This beautiful keepsake edition of His Holiness's classic essay is updated and expanded for today's world, with a new foreword from Richard Gere and beautiful, intimate photographs of His Holiness.

In this moving book His Holiness the Dalai Lama shares his perspective on the urgent question facing the world today: How do we make our societies more humane, just, and equitable?

Created to commemorate the occasion of His Holiness's ninetieth birthday, this special edition contains fourteen rare and beautiful photographs from throughout his life, taken by world-renowned photographers: Manuel Bauer, Kenro Izu, Richard Gere, Jetsun Pema, Raghu Rai, Herb Ritts, A. T. Steele, Nicky Vreeland , and Sonam Zoksang.

This is a monument to honor a life spent ceaselessly calling for peace and tolerance, as well as a clarion call to all citizens of the world.

As Richard Gere writes in the foreword, "The healing has begun if we want it."

A Human Approach to World Peace Special Edition, Dalai Lama, Wisdom Publications, Hardcover, 80 pages, $29.95

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He frequently describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. Born in northeastern Tibet in 1935, he was as a toddler recognized as the incarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and brought to Tibet's capital, Lhasa. In 1950, Mao Zedong's Communist forces made their first incursions into eastern Tibet, shortly after which the young Dalai Lama assumed the political leadership of his country. He passed his scholastic examinations with honors at the Great Prayer Festival in Lhasa in 1959, the same year Chinese forces occupied the city, forcing His Holiness to escape to India. There he set up the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, working to secure the welfare of the more than 100,000 Tibetan exiles and prevent the destruction of Tibetan culture. In his capacity as a spiritual and political leader, he has traveled to more than sixty-two countries on six continents and met with presidents, popes, and leading scientists to foster dialogue and create a better world. In recognition of his tireless work for the nonviolent liberation of Tibet, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. In 2012, he relinquished political authority in his exile government and turned it over to democratically elected representatives.

His Holiness frequently states that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of interreligious harmony, and securing the welfare of the Tibetan people, focusing on the survival of their identity, culture, and religion. As a superior scholar trained in the classical texts of the Nalanda tradition of Indian Buddhism, he is able to distill the central tenets of Buddhist philosophy in clear and inspiring language, his gift for pedagogy imbued with his infectious joy. Connecting scientists with Buddhist scholars, he helps unite contemplative and modern modes of investigation, bringing ancient tools and insights to bear on the acute problems facing the contemporary world. His efforts to foster dialogue among leaders of the world's faiths envision a future where people of different beliefs can share the planet in harmony.