Whether you are working through a problem with a friend or trying to stay calm about world events, there is a new book to help you understand and work with the world around you.

"When I meet new people in new places, in my mind there is no barrier, no curtain," said the Dalai Lama in "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight" (Snow Lion, $19.95). "In my mind, as human beings you are my brothers and sisters; there is no difference in substance."

For 25 years, the Dalai Lama has shared his philosophy with people in North America. As a religious leader, he has worked toward peace and tolerance in his own and other countries.

As a pop culture icon, he has influenced thousands to reassess the minor and major frustrations in life, to take stock of themselves and to find a centered, peaceful inner self.

As his good friend and the book's translator, Jeffrey Hopkins, said, "His Holiness is calling on all humanity to appreciate the social value of kindness and compassion; kindness and compassion are the fabric that make society possible."

"No matter whom I meet and where I go, I always give advice to be altruistic, to have a good heart," said the Dalai Lama. "This is the essence of religion; this is the essence of the Buddhist teaching."

This celebratory new edition of the very first book of the Dalai Lama's teachings in the English-speaking world is a testament to the kindness, clarity and insight of the material within it.

Twenty-five years after its original publication it remains one of the most readable and wide ranging of his books.

The book's 20 chapters are deftly arranged in a developmental sequence so that readers easily understand the background needed to appreciate more complex topics later in the text.

Taken as a whole, the teachings in this book provide an accessible map of Tibetan spiritual culture. It has been described as both an excellent introduction to Tibetan Buddhism and a clear picture of the Dalai Lama.