
Why Is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling?
A Westerner's Introduction and Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Practice
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Lama Tsomo
About this listen
Ancient Wisdom for Today
If you think meditation is only for monks, think again. Today's world seems to be growing more and more stressful by the minute - for all of us. So now, as a teacher of Tibetan Buddhist practice and a 21st-century woman, Lama Tsomo offers us time-tested tools for getting underneath our everyday worries and making our lives richer and more fulfilling. In Why Is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling? she acts as our lively, approachable guide to using the ancient traditions and practices of Tibetan Buddhism to find happiness and peace in this modern world.
Through step-by-step instructions and helpful explanations, Lama Tsomo shows how we can start experiencing the many benefits of meditation for ourselves. She offers proven techniques for sharpening our focus, enhancing our relationships, and living each day more mindfully and joyfully. Laced with humor, compassion, and stories from Lama Tsomo's own life, Why Is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling? meets us where we are and guides us onto, and along, the path to a deeper awareness of our world and ourselves. Lama Tsomo's personal and spiritual journey to greater happiness can now be ours as well. As she invites in the Prologue, "Won't you come along?"
©2016 Lama Tsomo LLC (P)2016 Lama Tsomo LLCListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Heroic Heart
- Awakening Unbound Compassion
- By: Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
- Narrated by: Olivia Darnley
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just as the archetypal hero possesses the heart to face trials and tribulations for the sake of helping others, the bodhisattva has a remarkable resolve to free others from suffering so that all may achieve true happiness and awakening. Through each challenge, the Buddhist hero of compassion develops rich inner qualities that empower them to be of true benefit to others.
-
-
Excellent narration. A wonderful “next book” when you move on from introductory Buddhism.
- By Phil from Downunder on 04-07-23
-
An Introduction to Buddhism
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- Narrated by: Roger Allam
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Speaking to an audience of Western students, the Dalai Lama shows us how to apply basic Buddhist principles to our day-to-day lives. Starting with the very foundation of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths, he provides the framework for understanding the Buddha’s first teachings on suffering, happiness, and peace. He follows with commentary on two of Buddhism’s most profound texts: The Eight Verses on Training the Mind and Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, often referring to the former as one of his main sources of inspiration for the practice of compassion.
-
-
A Struggle
- By Cornelius on 08-05-21
-
How to See Yourself as You Really Are
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Jeffrey Hopkins PhD
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Hopkins PhD
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to See Yourself as You Really Are, the world's foremost Buddist leader teaches listeners how to recognize and dispel misguided notions of self and embrace the world from a more realistic and loving perspective
-
-
In Defense of the Narrator
- By Rita on 05-23-07
By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and others
-
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
- First Complete Translation
- By: Gyurme Dorje - translator, Graham Coleman, Thupten Jinpa - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche, Graham Coleman, Thupten Jinpa
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the greatest works created by any culture and overwhelmingly the most significant of all Tibetan Buddhist texts in the West, The Tibetan Book of the Dead has had a number of distinguished translations, but none encompassed the work in its entirety. Now, in one of the year's most important publishing events, the entire text has not only been made available in English but in a translation of quite remarkable clarity and beauty.
-
-
Can’t Understand Narrator
- By Rod on 10-17-23
By: Gyurme Dorje - translator, and others
-
Advice on Dying
- And Living a Better Life
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Hopkins PhD
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Everyone dies, but no one is dead," goes the Tibetan saying. It is with these words that Advice on Dying takes flight. Using a 17th-century poem written by a prominent scholar-practitioner, His Holiness the Dalai Lama draws from a wide range of traditions and beliefs to explore the stages we all go through when we die, which are the very same stages we experience in life when we go to sleep, faint, or reach orgasm (Shakespeare's "little death").
-
-
Helps me feel more calm
- By Martina K M on 02-02-04
-
The Way of the Bodhisattva
- Shambhala
- By: Shantideva, Padmakara Translation Group, the Dalai Lama - foreword, and others
- Narrated by: Wulstan Fletcher
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Treasured by Buddhists of all traditions, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment and to generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience. This text has been studied, practiced, and expounded upon in an unbroken tradition for centuries, first in India, and later in Tibet. Presented in the form of a personal meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the Bodhisattvas - those who renounce the peace of individual enlightenment and vow to work for the liberation of all beings.
-
-
To hear again and again
- By Dirk on 07-09-18
By: Shantideva, and others
-
The Heroic Heart
- Awakening Unbound Compassion
- By: Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
- Narrated by: Olivia Darnley
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just as the archetypal hero possesses the heart to face trials and tribulations for the sake of helping others, the bodhisattva has a remarkable resolve to free others from suffering so that all may achieve true happiness and awakening. Through each challenge, the Buddhist hero of compassion develops rich inner qualities that empower them to be of true benefit to others.
-
-
Excellent narration. A wonderful “next book” when you move on from introductory Buddhism.
