Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for a New Millennium

Recommended by Matt Liebmann, Peabody Professor of American Archaeology and Ethnology

I picked it up in my first trip to Southeast Asia in 2000. It was my first exposure to Buddhist thought and philosophy. I go back to it because it’s the kind of book where I read a sentence or two, or maybe a paragraph at most, and I must mark the page, put it down and think about what I’ve read. I’ll read it in short doses because I always find new things to think about. The Dalai Lama says that he’s not trying to convert people or demonstrate that Buddhism is the right way; he’s just laying out what he sees as logical ways to live our lives — observations that are often very profound. It helps me think about how the world works and how it should work, and how I could help to make it work better.