This Is Why the Dalai Lama Will Amaze You
In 1989, the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited the honoree’s nonviolent struggle against the invasion and ongoing occupation of his homeland, and his forceful, eloquent advocacy for peace for all the world’s peoples. Even in the face of brutal repression and the implacable stance of the Chinese government, the Dalai Lama has stood firm in his refusal to wield hatred and violence against his opponents. Instead, he has taken the way of peace and offered a willingness to compromise.
The committee anchored its selection in the essence of the Dalai Lama’s Buddhist worldview, which focuses on showing reverence to all living beings, and on accepting responsibility for the wellbeing of humanity and the natural world. Here’s what you need to know about him:
Early Life
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (birth name Lhamo Thondup, also known as Bstan-’dzin-rgya-mtsho and by the religious name Tenzin Gyatso) was born to a Tibetan farming family in 1935, in a poor village in the Amdo region. The land was once part of Tibet, but Tibet is currently claimed and administered as part of China.
When he was two years old, Tibetan religious leaders selected Lhamo Thondup as the most recent incarnation of the holy being known as the Dalai Lama, following a traditional search throughout the country. The choice made him the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan state and community.
In Tibetan culture, each Dalai Lama is seen as the reincarnation of his predecessor, all the way back to the first ruler to bear the title. The generational chain of Dalai Lamas represents an earthly manifestation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. This holy being elected to be reincarnated over and over again as a means of saving and strengthening the Tibetan people.
In 1950, the teenage Dalai Lama was officially invested with all the powers of a head of state. However, in 1959, His Holiness and his inner circle were forced to flee due to a Chinese invasion. The conflict quashed a Tibetan uprising for freedom and incorporated Tibet into the People’s Republic of China. The Dalai Lama has lived, as the head of a large group of Tibetan exiles, in India’s Himalaya Mountains ever since.
Exile and Advocacy Work
The Chinese armed occupation of Tibet has included imprisonment of monks and the stationing of weapons and tanks on holy ground. This amounts to what many human rights activists call cultural “genocide.”
Most of the remaining 6 million Tibetans living under Chinese rule continue to venerate the absent Dalai Lama, angering the Chinese government enough to consider him so dangerous that it forbids any display of his image. He continues to do everything in his power to ensure a restoration of linguistic and cultural independence for Tibet. He advocates for meaningful autonomy, rather than full independence, as a practical compromise.
With the awarding of the Nobel Prize, the Dalai Lama was given a worldwide platform on which to articulate his vision of how Tibetans could plan for the restoration of human rights and peaceful coexistence in their native land. He offered a strategy that involved placing Tibet inside a demilitarized zone as a bulwark against the mutual aggressions of neighboring states.
Additionally, he proposed a program that would lead to his country’s ongoing economic viability, all with a long-range view toward engaging China in serious negotiation about the future. Chinese leaders, however, have consistently rejected His Holiness’ proposals.
In his decades of exile, the Dalai Lama has also established a deep network of educational, religious, community, and cultural institutions to aid the development of new generations of Tibetans living in exile. In 1963, the Dalai Lama introduced the draft of a constitution for his community, and oversaw its first-ever direct voting to choose a prime minister in 2001.
In 2011, he stepped down from his duties as head of the Tibetan government in exile. He handed off his role to a younger successor as a means of both ensuring a continuing commitment to democracy through legitimate succession, and thwarting the efforts of the Chinese government to destabilize the Tibetan community in exile.
Teachings and Awards
His Holiness’ universally-applicable teachings advocate for compassion, respect, proper stewardship of the environment, and interfaith friendship for the benefit of people everywhere. He has authored dozens of books on Buddhist spirituality and philosophy, as well as a popular autobiography entitled Freedom in Exile.
The Dalai Lama has met with numerous Western leaders. He has also traveled to North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. He has spoken with Popes Paul VI and John Paul II, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and leaders representing Judaism and other faith communities.
His Holiness’ central focus is always on the value of human relationships, and on the things all people of faith have in common. He has said that he approves of the fact that the world is home to many religions, not one single “truth.” For the Dalai Lama, this simply reflects the individual spiritual composition of each human being and culture. He believes learning from those who are different is a deeply meaningful way to renew one’s connections to one’s own faith.
In 1987, the Dalai Lama received an Albert Schweitzer Humanities Award. He used the honorarium to support projects assisting Tibetan refugee youth. In addition to numerous other recognitions, he is the recipient of a United States Congressional Gold Medal, presented in 2007 by President George W. Bush.
He has not hesitated to put himself into the moral dimensions of contemporary controversies. For example, he offered public support in 2020 for the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
In recent days, the Dalai Lama has offered words of comfort and encouragement in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, reassuring his audiences about the strengthening power of meditation and self-reflection amidst the chaos and uncertainty of the world.