The book is a compilation of unpublished texts of the Dalai Lama, which is accompanied by comments from the translator and collaborator of the Dalai Lama, Sofia Stril-Rever. Initially, the book was published in French, and in 2010 it became available translated and published in English and Russian.[2] As of 2024, it has been translated into some twenty languages.[3]
The title "My spiritual autobiography" may be a little misleading, for in some ways the book does not resemble an autobiography.[4] The book identifies three characteristics – his compassionate motivation, lack of self-importance and flexibility of mind – while showing the internal coherence of the Dalai Lama's views in their temporal development, and the continuity of these points of view.[4]
The book is composed of three parts.[2] The first considers universal questions; in the second, the Dalai Lama – as a Buddhist monk – expressed his hopes for the spiritual transformation of the world through the transformation of each person's mind, and the third provides a history of the Dalai Lama, spiritual master of the Tibetan people, and 14th Dalai Lama's life in exile.
The book ends with a poem, "Never Give Up", written by the American writer Ron Whitehead in 1994, inspired by the Dalai Lama.[2][5]
.jpeg)