The main part of The Meaning of Life is the text of five lectures the Dalai Lama gave in London in 1984. Sub-titled "Buddhist perspectives on cause and effect", these include The Buddhist Worldview, Life Impelled by Ignorance, Levels of the Path, The Value of Altruism, and Compassion and Wisdom Combined. These talks are at times very deeply philosophical. They show the Dalai Lama as a scholar, and are clearly aimed at those who are already practising Buddhists. The Question-and-Answer sessions, however, are more readily accessible to beginners or to non-Buddhists; in his gentle but firm responses the Dalai Lama's hallmark warmth and compassion show through.

Particularly interesting is the detailed explanation--both in the Dalai Lama's text and in the 28-page Introduction by his translator Jeffrey Hopkins--of the classic Buddhist painting "The Wheel of Cyclic Existence", which is included in full and in several details in the colour plates. Most Westerners simply admire the beauty of Buddhist paintings; here we are shown that every tiny part contains deep teaching.

This is a book which draws together theory and practice to show both the complexity and the simplicity of Buddhist teaching. --David V. Barrett