Alexander Norman's excellent biography of the Dalai Lama

William Fennie

Alexander Norman has published, in 2020, a fine new biography of the Dalai Lama focused on the history of the institution / lineage. I took the trouble to order the hard cover original after spotting the trade paperback version at our local bookstore. It is a fine addition to anyone’s library. He is a gifted story teller, and what a story he brings to life in a work that runs 330 pages and notes. Here, describing the Dalai Lama’s first visit to the United States in 1979, Norman shows a mastery of his subject as well as of historical narrative :

‘Arriving on September 3, 1979, the now forty-four-year-old Dalai Lama naintained a schedule that took him on a hectic tour of twenty-two cities over seven short weeks, starting with New York and ending with Washington, DC. Prophetically, the first word uttered in public by the Dalai Lama was “compassion." This was in answer to a question posed at a press conference asking whether he had a message for the United States. Subsequently mixing general talks on spirituality with more-technical discourses on Buddhist philosophy, the Dalai Lama was an immediate hit. Robert Thurman, by now a college professor, later recalled how, on reconnecting with the Dalai Lama, he "almost keeled over." Noting that the Tibetan leader had "always been charming and interesting and very witty," he saw that since their last meeting in 1971, the Dalai Lama had again increased markedly in stature and "opened up some inner wellspring of energy and attention and intelligence," adding, "He was glorious." It seems certain that the Dalai Lama's spiritual progress during the intervening years had given him a powerful self-assurance.’

Though his life had been - and would continue to be - a struggle in the face of overwhelming odds, nonetheless, sustained by his ever-increasing accomplishments as a yogin, he had grown in confidence and authority. Thurman noticed this, and increasing numbers of people who came into his presence noticed it too. Here was a man who, faced with almost unbearable responsibility from a young age and forced to confront a world for which he had been completely unprepared, nevertheless remained faithful to the spiritual tradition in which he had been raised. In so doing, he found a strength more than equal to the demands of the world in which he now began to move.’

It is impossible to overstate the political stakes faced by the Dalai Lama after his escape to India. Norman maps them all out : the rivalries within the Tibetan exile community (and within Tibet); longstanding disputes regarding the authority of Lhasa in certain Tibetan territories; the determination of the Chinese government to “normalize” the Tibetan plateau as part of greater China and its Maoist economic model; relationships with the Indian government and navigating the treacherous seas of Cold War intrigue.

Staying true to his spiritual path provided both the strength to face these challenges and the capacity to become a transformative figure for millions of people around the world. This is an important message for Prosperos students and Mentors alike, and there are many other such messages in Alexander Norman’s excellent book.