A Call for Revolution: A Vision for the Future

This impassioned book from the Dalai Lama, co-written with his interpreter, Sanskrit expert Stril-Rever, is a vociferous call for the youth of the world to take more concern for and control of the planet’s destiny. The set-up and source material of the book come out of a conversation the Dalai Lama had in 2017 with four young French visitors he received in Dharamsala, India. The book calls for a revolution of compassion, which the Dalai Lama advocates for by invoking the neurology behind compassion combined with the central Buddhist insight of the interdependence of all living beings. Compassion, he says, could end the “endemic poverty” that plagues the world, which he cites as the most pressing daily ill for the majority of the globe. He also argues (surprisingly and almost in passing) that religion has failed to improve humanity (“None has succeeded in creating a better human being”)—a significant assertion for a spiritual leader and one that will speak to the young people this volume is aimed at. Instead, he writes, it is people who create better versions of themselves. This slender volume is an excellent introduction for those unfamiliar with the Dalai Lama’s simple-seeming teachings for improving a complex, globally interconnected world. Agent: Marleen Seegers, 2 Seas. (Nov.)