From a very young age Time magazine reporter Pico Iyer has had a close personal relationship with one of the worlds great spiritual and political leaders. In 1960 his father a professor of philosophy and a student of world religions was among first westerns to seek an audience with the Dalai Lama.  Traveling from his home in England Iyer’s father journeyed  back to his native India to meet the Dalai Lama then around the age of 24.  In their conversations the Tibetan Buddhist ruler in exile and Iyer’s father discussed ancient mystic wisdom that had been unavailable to the outside world for centuries.

    At the end of their conversation Iyer’s father told the Dalai Lama about his three old son back home in England.

    “And so the Dalai Lama with his great gift for the perfect gesture found a photo of himself when he was 5 years old and sent it to me.,” Iyer said. “So from the time I was three I had this photo of this little boy, 5 years old already ruling 6 million people. “   

    At the age of 17 Iyer himself visited the Dalai Lama shortly after his holiness received the Nobel Peace Prize. Since then the two have become good friends. And through the course of his career as a journalist Iyer has cultivated a deep insight to the philosophy that has guided the Dalai Lama toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict between China and Tibet. In his new book The Open Road: The Global Journey of the 14th Dalai Lama Iyer shares his view of the spiritual and political path we all take to find peace in our lives and the world in which we live.