Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography
of The Dalai Lama by Lama Dalai
Informative
The Dalai Lamas autobiography should leave no one in doubt of his
humility and genuine compassion. Written without the slightest hint of
pretense, the exiled leader of Tibet recounts his life, from the time he was
whisked away from his home in 1939 at the age of 4, to his treacherous
escape from Tibet in 1959, to his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize in
1989. The backdrop of the story is the 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet. He
calmly relates details of imprisonment, torture, rape, famine, ecological
disaster, and genocide that under four decades of Chinese rule have left
1.25 million Tibetans dead and the Tibetan natural and religious
landscapes decimated. Yet the Dalai Lamas story is strangely one of hope.
This man who prays for four hours a day harbors no ill will toward the
Chinese and sees the potential for good everywhere he casts his gaze.
Someday, he hopes, all of Tibet will be a zone of peace and the worlds
largest nature preserve. Such optimism is not naive but rather a result of
his daily studies in Buddhist philosophy and his doctrine of Universal

Responsibility. Inspiring in every way, Freedom in Exile is both a historical
document and a fable of deepest trust in humanity. --Brian Bruya
Personal Review: Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of The
Dalai Lama by Lama Dalai
Beginning in a world that was so alien to our present society, the current
Dalai Lama commences his autobiography 'Freedom in Exile' with a
detailed description of life in pre-occupied Tibet; a society that had
managed to remain untouched by the effects of modernization and
secularism that have moulded our civilization into its present shape. He
retails his own experience of living in monastic Tibet, from his `discovery'
as the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, to his eventual enthronement
as the supreme leader of the remote nation.
However, it was with the 1950 occupation of Tibet by the People's
Liberation Army that forced Tibet into the eye of the international
community. The invasion by China and the subsequent demolition of
Tibetan society piece by piece, and life by life, is recounted in astonishing
detail, as is the inspiring efforts by the Dalai Lama in attempting to
challenge the actions of the Communist Party of China, which included
several personal meetings with the seemingly amiable Chairman Mao.
Engrossingly, he explains the chain of events which eventually led to his
exile from his native land, and his life-long commitment to championing the
people of Tibet against Communist oppression.
The Dalai Lama is clearly a formidable writer, and details his life in an
immensely holding fashion. While the Dalai Lama is a religious leader,
and while there are sections of the book which explain Buddhist thought,
`Freedom in Exile' is not a religious work, nor even a book about religion.
It is, however, the self-told life of an influential, and seemingly incorruptible,
political figure who defends his homeland and its people with an all-too
rare intensity While it an obvious fact that an autobiography by the Dalai
Lama will be biased towards the Tibetan cause, it is a much maligned truth
that not all situations have two equally opposing positions. Anyone who
takes the time to read this book should conclude with the same opinion.
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