The Dalai Lamas of Tibet

Nestling amidst the great Himalayas, the tiny kingdom of Tibet evokes images of monasteries, meditaking monks, Buddhism and, towering above them all, the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan diaspora is perhaps the only community in the world today wherein the spiritual head also dons the mantle of political leadership. Traversing the road backwards to the fifteenth century when Gedun Drub became the First Dalai Lama, over the centuries, the role of the Dalai Lama only grew in stature-with the Great Fifth and the Great Thirteenth, in particular, each proving to be an ocean of wisdom, a living testimony to the title conferred upon them. This book journeys through Tibet . . . the exile of the current (Fourteenth) Dalai Lama and his followers and their epic escape to seek refuge in India . . . the abrupt transportation of their lives from the medieval period to the twentieth century . . . the continuing non-violent struggle of His Holiness for Tibetan rights and his homeland . . . the worldwide respect and relevance accorded to the Dalai Lamas teachings . . . Of sizeable contemporary interest and interspersed with rare archival photographs, The Dalai Lamas of Tibet is an empathetic look at the spiritual influence that continues to guide Tibetans today.