- By Phil from Downunder on 04-07-23
-
An Introduction to Buddhism
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- Narrated by: Roger Allam
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Speaking to an audience of Western students, the Dalai Lama shows us how to apply basic Buddhist principles to our day-to-day lives. Starting with the very foundation of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths, he provides the framework for understanding the Buddha’s first teachings on suffering, happiness, and peace. He follows with commentary on two of Buddhism’s most profound texts: The Eight Verses on Training the Mind and Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, often referring to the former as one of his main sources of inspiration for the practice of compassion.
-
-
A Struggle
- By Cornelius on 08-05-21
-
How to See Yourself as You Really Are
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Jeffrey Hopkins PhD
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Hopkins PhD
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to See Yourself as You Really Are, the world's foremost Buddist leader teaches listeners how to recognize and dispel misguided notions of self and embrace the world from a more realistic and loving perspective
-
-
In Defense of the Narrator
- By Rita on 05-23-07
By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and others
-
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
- First Complete Translation
- By: Gyurme Dorje - translator, Graham Coleman, Thupten Jinpa - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche, Graham Coleman, Thupten Jinpa
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the greatest works created by any culture and overwhelmingly the most significant of all Tibetan Buddhist texts in the West, The Tibetan Book of the Dead has had a number of distinguished translations, but none encompassed the work in its entirety. Now, in one of the year's most important publishing events, the entire text has not only been made available in English but in a translation of quite remarkable clarity and beauty.
-
-
Can’t Understand Narrator
- By Rod on 10-17-23
By: Gyurme Dorje - translator, and others
-
Advice on Dying
- And Living a Better Life
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Hopkins PhD
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Everyone dies, but no one is dead," goes the Tibetan saying. It is with these words that Advice on Dying takes flight. Using a 17th-century poem written by a prominent scholar-practitioner, His Holiness the Dalai Lama draws from a wide range of traditions and beliefs to explore the stages we all go through when we die, which are the very same stages we experience in life when we go to sleep, faint, or reach orgasm (Shakespeare's "little death").
-
-
Helps me feel more calm
- By Martina K M on 02-02-04
-
The Way of the Bodhisattva
- Shambhala
- By: Shantideva, Padmakara Translation Group, the Dalai Lama - foreword, and others
- Narrated by: Wulstan Fletcher
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Treasured by Buddhists of all traditions, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment and to generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience. This text has been studied, practiced, and expounded upon in an unbroken tradition for centuries, first in India, and later in Tibet. Presented in the form of a personal meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the Bodhisattvas - those who renounce the peace of individual enlightenment and vow to work for the liberation of all beings.
-
-
To hear again and again
- By Dirk on 07-09-18
By: Shantideva, and others
-
An Open Heart
- Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Richard Gere - afterword
- Narrated by: Nicholas Vreeland
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to New York City in 1999, he spoke simply and powerfully on the everyday Buddhist practice of compassion. An Open Heart lays out this course of meditation, from the simplest to the most challenging, describing the mental training techniques that will enable anyone of any faith to change their minds and open their hearts. Featuring an afterword by Richard Gere.
-
-
Compassionate but Dry
- By Dionne Gordon on 09-01-05
By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and others
-
The Art of Living
- Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now
- By: Thích Nhất Hạnh
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In troubled times there is an urgency to understand ourselves and our world. We have so many questions, and they tug at us night and day, consciously and unconsciously. In this important volume, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh - one of the most revered spiritual leaders in the world today - reveals an art of living in mindfulness that helps us answer life's deepest questions and experience the happiness and freedom we desire.
-
-
Affirming and Beautiful
- By scdemark on 04-08-18
By: Thích Nhất Hạnh
-
Living Buddha, Living Christ
- By: Thich Nhat Hanh
- Narrated by: Ben Kingsley
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World-renowned thinker and scholar Thich Nhat Hanh, considered by many to be a "Living Buddah," explores the spiritual crossroads where the traditions of Christianity and Buddhism meet. Living Buddha, Living Christ reawakens our understanding of both religions and the connections between them.
-
-
Beautiful
- By Jennifer Weatherbee on 04-18-15
By: Thich Nhat Hanh
-
Old Path White Clouds
- Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha
- By: Thich Nhat Hanh
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Old Path White Clouds presents the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha. Drawn directly from 24 Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources, and retold by Thich Nhat Hanh in his inimitably beautiful style, this book traces the Buddha's life slowly and gently over the course of 80 years, partly through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy, and partly through the eyes of the Buddha himself. Old Path White Clouds is destined to become a classic of religious literature.
-
-
Breathtaking accomplishment!
- By Karamelfun on 05-14-16
By: Thich Nhat Hanh
-
The Dead Sea Scrolls
- By: Gary A. Rendsburg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary A. Rendsburg
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether complete or only fragmentary, the 930 extant Dead Sea Scrolls irrevocably altered how we look at and understand the foundations of faith and religious practice. Now you can get a comprehensive introduction to this unique series of archaeological documents, and to scholars' evolving understanding of their authorship and significance, with these 24 lectures. Learn what the scrolls are, what they contain, and how the insights they offered into religious and ancient history came into focus.
