ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book would not exist without the efforts and kindness of many people. First, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, with deep gratitude for his boundless kindness, generosity, inspiration, and friendship. And to my parents, James and Bettie Cutler, in loving memory, for providing the foundation for my own path to happiness in life.

My sincere thanks extends to many others:

To Dr. Thupten Jinpa for his friendship, his help in editing the Dalai Lama’s portions of this book, and his critical role in acting as interpreter for the Dalai Lama’s public talks and many of our private conversations. Also to Lobsang Jordhen, the Ven. Lhakdor, for acting as interpreter for a number of my conversations with the Dalai Lama in India.

To Tenzin Geyche Tethong, Rinchen Dharlo, and Dawa Tsering, for their support and assistance in many ways over the years.

To the many people who worked so hard to assure that the Dalai Lama’s 1993 visit to Arizona was a rewarding experience for so many others: to Claude d‘Estree, Ken Bacher, and the board and staff of Arizona Teachings, Inc., to Peggy Hitchcock and the board of Arizona Friends of Tibet, to Dr. Pam Willson and those who helped organize the Dalai Lama’s address at Arizona State University, and to the dozens of dedicated volunteers for their tireless efforts on behalf of all those who attended the Dalai Lama’s teachings in Arizona.

To my extraordinary agents, Sharon Friedman and Ralph Vicinanza, and their wonderful staff, for their encouragement, kindness, dedication, help in many aspects of this project, and hard work above and beyond the call of duty. I owe them a special debt of gratitude.

To those who provided invaluable editorial assistance, insight, and expertise, as well as personal support during the lengthy writing process: to Ruth Hapgood for her skillful efforts in editing earlier versions of the manuscript, to Barbara Gates and Dr. Ronna Kabatznick for their indispensable help in wading through voluminous material and focusing and organizing that material into a coherent structure, and to my very talented editor at Riverhead, Amy Hertz, for believing in the project and helping shape the book into its final form. Also to Jennifer Repo and the hard-working copy editors and staff at Riverhead Books. I would also like to extend warm thanks to those who helped transcribe the Dalai Lama’s public talks in Arizona, type the transcripts of my conversations with the Dalai Lama, and type parts of the earliest versions of the manuscript.

 

 

 

In closing, my profound thanks:

To my teachers.

To my family and the many friends who have enriched my life in more ways than I can express: to Gina Beckwith Eckel, Dr. David Weiss and Daphne Atkeson, Dr. Gillian Hamilton, Helen Mitsios, David Greenwalt, Dale Brozosky, Kristi Ingham Espinasse, Dr. David Klebanoff, Henrietta Bernstein, Tom Minor, Ellen Wyatt Gothe, Dr. Gail McDonald, Larry Cutler, Randy Cutler, Lori Warren, and with special thanks and deep appreciation to Candee and Scott Briertey—and to other friends whom I may have failed to mention here by name, but whom I hold in my heart with continued love, gratitude, and respect.