The Art of Happiness

esult of the brutal invasion of Tibet by Chineseforces. But even among the moreknowledgeable, perception of him was oftenone-dimensional-some people saw him asessentially a political figure, for example, unawareof his stature as one of the world’s leadingBuddhist scholars, a teacher with profoundspiritual depth and wisdom. And many people atthat time would have been surprised to learn thatfar from considering himself to be a great worldleader, the Dalai Lama’s personal identity wasmost closely tied to his role as a simple Buddhistmonk—one who rose each morning at 3:30 tospend four or five hours in prayer and meditation.So by the early 1990s, I began to think abouta book that would dispel these misconceptionsand add some human flesh to the cartoonlikeimage of him in the popular imagination. But that