Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso is known to the whole world as The Dalai Lama. My Spiritual Journey is not a conventional memoir. Instead, it uses previously unpublished materials and recent interviews to bring readers a message that encompasses suffering, success, and hope. Memories, stories, anecdotes, and ideas are gathered together—an affirmation of common humanity by one of the most revered men on earth.

For the first time and in his own words, the Dalai Lama charts his spiritual journey from his boyhood days in rural Tibet to his years as a monk in the capital city of Lhasa, to his life in exile as a world leader and symbol of peace.

My Spiritual Journey provides a vivid and moving portrait of the Dalai Lama’s life journey that is personal in tone but universal in scope. He explores three phases or commitments of his spiritual life—as a human being, as a Buddhist monk, and as the Dalai Lama—each of which has made him more dedicated to exploring and teaching human values and inner happiness, promoting harmony among all religions, and advocating for the civil rights and well-being of the Tibetan people.

At the age of two, Tenzin Gyatso was identified as the fourteenth reincarnation of the first Dalai Lama. Since then, his life has been on a trajectory few can imagine. Some see him as a living Buddha and moral authority, others identify him as a “god-king,” while still others see him in political terms as either a hero or a counterrevolutionary. In My Spiritual Journey, we see into his personal struggles, his courage, his laughter, and his compassion.