As human beings, we possess one common desire: the need for happiness and a meaningful life. According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the ability to find true fulfillment lies within each of us. Now, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, Nobel Prize winner, and bestselling author helps readers begin the path to enlightenment in a very special book — an easy-access reference for daily practice as well as stunning illumination of the timeless wisdom of His Holiness.

How to Practice will guide you toward opening your heart, refraining from doing harm, maintaining mental tranquility, and more. Divided into a series of distinct steps that will lead spiritual seekers of all faiths toward enlightenment, this accessible book is a constant and daily companion in the quest to practice morality, meditation, and wisdom. The Dalai Lama shows us how to overcome our everyday obstacles, from feelings of anger and mistrust to jealousy, insecurity, and counterproductive thinking. Imbued with His Holiness' vivacious spirit and sense of playfulness, How to Practice offers the Dalai Lama's own sage and very practical insight into the human psyche and what binds us all together.

Divided into a series of distinct steps that will lead spiritual seekers of all faiths toward enlightenment, this book illuminates the specifics about how to practice morality from day to day, how to practice meditation, and how to practice wisdom.

As human beings, we possess one common desire: the need for happiness and a meaningful life. According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the ability to find true fulfillment lies within each of us. Now, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, Nobel Prize winner, and bestselling author helps readers begin the path to enlightenment in a very special book — an easy-access reference for daily practice as well as stunning illumination of the timeless wisdom of His Holiness.

How to Practice will guide you toward opening your heart, refraining from doing harm, maintaining mental tranquility, and more. Divided into a series of distinct steps that will lead spiritual seekers of all faiths toward enlightenment, this accessible book is a constant and daily companion in the quest to practice morality, meditation, and wisdom. The Dalai Lama shows us how to overcome our everyday obstacles, from feelings of anger and mistrust to jealousy, insecurity, and counterproductive thinking. Imbued with His Holiness' vivacious spirit and sense of playfulness, How to Practice offers the Dalai Lama's own sage and very practical insight into the human psyche and what binds us all together.

His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso was born in 1935 to a peasant family in northeastern Tibet, and was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor, the thirteenth Dalai Lama. The world's foremost Buddhist leader, he travels extensively, speaking eloquently in favor of ecumenical understanding, kindness and compassion, respect for the environment and, above all, world peace.

Contents

Foreword by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D.vii

Introduction: The Need for Peace and Kindness

I. THE BASICS
1. Three Ways to Practice

II. PRACTICING MORALITY
2. Identifying the Scope of Suffering
3. Discovering How Trouble Starts and Stops
4. Refraining from Harm
5. Extending Help
6. Aspiring to Enlightenment

III. PRACTICING CONCENTRATED MEDITATION
7. Focusing the Mind

IV. PRACTICING WISDOM
8. Examining How Beings and Things Exist
9. The Middle Way
10. Mind and the Deep Nature of Mind

V. TANTRA
11. Deity Yoga

VI. STEPS ALONG THE WAY
12. Overview of the Path to Enlightenment

Selected Readings