Dalai Lama XIV. : Widening the Circle of Love

New paperback edition. As human beings, we are born to love but we may not know how to do so unconditionally. In this remarkable book, His Holiness the Dalai Lama explains how we each possess enormous potential to grow in love. As one of the world's most admired spiritual teachers, he draws upon his unique insights and experiences to show us how to open our hearts.

How to Love offers a practical seven-step path for developing love. In the first stage we discover how to overcome perceived differences and cultivate inner calm. The second stage reveals how to create a strongly positive attitude to others, in ever widening circles. The third stage is the exploration of kindness. The fourth calls for reciprocating kindness, while the fifth leads naturally to learning to love by first acknowledging how people suffer. The sixth stage is the cultivation of compassion, while the seventh turns the experience of unbiased love and compassion towrds the service of humanity as a whole.

Each step is accompanied by a wide variety of helpful practices and techniques, and is illustrated with the Dalai Lama's customary warmth and wisdom. His guidance shows how we can nurture a positive attitude to others, restructure our relationships and examine counter-productive emotions without becoming embroiled in them.