Tradition

14th Dalai Lama

Overview

The 14th Dalai Lama (born Lhamo Thondup; 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served as the resident spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet before 1959, and subsequently led the Tibetan government in exile represented by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala, India.

A belief central to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as well as the institution of the Dalai Lama is that the reincarnated person is a living Bodhisattva, specifically an emanation of Avalokiteśvara (in Sanskrit) or Chenrezig (in Tibetan), the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The Mongolic word dalai means ocean. The 14th Dalai Lama is also known to Tibetans as Gyalwa Rinpoche ("The Precious Jewel-like Buddha-Master"), Kundun ("The Presence"), and Yizhin Norbu ("The Wish-Fulfilling Gem"). His devotees, as well as much of the Western world, often call him His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is the leader and a monk of the newest Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.

The 14th Dalai Lama was born to a farming family in Taktser (Hongya village), in the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo, at the time a Chinese frontier district. He was selected as the tulku of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937, and formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1939. As with the recognition process for his predecessor, a Golden Urn selection process was waived and approved by the Nationalist government of China. His enthronement ceremony was held in Lhasa on 22 February 1940. Following the Battle of Chamdo, in which PRC forces annexed Central Tibet, the Tibetan government, the Ganden Phodrang, invested the Dalai Lama with temporal duties on 17 November 1950 (at 15 years of age), which he held until his exile in 1959.

During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama escaped to India, where he continues to live. On 29 April 1959, the Dalai Lama established the independent Tibetan government in exile in the north Indian hill station of Mussoorie, which then moved in May 1960 to Dharamshala, where he resides. He retired as political head in 2011 to make way for a democratic government, the Central Tibetan Administration. The Dalai Lama advocates for the welfare of Tibetans and since the early 1970s has called for the Middle Way Approach with China to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet. This policy, adopted democratically by the Central Tibetan Administration and the Tibetan people through long discussions, seeks to find a middle ground, "a practical approach and mutually beneficial to both Tibetans and Chinese, in which Tibetans can preserve their culture and religion and uphold their identity", and China's assertion of sovereignty over Tibet, aiming to address the interests of both parties through dialogue and communication and for Tibet to remain a part of China. He criticised the CIA Tibetan program, saying that its sudden end in 1972 proved it was primarily aimed at serving American interests.

Up until his mid-80s, the Dalai Lama travelled worldwide to give Tibetan Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism teachings, and his Kalachakra teachings and initiations were international events. He also attended conferences on a wide range of subjects, including the relationship between religion and science, met with other world leaders, religious leaders, philosophers, and scientists, online and in-person. Since 2018, he has continued to teach on a reduced schedule, limiting his travel to within India only, and occasionally addressing international audiences via live webcasts. His work includes focus on the environment, economics, women's rights, nonviolence, interfaith dialogue, physics, astronomy, Buddhism and science, cognitive neuroscience, reproductive health and sexuality.

The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Time magazine named the Dalai Lama Gandhi's spiritual heir to nonviolence. The 12th General Assembly of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace in New Delhi unanimously recognised the Dalai Lama's contributions to global peace, his lifelong efforts in uniting Buddhist communities worldwide, and bestowed upon him the title of "Universal Supreme Leader of the Buddhist World"; they also designated 6 July, his birthday, as the Universal Day of Compassion. In addition, an Indian MP delegation led by Sujeet Kumar, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha has advocated for the Dalai Lama to receive the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in India.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.

Seven or eight li to the west of the city there is what is called the King's new monastery, the building of which took eighty years, and extended over three reigns. It may be two hundred and fifty cubits in height, rich in elegant carving and inlaid work, covered above with gold and silver, and finished throughout with a combination of all the precious substances. Behind the tope there has been built a Hall of…
Confucius, Chinese literature
States what 14th Dalai Lama is.
Read the chapter · Open in the reader
The revolutionary members of the old parliament never recognized the legality of their dispersal, and consequently refused to admit the legal status of the new parliament, called by them the bogus parliament, and of the president elected by it, especially as the new legislative body was not elected according to the rules laid down by the constitution. Under the lead of some of the old members, the old parliament…
John Dewey, China, Japan and the U.S.A.
Close in meaning to 14th Dalai Lama; the term itself is not named.
Read the chapter · Open in the reader
These last few days since that act was consummated, nothing is happening so far as the public knows, and according to friends the government can go on indefinitely here with no cabinet and no responsibility to react to the public demands. The bulk of the nation is against this state of affairs, but with the support of foreigners and the lack of organization there is nothing to do but stand it and see the nation sold…
John Dewey, Letters from China and Japan
Close in meaning to 14th Dalai Lama; the term itself is not named.
Read the chapter · Open in the reader

14th Dalai Lama

Overview

Possible passages

Philosophers who discussed 14th Dalai Lama

Related ideas

Place in the tradition