About the Author

Barry Kerzin, M.D. is an American physician and Buddhist monk. He has lived in Dharamsala, India since 1988 and serves as a personal physician to the 14th Dalai Lama, along with treating people in the local community, free of charge. Following his ordination as a monk by the Dalai Lama in the mid-2000s, he has travelled widely, teaching and offering workshops in which he blends Buddhist teaching and his medical training, emphasizing the spiritual and health benefits of meditation and compassion. He has served as a research subject in neuroscience research into the effects of meditation on the brain. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. Born in in 1935, he was recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama at the age of 4. His enthronement ceremony was held in Lhasa, Tibet in 1940 and he assumed full spiritual and political duties in 1950 at the age of 15. He fled to India as a result of China's incursion into Tibet in 1959 where he lives today in the city of Dharmsala. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and travels the world to promote nonviolence, interfaith dialogue, meditation, women's rights and ecological awareness. He is author of numerous books including The Art of Happinesss and Beyond Religion.