-
-
A comprehensive overview of the Qumran Scrolls
- By Jacobus on 09-25-13
By: Gary A. Rendsburg, and others
-
Becoming Your Own Therapist and Make Your Mind an Ocean
- By: Lama Thubten Yeshe, Nicholas Ribush - editor
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook contains both of the very popular Lama Yeshe booklets, Becoming Your Own Therapist and Make Your Mind an Ocean. These lectures explore the general topics of Buddhism and the mind and are followed by question-and-answer sessions that include a fascinating historic exchange between Lama and a group of psychiatrists illuminating the differences between Western and Buddhist concepts of mental health.
-
-
Highly Recommended
- By Jocelyn K Jacobs on 07-15-15
By: Lama Thubten Yeshe, and others
-
How We Live Is How We Die
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Olivia Darnley
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As much as we might try to resist, endings happen in every moment—the end of a breath, the end of a day, the end of a relationship, and ultimately the end of life. And accompanying each ending is a beginning, though it may be unclear what the beginning holds. In How We Live Is How We Die, Pema Chödrön shares her wisdom for working with this flow of life—learning to live with ease, joy, and compassion through uncertainty, embracing new beginnings, and ultimately preparing for death with curiosity and openness rather than fear.
-
-
Dealing with disappointment!
- By Sabine Blanchard on 10-19-22
By: Pema Chödrön
-
The Places That Scare You
- A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Joanna Rotte
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here Pema provides the tools to deal with the problems and difficulties that life throws our way. This wisdom is always available to us, she teaches, but we usually block it with habitual patterns rooted in fear. Beyond that fear lies a state of openheartedness and tenderness. This audiobook teaches us how to awaken our basic goodness and connect with others, to accept ourselves and others complete with faults and imperfections, and to stay in the present moment by seeing through the strategies of ego that cause us to resist life as it is.
-
-
GREAT book
- By Amazon Customer on 01-25-18
By: Pema Chödrön
-
The Heart of Compassion
- The Thirty-Seven Verses on the Practice of a Bodhisattva
- By: Dilgo Khyentse, Padmakara Translation Group
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would be the practical implications of caring more about others than about yourself? This is the radical theme of this extraordinary set of instructions, a training manual composed in the fourteenth century by the Buddhist hermit Ngulchu Thogme, here explained in detail by one of the great Tibetan Buddhist masters of the twentieth century, Dilgo Khyentse. In the Mahayana tradition, those who have the courage to undertake the profound change of attitude required to develop true compassion are called bodhisattvas.
-
-
A commentary to be read and contemplated upon over and over
- By Rachel on 08-05-20
By: Dilgo Khyentse, and others
-
Happiness
- A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill
- By: Matthieu Ricard, Daniel Goleman
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wealth? Fitness? Career success? How can we possibly place these above true and lasting well-being? Drawing from works of fiction and poetry, Western philosophy, Buddhist beliefs, scientific research, and personal experience, Ricard weaves an inspirational and forward-looking account of how we can begin to rethink our realities in a fast-moving modern world. With its revelatory lessons and exercises, Happiness is an eloquent and stimulating guide to a happier life.
-
-
A great discourse on the topic of happiness
- By Rune Star on 08-23-19
By: Matthieu Ricard, and others
-
No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners
- Clear Answers to Burning Questions About Core Buddhist Teachings
- By: Noah Rasheta
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Presented in a practical Q&A format, No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners is the most clear-cut introductory guide to understanding the essential concepts of Buddhism and how they relate to your daily life. How is an awakening different from enlightenment? Can agnostics and atheists be Buddhist? In No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners, renowned Buddhism teacher and host of the popular Secular Buddhism podcast, Noah Rasheta, delivers an easily accessible introduction to the teachings of Buddhism that answers these common questions and many more.
-
-
Perfect for someone curious in Buddism
- By Wolf_CPT on 09-01-19
By: Noah Rasheta
-
Mindfulness: 100+ Amazing Mindfulness Tips, Exercises & Resources
- Bonus: 200+ Mindfulness Quotes to Live By!
- By: Kevin Gise
- Narrated by: Dave Wright
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many of you may be asking, "What the heck is mindfulness in the first place." I know that was my initial reaction when I first introduced to the concept a few years back. Well, this isn't some new idea. The concept of mindfulness has been around for over a thousand years. Being mindful means living in each moment and experiencing it fully. It teaches you how to become fully aware of yourself and your surroundings, while also improving focus and attentiveness.
-
-
I love the bonus quotes!
- By Olga on 11-24-16
By: Kevin Gise
What listeners say about Why Is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling?
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- EndoConvert
- 03-31-18
I couldn't stop listening. Fascinating!
Lots of laughs, a few tears, and immeasurable wisdom. This is the most relatable book I've found on the subject. Lama Tsomo is a true seeker and it kept me engaged from beginning to end. I went on a road trip and finished it one day.
Very inspiring. I hope she releases the other two novels. These are great foundational level lessons yet there are nuggets for all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeanie
- 07-08-19
Not exactly a “story”, but very worthwhile
I loved what the author had to offer. But I also wanted more of an autobiography, details of her life in Tibet and what she went through learning Tibetan, working with her teacher, family, etc. She mentions other books in her series (not on Audible), so perhaps she covers some of this material there, or else she may think it is just distraction from her spiritual teachings.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful