Ethics for the New Millennium

You can read the gushing praise in other reviews, so I'll only mention the major failing.
He advises staying with the dominant religious beliefs of your culture. That means accepting the idea of free will, which is critical to the justification for the prevalence of violence and torture under Judeo-Christian(JCM) rule. (Buddhism too has faults, although this one may be less significant; Communism we all know; of others I know nothing.) Free will means that anyone who does bad things must be a tool of the devil, and should therefore be punished severely as a lesson for others to obey those more esteemed in the hierarchy of their religion. Conversely, those who do good should be rewarded by their Supreme Being and revered by us. Thus we can have in the US a "compassionate conservative" who, without hypocrisy, can advocate ever harsher punishments (even for victimless "crimes"), more deaths, more guns, tax benefits for the rich, a "Christian Nation", etc. The doctrine may destroy civilization, but it is a mere article of faith without a shred of evidence or any viable proposed mechanism.
The cycle of repression, war, and genocide will never be broken so long as the doctrine of free will reigns supreme.
BTW, "His Holiness", however fine a person he may be, is no holier than you or I. Few more obvious beneficiaries of good fortune can be found anywhere.

In his straight-forward, easy-to-read manner, the Dali Lama reminds us that ethics is about what we do, not about what we say or intend. For another interesting book on the subject, try "The Lone Ranger's Code of the West -- an adventure in values and ethics."

I found this book enlightening on a couple of levels. The most profound was the revelations regarding what every person is looking for in terms of happiness. The second was the return to values that bring the entire community into the daily trials of our lives. Remembering that we are all connected and we should always remember that considerations should extend beyond our visual range.

This book is simply terrific. It is full of wisdom and common sense, representing what a most "extra-ordinary" Human Being has to say. I feel it is today's best example of a human exemplar there is. I encourage everyone to read it.

I have always followed the Dalai Lama - movies, tapes, live appearances etc. I have always enjoyed his teachings, so I thought I'd try a book. However, I found this book to be too intellectual. I felt it was work to read it. I prefer the Dalai Lama in person.At the same time I ordered a book on the store called "Working On Yourself Doesn't Work" by Ariel & Shya Kane. It was fun and easy to read. I highly recommend it!

Because I have realized we spend too much time driving, I started to buy books on CD. When we put the first CD of this book on, we didn't want to leave the car. This is book everyone who is looking for soul, spirit or love. The main line of this book (I think): we are looking to take, not to give. If you have teenager kids, BUY IT! Let them to listen, it is completely different from anything else. Just try to give it by pieces, 15-20 min of reading in time. And talk to them after, what they really heard there.

Simple, straight forward argument for compassion and tolerance, the christian protestant or catholic, the atheist, the jew or gentile can't or rather shouldn't have any problem with this. Lovely and uplifting read.

It would appear that the forced exile of the Dalai Lama has awakened a sleeping giant. His Holiness has learned much in the intervening years and now passes on his observations to the world. This is a book that can be of extreme value to the world. The book crosses all religious lines. Those of good will can readily see this and can expand the truths and dimensions of their own beliefs. All that remains is to put the good into action.

I think this is one of the better books, addressing all important ethical, moral ideals for this century...It was just what I needed in a time when I was diagnosed with a fatal disease. Wonderful. I highly recommend it if you are looking at the world with an open mind and want to understand compassion in its truthful form.

While the Dalai Lama does not discuss anything I have not heard before, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writings reinforced what I have learned over the past 44 years. I would recommend this book to anyone.

The Dalai Lama provides a basis for a universal set of ethics, transcending specific religions. His views are insightful and valuable as the US and the world struggle with morality in a multicultural and multi-religious environment.
I recommend this book for anyone interested in ethics and morality.

While I admit it takes lack of humility to criticize the writings of such an important world leader, I cannot say the book made the profound impact on me it seems to have made on others.
His message is loud and clear: Follow "the golden rule" and the world will be a better place to live in. I do not wish to dispute this gem of wisdom when it comes to everyday dealings with people. I do, however, think his application of this on the international political level is misguided, wrong, and quite frankly, none of His Holiness' business.
He does not seem to recognize that war is not a manifestation of a lack of compassion in people. Rather it is the only means ever known to man for oppressed peoples to gain dignity and to ensure the conditions for their continued prosperity. Americans who pride themselves as such would certainly be hypocritical to disagree with this viewpoint since it is only with past successes in war that America is what it is today and it is only with the worlds largest nuclear arsenal can it ensure its position going forward. This is as much a fact of the human condition as our vital organs and biological functions. Remove any of these and we cease to be human. Even the Dalai Lama admits that this is an unsolvable paradox.
The view that everything and everyone is interconnected is a truly inspiring perspective, as is the recognition that we all want to be happy and avoid suffering, but sometimes short term suffering needs to be endured in order to achieve longer term lasting happiness. War is one example. Another is NOT providing aid to impoverished nations. By giving bits and pieces of food and medicine to poor countries we are alleviating suffering for a few people for a few moments but are prolonging the suffering of entire populations for generations to come. This perspective is almost purposely ignored in the book, giving the impression that the true purpose of the book is akin to that of any major religion -- ie to instill guilt on the masses to keep them focused on themselves so they don't consider threatening the world's power centers --taking care, however, to leave out the hocus pocus not because of any new revelation, but because the falsehood of any hocus pocus can be easily verified by schoolchildren with the advent of modern telecommunications.
If you, the prospective reader, can sympathize with my comments, save your time and money and watch about an hour of CNN International. The message is exactly the same.

This book was a major disappointment and source of frustration.Perhaps in the East people are capable of "...think,think,think[ing]..." their way to compassion and harmony.In the West we need something more experiential and practical to bridge the split in body-mind that lies at the heart of our individual and collective psychopathology. There is nothing in this book that hasn't been available to us for many years through western spiritual tradition and it fails for the same reason those traditions do.The heart of compassion is not a philosophical concept,it is a felt experience.It can only become a way of being in beings who have achieved a degree of balance and integration in body/mind/spirit. Books that are much more valuable on the path to wholeness...

Ethics for the New Millenium is an awesome book. Allow the Dalai Lama to show you a glimpse into both his own mind and Buddhist upbringing, but also into a holy interpretation of the world as we know it today.

The Dalai Lama writes in a very tranquil, and fairly long-winded manner. For me, therefore, the book was a bit difficult to get through (something that could have been said in one sentence, was carried out for 2-3 paragraphs - this could be due to the translation). Most of what he discussed seems to be common sense - ideals that most of us want to achieve in order to establish a more peaceful existence. I wasn't overly blown away by anything he wrote, although I was amazed at the calmness that reverberated throughout his words. The man seems to have no anger within him, and in that sense, reading this book has a rather calming effect; but for some reason I had a difficult time getting through his long-windedness, at times I found myself skimming in order to get to his next idea or topic.