On July 6th the 14th Dalai Lama,
Tenzin Gyatso, turns 76. The Dalai Lama
currently lives in exile in India, having been forced to flee Tibet during the 1959
Tibetan Uprising. The Dalai Lama is recognized as the spiritual leader of the
Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and also as a Tibetan political leader. He
is believed to be the reincarnation of his predecessors, all of whom are
considered the manifestation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso was deemed the reincarnation of the
previous Dalai Lama at the age of 2; not long after the previous Dalai Lama had
passed. Roadblocks were set up by the
ruling Chinese government to prevent the Dalai Lama from migrating from his village
in the Qinghai province to Tibet, but this did not deter the Dalai Lama from receiving
his education and eventually being ratified as the ruler of Tibet at the age of
15.
The Dalai Lama
permanently fled Tibet in 1959 at the start of the Tibetan Uprising, which
started in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and soon spread to other areas of the
country. The Tibetan people revolted against the occupying Communist Party of
China, which had been in control of Tibet since 1951. The rebellion was
eventually squashed in 1962 and China considers Tibet to be another annexation to
its state.
Since his exile, the Dalai Lama has advocated for the
Tibetan people to the rest of the world.
He has traveled the world over talking to political and religious
leaders. In 1989, the Dalai Lama received a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts
to liberate Tibet through peaceful means.
On May 29, 2011 the Dalai Lama ratified an amendment delegating his
administrative and political duties to democratically elected officials of the
Central Tibetan Administration. The Dalai Lama wishes to remain a religious
leader, but not retain his political responsibilities.
Whether you find his policies or philosophies controversial
or not, the Dalai Lama stands in the world’s eye as a leader in peace and
compassion and as the voice of the Tibetan people. To find out more about the
Dalai Lama and/ or other schools of Buddhism, check out our For Beginners
books: Eastern Philosophy For Beginners and Zen For Beginners!