"Rinpoche is a master at explaining the ancient Buddhist methods for transforming suffering into happiness, which have been practised and taught by Tibetans for a thousand years. It's a challenging way to think - how can it be that the things that cause us pain are blessings? In Dear Lama Zopa, Rinpoche applies that challenge to everyday, real-life problems. Every year he receives hundreds of letters from people around the world asking for advice - on abortion, depression, death, eating disorders, euthanasia, academic failure, fear, grief, healing, pettiness, death, money, old age, pain, prison, revenge, sexual abuse, suicide, terrorism, vegetarianism, war. . .These letters, matched with his inimitable responses, show again and again that we CAN be happy in the face of even terrible suffering; that we can radically change the way we perceive our problems; that by emphasizing the inner causes we can even change the outer circumstances. The book captures Lama Zopa at his most animated and surprising; the answers here are not what you'd expect. But when we open our minds to the possibility that there's something to this, we can begin to feel that Lama Zopa's unorthodox wisdom is quite real."

Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche is the Spiritual Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a worldwide network of Buddhist centers, monasteries, and affiliated projects, including Wisdom Publications. Rinpoche was born in 1946 in the village of Thami in the Solo Khumbu region of Nepal near Mount Everest. His books include Transforming Problems into Happiness, How to Be Happy, and Ultimate Healing. He lives in Aptos, California.