Cultivating Compassion: A Buddhist Perspective

""Jeffrey Hopkins is an old personal friend who has been of great help to me as an interpreter,"" writes the Dalai Lama in the foreword to this book, thereby giving Hopkins distinctive credentials founded on 10 years of close personal contact with Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader. Hopkins, who founded the University of Virginia's Tibetan and Buddhist Studies program, has not wasted this precious gift of proximity. In six unobstructed steps he offers a clear how-to meditation manual on cultivating compassion, a major theme found in all Buddhist traditions. The book is refreshingly jargon-free, with everyday life applications and bold-type meditation instructions that can be easily utilized in practice sessions. For example, within the chapter on motivation, Hopkins instructs practitioners to bring one person to mind and dedicate the session of meditation to that person's sake. This enhances the practitioner's sense of being connected ""to not just one small being, yourself, but with many, many others."" This book will probably mean more to those already on the Buddhist path than to those just setting out. Yet the cornerstone value of compassion, where the Dalai Lama ""pays his respects first,"" is so key to the Buddhist perspective and practice that newcomers can certainly find useful material here, too. Hopkins's guide helps readers to explore the implications of the Dalai Lama's oft-heard refrain, ""We all want happiness and do not want suffering."" (Apr.)