Thomas Laird (1) (1953–)

As events unfold toward the 2008 Olympics in China, and protests of human rights violations follow the Olympic flame on its journey around the world, it is disconcerting to hear the Chinese government claim the Dalai Lama, the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, is inciting violence and dissent in Tibet. Nothing could be further from my limited experience of the man.

But I certainly do not know much about Tibetan history, and I wanted to know more. At least enough to justify my belief that the Dalai Lama is, if anything, part of the solution to the conflict with the Chinese, not part of the problem. This excellent book by Thomas Laird does just that. Laird spent over 60 hours interviewing the Dalai Lama and tries to faithfully recreate the Dalai Lama's understanding of Tibetan history along with providing a full account of his own research in this area. I found the book compelling reading, and especially appreciated the Dalai Lama's explanation of the Buddhist idea of reincarnation and what that means in Tibet.… (mehr)