I first read this book at the residence of Peter Rezansoff about four (4) years ago. This precipitated a deep discussion with the result that Peter had been acquainted with Victor Chan, the author. Peter arranged a lunch with Victor and we discussed the possibility of inviting the Dalai Lama to Whatshan Lake Retreat.

Victor advised us that the schedule for the Dalai Lama is at least five (5) years hence but would discuss to see if the Dalai Lama could at least come and visit Whatshan.

That is where the matter rested until my daughter Tamara, purchased this book and presented it to me at Christmas 2019. I decided to read it in with greater attention to the messages therein.

These are some of my impressions and special areas of interest:

1. On the jacket:
   1. “Genuine compassion is based not on our own projections and expectations but rather on the rights of the other: irrespective of whether another person is a close friend or an enemy, as long as that person wishes for peace and happiness and wishes to overcome suffering, then on that basis we develop a genuine concern for his or her problems. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
   2. For me the message “as long as that person wishes for peace and happiness and wishes to overcome suffering” is a major obstacle. How do I determine that value and objective in that person?
   3. The Dalai Lama states that he has forgive the Chinese government for their actions on Tibet and the reason that the Dalai Lama cannot go home. That is a great deal of compassion and an objective for me for the rest of my life.
2. On page 229:
   1. “A human being is part of the whole, called by us “Universe” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest-a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and t affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
   2. These words did not come from the Dali Lama but from Einstein who wrote them in 1954. So it is that a world’s most prominent Scientist had this message for all of that the Dalai Lama felt significant to insert in this book
3. On pages 200 through 209, describes an interesting discussion at one of the conferences in Zurich in 2010 with an Indian, a social activist and educator Sanjit ‘Bunker” Roy
   1. Sanjit sacrificed his high level in life to the poor and under-privileged by organizing the “…Barefoot College in India and has trained hundreds of semiliterate and illiterate grandmothers from developing countries to be solar engineers. Through that program, they have electrified more than six hundred villages in India. Some are in very remote areas in the Himalayas and can be reached only after long treks on foot…”
   2. “…For me the best investments are grandmothers. The best. The grandmothers between forty and fifty, are the most mature, most tolerant. I have women from all over Africa. They have never been outside their village. I fly them to India for training. Through sign language, without the written word, without the spoken word, we train them to be solar engineers. They come as grandmothers, they go back as tigers……”

There is so much in this book that has inspired me and what I needed after my bout with Depression.

Posted 1230 hours. January 17, 2020 by Elmer Verigin