His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Jampel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, was born in Takster, Amdo Province, in Tibet on July 6, 1935. His parents were humble farmers but at the age of two he was recognized by a party of special monks searching for the reincarnation of the late 13th Dalai Lama. Predictions of the location of the child’s birth were exact and this is how the search party was able to locate him. On deeper examination it was discovered that his body was marked in the traditional way of his previous incarnations.
The title Dalai Lama was originally offered to Sonam Gyatso, the 3rd Dalai Lama, by the then Mongolian Prince, Altan Quan. The Mongol word Dalai, Gyatso in Tibetan, means “Ocean of Wisdom”.
In 1939, at the age of four, he was brought to Lhasa, the capitol city of Tibet, where he was enthroned in 1940. There he began his education living at the Potala Palace in winter and at Norbulingka Palace in summer. It wasn’t long before his extensive studies included Logic; Prajnaparamita—discriminative awareness, the bodhisattva’s path, emptiness, non-duality and the skilful means of great compassion; Madhyamaka—The Middle Way, between the extremes of eternalism and nihilism; Abhidharma—phenomenology, metaphysics, or direct knowledge; and Vinaya, monastic discipline and ethical codes which regulate the life of an ordained monk or nun.
In addition, he studied history, poetry, astrology and later, advanced Tantra. As a teenager he began learning English and at 16 he assumed full temporal responsibility of the leader of Tibet due to the advancing Chinese Communist occupation. Communism had taken hold of China and now it was forcing its way into Tibet. The residents of the Snow Land who resisted the takeover of their towns, villages, and monasteries were being slaughtered by the heavily armed soldiers.
His Holiness, in his attempts to save his country, communicated with presidents and prime ministers around the globe. Few acknowledged the plight of the Tibetan people. However, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru offered him asylum.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist leader, Mao Tse Tung, invited His Holiness to come to China. The Dalai Lama was just 19 then, but he hoped that he could reverse Mao’s plan. Mao listened to him, but said that no reconciliation was possible between the Tibetan people and the Chinese. He said that unless Tibetans agreed to be ruled by China they would have to face the consequences of the invading military forces. He told the “boy” he was determined to take over Tibet entirely and to subjugate the Tibetans who would not agree to be “Chinese”.
With little help except for natives armed with farm tools and few clans of warriors led by regional kings, the hordes of well-armed soldiers easily massacred millions of the small population of approximately six million. Thousands of families who survived were displaced, homes were burned and looted, farm animals were taken, incalculable sacred items were destroyed, and monasteries and holy places were turned into rubble.
On March 17, 1959, His Holiness left Lhasa sick with fever, and suffering from a very heavy heart. It was just seven days after the civil uprising there against the invaders. People continued to be murdered and imprisoned. The Dalai Lama hoped that he could help his people from across the border in India—the Birthplace of Buddha, the country that offered him refuge.
After an arduous journey on foot and on horseback, The Dalai Lama gratefully accepted sanctuary in India, where he remains to this day, living in exile from his Beloved Motherland, the Roof of the World.
More than 100,000 of his fellow Tibetans were able to follow him into exile, most of them resettling in India. Many Tibetans still risk their lives and escape into Buddha’s homeland seeking exile there. From India many migrate to other countries. Today the once unknown Tibetans are known on every continent. And the Dalai Lama, who resides in Dharamsala in the north of India, travels the globe spreading Buddha’s teachings and giving lectures on peace, universal responsibility, love, compassion, and the need to stop engaging in wars. He has won prestigious prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He has also written many books, including: My Land and My People; Freedom in Exile; Opening the Eye of New Awareness; A Human Approach to World Peace; Kindness, Clarity and Insight, and The Kalachakra Tantra.
The present day Chinese government declares His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama a “separatist” a “demon” and works at destroying his reputation, seemingly without let up. Tibetans and some Chinese who support him are imprisoned for their beliefs.
Amazingly, however, groups of the most prominent citizens of China are now becoming his supporters. Artists, writers, and musicians, for instance, risk incarceration for work that depicts “The Ocean of Wisdom Lama” as a hero and savior of the Tibetan people.
As an independent journalist covering his empowerments, his teachings on Buddhist texts, and his discourses throughout India, I have been graced to have been in his presence many times and to have had press interviews with him. Consequently I have written extensively on how to incorporate his teachings on Buddhist principles into our day to day lives. Most of the essays presented here have been published in newspapers in India and abroad. I have now compiled all of these and other essays into a manuscript which I am presenting on my blog. I am interested in getting the information out to those who may choose to use it.
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