Indian American Examines Dalai Lama

[sageb1]

Indian American examines Dalai Lama as man, monk and mystic
IANS, February 19, 2007
New York, USA -- Indian American author Mayank Chhaya, who has written a biography of the Dalai Lama, wears his iconoclasm on his sleeve. Recently he floored a group of MIT students with the remark, 'I have rejected even nihilism'.

Yet Chhaya's cynical detachment, seldom concealed, has stood him in good stead as an author. He has written two biographies - the most recent one an authorised biography of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. An earlier biography of technology evangelist Sam Pitroda was a bestseller in India.

'Man, monk, mystic' will be published in India this month, followed in March by releases in the US, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan and Russia. Random House is the US publisher.

Chronicling the life of a spiritual head can be akin to walking on eggshells. But reviewers have been fulsome in their approval.

'The end product is balanced - neither debunking nor hagiographic, but taking a Buddhist-style Middle Way toward its subject, even though the author is not himself a Buddhist,' said the bible of the publishing industry, Publishers Weekly, in a starred review.

Booklist noted 'Chhaya carefully presents diverse viewpoints of the Tibet-China conflict while simultaneously drawing an insightful portrait of this enigmatic personage.'

Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu has called the book an 'engaging portrait'.

'Here was this exotic man the world had come to know about,' said Chhaya of his first interaction with the Dalai Lama in 1997, 'but there was no biography of his that would make him accessible to the uninitiated reader. I wanted to know the man behind the persona.'

What followed was two years of extensive interviewing, during which Chhaya spent several hours with the Dalai Lama in one-on-one meetings. 'We talked about everything - from the Tibetan problem to his Nobel Prize, to his views on celibacy and sexuality,' Chhaya told IANS.

The greatest aspect of the Dalai Lama's personality, said Chhaya, is his ability to reach out to everyone.

'What is most striking about him is his sense of familiarity in any surrounding, and his ability to reach out to anyone without any intermediary. If I had to describe him in one sentence, I would say he is deceptively profound with a charming sense of humour.'

Over the years, the Dalai Lama has become a larger than life figure...

For the full article, click onhttp://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index....0,3749,0,0,1,0

[sageb1]

I am still amazed the DL floored MIT students by rejecting nihilism.

Nihilism is about destruction of the whole person.

Nothingness is about destruction of the spiritual concept of ego.

And the Tibetan Book of the Dead is about spiritual rebirth from a Vajrayana viewpoint.

Indeed, being born again as a Buddhist is an endless cycle.