When Victor Chan first visited the Dalai Lama in the 1970s, he assumed that, since he is a member of the race responsible for destroying Tibet, the Dalai Lama would treat him with disdain. Instead, they developed a close relationship, out of which Victor was able to pose some of the most personal questions ever asked of or answered by the Dalai Lama.

From the conversations in The Wisdom of Forgiveness, we discover under which circumstances the Dalai Lama believes he could be capable of violence; how the experience of profound spiritual insight feels in the body and mind; how he learned to love those who anyone else would consider an enemy; what his personal fears are; what the heart of a holy man looks like in medical tests; and how a highly developed spiritual person experiences pain.