His Holiness The XIV Dalai Lama: Ethics for the New Millennium

Speaking to what looked like a sellout crowd at the Royal Albert Hall, a smiling, hunched man held a London audience hostage for nearly an hour and a half without a single Andrew Lloyd Webber tune. Reminding his spellbound listeners that change must take place from within, the Dalai Lama calls for a transformation of self and what he calls an "inner disarmament" of the hate and violence that cause untold human suffering. Only through shared dialogue that reduces our differences and acknowledges our similarities can we hope to achieve ethical behavior based on compassion, tolerance and global responsibility. As His Holiness literally chats about these lofty morals, it's sometimes hard to stay with him--his comments often seem to be improvisational musings--but there can be no mistake about the essence of his message, that the "new" in "New Millennium" refers not to the calendar, but to our own hearts and minds. In remaking ourselves, we remake our world. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (N. Plympton)