Dalai Lama XIV
Date of Birth: 06.07.1935
Dalai Lama XIV (Ngawang Lobsang Tenzin Gyatso) is the spiritual leader of the followers of Tibetan Buddhism. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1989). Until April 27, 2011, he also headed the Tibetan government in exile (his successor was Lobsang Sangay).
Dalai Lama XIV, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Tibetan Buddhists believe that the Dalai Lamas are incarnations of Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig), the Bodhisattva of compassion, on Earth. They are born to serve humanity. The recognized Dalai Lama Lhamo Dhondrub was given a new name - Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso.
Place of Birth. Education. Dalai Lama XIV was born on July 6, 1935, into a poor farming family in a small village Takster in northeastern Tibet in the province of Amdo. These areas now belong to the Chinese province of Qinghai. His father Choekyong Tsering and his mother Sonam Tsomo (her name later changed to Diki Tsering) grew oats, wheat, and potatoes. At birth, he was given the name Lhamo Thondup 'Goddess who fulfills wishes'. In Tibet, the gender of the infant is not considered when naming, so the future Dalai Lama was given a female name. Lhamo was the ninth of sixteen children in the family (seven survived). His eldest sister was Tsering Drolma. The elder brother Thubten Jigme Norbu was recognized as the reincarnation of the high-ranking lama Takster Rinpoche and later became the abbot of one of the most famous monasteries in Tibet - Kum bum. Another brother, Lobsang Samten, also became a monk.
All relevant materials
- Dalai Lama: Restricted leaders of the Chinese communists do not understand the diversity of culturesNews
In 1909, during a pilgrimage to sacred places, Dalai Lama XIII visited the village of Takster. He praised the beauty of this place and said he wanted to return there. In 1937, after the death of Dalai Lama XIII, a special group of lamas came to the village of Takster seeking his new appearance. After appropriate tests (in particular, when various relics and toys of the previous Dalai Lama were shown to him, he said: 'That's mine, that's mine!'), the two-year-old Lhamo Thondrub was recognized as the reincarnation of his predecessor. Dalai Lama XIV himself believes that not all incarnations of the Dalai Lamas were authentic. He is convinced that he is the incarnation of Dalai Lama V (whom they call 'Great Fifth' in Tibet for his merits), as he had many vivid dreams in his childhood linked to this previous life.
From the age of six to twenty-five, the Dalai Lama was educated to attain the highest academic degree of Geshe Lharampa ('Doctor of Buddhist Philosophy'). At the age of twenty-four, he passed preliminary exams at the three main monasteries of Tibet: Drepung, Sera, and Ganden. The final exams took place at the main temple in Lhasa during the annual prayer festival (Monlam) in the winter of 1959. On the day of the exam, the Dalai Lama presented a philosophical examination to thirty scholars in the morning. In the afternoon, he engaged in a philosophical debate with fifteen scholars. In the evening, thirty-five scholars asked him questions about monastic discipline and metaphysics. The Dalai Lama passed all the exams in the presence of over 20,000 monastic scholars and received the title of Geshe Lharampa.
Ascension to the Throne. The eastern part of Tibet, where the village of Takster was located, was under Chinese control. After long negotiations between the Tibetan government and the local administration, four-year-old Lhamo left his parental home in July 1939 with a large caravan toward the Tibetan capital. After three months, in October 1939, the convoy arrived in Lhasa.
The Dalai Lama was enthroned on February 22, 1940, in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan state. After the invasion of the Chinese communists in Tibet in 1949 and the 1950s, and the approval of the agreement for the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, he tried for nine years to establish peaceful coexistence with the Chinese central authorities. After the suppression of the anti-Chinese uprising, he was forced to leave Lhasa on the night of March 17, 1959, to seek refuge in India. Since then, he has lived in Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh), where the Tibetan government in exile is located.
Chairman of the Tibetan Government in Exile. In March 2011, the Dalai Lama announced that he would devolve his political powers in favor of a democratically elected government, emphasizing that he would remain the spiritual leader of the Tibetans.
Shortly thereafter, general elections were held, in which 44-year-old lawyer Lobsang Sangay was elected as the Prime Minister of Tibet. To officially transfer power, the Dalai Lama signed amendments to the Tibetan constitution. The amended constitution highlights the legitimacy of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), particularly its democratically elected institutions, as the legitimate representatives of the Tibetan people. Prior to that, these responsibilities lay with both the CTA and the Dalai Lama. The new constitution envisions the Dalai Lama himself as 'the protector and symbol of Tibet and the Tibetan people'.
Social Position. The Dalai Lama reminds us that Buddhism considers abortions as murder, but points out that exceptions can be made if the child will have serious mental disabilities or its birth would cause serious problems for the parents, therefore the decision about abortions should be made or condemned depending on the specific situation.
In Tibet, meat is the most widespread food, thus it is historically conditioned that Tibetan monks, including the Dalai Lama, eat meat. The Dalai Lama was a vegetarian for a time, but after a stomach ulcer, doctors advised him to resume eating meat. Therefore, it was quite surprising when the Dalai Lama flew to the USA and was offered a vegetarian menu during his visit to the White House, to which he replied: 'I am a Buddhist monk, not a vegetarian'.
In 2001, the Dalai Lama told a schoolgirl in Seattle that it was justified to shoot someone armed who is trying to kill you, but added that the shot should not be fatal.
In 2012, the Dalai Lama wrote in his Facebook blog: 'I am increasingly convinced that it is time to seek spirituality and ethics outside of religion'.
Awards. Nobel Peace Prize. In September 1987, the Dalai Lama introduced a political program called the Zone of Ahimsa or Zone of Peace, aimed at expanding the 'fully demilitarized zone of non-violence that should first include Tibet, until it encompasses the entire globe'. The program stipulates that Tibet should be freed from all kinds of weapons and become a place of harmonious coexistence of mankind and nature.
For the elaboration of the plan, also known as the 'middle way', Dalai Lama XIV was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1989. The Nobel Committee praised his consistent opposition to the use of violence in the struggle for the liberation of Tibet from Chinese occupation and his constructive and far-sighted proposals for resolving international conflicts, issues of human rights, and global environmental problems.
In 2007, he was honored with the highest award in the United States, the Congressional Gold Medal.
Dalai Lama XIV in Film. The Austrian traveler, mountaineer, and writer Heinrich Harrer described his seven-year encounter with Dalai Lama XIV in the book 'Seven Years in Tibet', which has been translated into 53 languages. In 1997, a film of the same name starring Brad Pitt was made based on this book.
06.07.2022.