic tale of spiritual adventure.”
Kirkus Reviews: Freedom in Exile (1990) · Wikipedia: Freedom in Exile
The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living (1998)
Riverhead Books. Written with the American psychiatrist Howard Cutler. Cutler asked the questions and set the answers beside his own clinical experience. It argues that happiness is the purpose of life and that the mind can be trained towards it. Sequels covered work and a troubled world. It spent 97 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Some critics found the advice lukewarm.
Wikipedia: The Art of Happiness · Wikipedia: Howard C. Cutler · Shortform: The Art of Happiness review and reception
Ethics for the New Millennium (1999)
Riverhead Books. His first book-length case for an ethics grounded in shared human values and not in religion. It argues that restraint, compassion and concern for others serve the self as well as society.
The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality (2005)
Morgan Road Books. Draws on decades of talks with physicists, biologists and neuroscientists. He argues that science and Buddhist philosophy both aim to reduce suffering. Science looks at outer conditions. Buddhism looks at inner causes. Arthur Zajonc in Physics Today predicted it would become a small classic of the science and religion dialogue.
Physics Today: Arthur Zajonc reviews The Universe in a Single Atom (September 2006) · Spiral Nature: Review of The Universe in a Single Atom
Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World (2011)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. A guide to secular ethics for daily life. It offers ways to reduce destructive emotions and to help others. It treats compassion as central and not tied to any one faith.
Wikipedia: Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World (2016)
Avery. Written with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams. It records a week of conversation at his residence in Dharamsala in April 2015 around his 80th birthday. Abrams drew the questions from a worldwide survey. A reviewer in Hippocampus Magazine found the added science sometimes “too much” but helpful overall.
Hippocampus Magazine: Review of The Book of Joy (April 2017)
Voice for the Voiceless (2025)
HarperCollins. An account of his dealings with Beijing since 1950. Released in March 2025 on the anniversary of the 1959 uprising. It says the next Dalai Lama will be born in the free world. China’s foreign ministry said he was a political exile with no right to represent the people in Tibet.
RFA: Dalai Lama says his successor will be born in the ‘free world’ (12 March 2025) · International Campaign for Tibet: Voice for the Voiceless
Overview · Life · Ideas · Books · Videos · Debates · People I learn from