New York Times book reviewer Holly Morris said of Pico Iyer's The Open Road that "when you have a formidable writer who says I'm curious, catch me if you can, and a subject as rich as the Dalai Lama, it's best to just hang on for the ride...Iyer takes a long, hard look at the many meanings of this deceptively simple man."

Mr. Iyer is an acclaimed, well-loved, and best-selling author, and we are very grateful that he is a much-loved contributor to the Shambhala Sun. Pico provided this signed paperback copy of The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama with the inscription:

For the unmet friend who shares my love and admiration for the Shambhala Sun and, of course, for His Holiness. Wishing you all happiness, kindness, and light as you make your way down your own open road. Pico Iyer, 7/14

Mr. Iyer has been engaged in conversation with the Dalai Lama (a friend of his father's) for the last three decades. In Open Road he captures the paradoxes of the Dalai Lama's position: though he has brought the ideas of Tibet to world attention, Tibet itself is being remade as a Chinese province; though he was born in one of the remotest, least developed places on earth, he has become a champion of globalism and technology. He is a religious leader who warns against being needlessly distracted by religion; a Tibetan head of state who suggests that exile from Tibet can be an opportunity; an incarnation of a Tibetan god who stresses his everyday humanity. The Open Road illuminates the hidden life, the transforming ideas, and the daily challenges of a global icon.