&gt;<i>The book isn&#x27;t actually written by Dalai Lama himself though. The book&#x27;s narrative consists of the author Dr. Howard Cutler retelling interviews with his holiness, coupled with Cutler&#x27;s own thoughts surrounding these interviews. I would describe this book as bland and vague. A bonanza in platitudes.</i><p>Of course. At least traditional religions, aside from the initial pile of lore and folklore, have had tons of great thinkers contribute to their overall philosophy and ethics, e.g. from St. Augustine, Kierkegaard and Pascal all the way to people like Chesterton for Christianity.<p>Buddhism of course has had its share of great thinkers too.<p>This particular case though is the equivalent of a royal lineage, only with more metaphysics involved (&quot;reincarnation&quot; etc.). Hardly the place to get great insight about life. But a good life hack would be: &quot;Get subsidized by a superpower as a pawn related to their foreign policy interests against China&quot;.