The Meaning of Life: Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect » (Revised Edition)

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He lives in exile in Dharamsala, India.

Jeffrey Hopkins teaches Tibetan studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where he founded programs in Buddhist studies and Tibetan studies. He is the author of Meditation on Emptiness. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Dalai Lama presents the basic worldview of Buddhism while offering answers to some of life’s most profound and challenging questions.

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Ably translated into English by Jeffrey Hopkins, The Meaning Of Life: Buddhist Perspectives On Cause And Effect was written by His Holiness, The Dali Lama for people seeking to develop a deeper understanding of Buddhist perspectives on existential questions of meaning, purpose, and responsibility. Basing his commentary on the Buddha's teachings of dependent arising, The Dali Lama reveals how every aspect of our suffering (unhappiness, pain, old age, death) is ultimately rooted in our misunderstanding of our own true nature. The Dali Lama infuses his text with the intelligence, wit, kindness and compassion he is so well known for within the Buddhist community world wide.