The Open Road The Global Journey

Pico Iyer has been engaged in conversation with the Dalai Lama (a friend of his father's) for the last many decades-about his message and its effectiveness. Now in this insightful impassioned book Iyer captures the paradoxes the Dalai Lama embodies he is a religious leader who warns against being needlessly distracted by religion a Tibetan head of state who suggests that exile from Tibet can be an opportunity an incarnation of a Tibetan god who champions globalism and technology.Moving from Dharamsala India to Lhasa Tibet to venues in the West-where the Dalai Lama's pragmatism rigour and scholarship are sometimes lost on an audience yearning for mystical visions-The Open Road illuminates the hidden life the transforming ideas and the daily challenges of a global icon. Review 'This thoughtful thought-provoking book will open readers' eyes' -- Daniel GolemanIyer peels away layer after layer of illusion revealing critical truths about this man at every possible level -- Elizabeth Gilbert'Allows us to imagine the Dalai Lama as something of an intellectual and spiritual adventurer' -- Pankaj MishraNew Yorker About the Author Pico Iyer is the author of more than a dozen books translated into twenty-three languages. His four recent TED Talks have received more than eight million views so far. In the summer of 2019 he was the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton guest director of the Telluride Film Festival and the first official writer-in-residence at Raffles Hotel in Singapore.