My Land and My People

Book excerpt: Schooled behind ancient palace walls to become the leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama has become a spiritual leader to the world and a leading civil rights advocate. My Land and My People tells the story of his life. In the Himalayan City of Lhasa, the four-year-old son of a humble farmer sat on a huge, gilded throne. His childhood would be unimaginable in both its isolation and a people's adoration. His destiny would be one of immense tragedy and the awesome transformation of a man. Written by the Dalai Lama as a young man in exile, this dignified testament re-creates the miraculous search that identified him as the reincarnated leader of his country. It paints a rare intimate portrait of Tibetan Buddhism-a way of life that would end with a terrifying foreign invasion surpassing sanity and reason. And it reveals the evolution of a man from a gentle monk to a world leader-one struggling to this day to free his country... one able to touch our hearts with the goodness that makes him on of the most beloved men of our time. He was once a small boy was chosen to rule the most mysterious land on Earth. Now the Dalai Lama tells his, and his country's, poignant story.