14th Dalai Lama

14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
Tenzin Gyatso speaking
The Dalai Lama in 2012
14th Dalai Lama
Reign22 February 1940 – present
Predecessor13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso
Regent
Head of the Tibetan Administration for Tibetans-in-exile
In office14 June 1991 – 2011
Head of State of Tibet[1][dubious – discuss]
In office10 March 1963 – 13 June 1991
Director of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region
In office1956–1959
PredecessorOffice established
Successor10th Panchen Lama, Choekyi Gyaltsen (acting)
Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
In office27 September 1954 – 3 January 1965[a]
BornLhamo Thondup
(1935-07-06) 6 July 1935 (age 89)
Taktser, Amdo
FatherChoekyong Tsering
MotherDiki Tsering
ReligionTibetan Buddhism, Gelug school
Signature14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso's signature
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The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso,[b] full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, also known as Tenzin Gyatso;[c] né Lhamo Thondup;[d] is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. Before 1959, he served as both the resident spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, and subsequently established and led the Tibetan government in exile represented by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, India.[2][3] The adherents of Tibetan Buddhism consider the Dalai Lama a living Bodhisattva, specifically an emanation of Avalokiteśvara (in Sanskrit) or Chenrezig (in Tibetan), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, a belief central to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and the institution of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, whose name means Ocean of Wisdom, is 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, the style employed on his website. He is also the leader and a monk of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism, formally headed by the Ganden Tripa.[4]

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.[5][6][7][8] He was selected as the tulku of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937, and formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1939.[9] As with the recognition process for his predecessor, a Golden Urn selection process was waived and approved by the Central Government of the Republic of China.[10][11][12][13] His enthronement ceremony was held in Lhasa on 22 February 1940.[9] At the time of his selection, a form of Tibetan government called Ganden Phodrang administered the traditional Tibetan regions of Ü-Tsang, Kham and Amdo.[14] As Chinese forces re-entered and annexed Tibet, Ganden Phodrang invested the Dalai Lama with temporal duties on 17 November 1950 (at 15 years of age) until his exile in 1959.[15][16]

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.[17][18][19][20] 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.[21] 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.[22][23][24]

The Dalai Lama travels worldwide to give Tibetan Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism teachings, and his Kalachakra teachings and initiations are international events. He also attends conferences on a wide range of subjects, including the relationship between religion and science, meets with other world leaders, religious leaders, philosophers, and scientists, online and in-person. His work includes focus on the environment, economics, women's rights, nonviolence, interfaith dialogue, physics, astronomy, Buddhism and science, cognitive neuroscience,[25][26] 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.[27][28] The 12th General Assembly of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace in New Delhi unanimously recognized 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.[29][30]

  1. ^ Article 29, Section 2 of the Constitution of Tibet (1963)
  2. ^ "Chronology of Events". dalailama.com. Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  3. ^ "His Holiness the Dalai Lama Speaks to Tibetan Students in Delhi". Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 26 January 2015. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  4. ^ Van Schaik, Sam (2011). Tibet: A History. Yale University Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-300-15404-7.
  5. ^ Gould, Basil (1957). The Jewel in the Lotus. Chatto & Windus. p. 211.
  6. ^ "Brief Biography". DalaiLama.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  7. ^ "A Brief Biography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama". fmpt.org. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  8. ^ Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. "89th Birthday Message". dalailama.com/. Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Chronology of Events". The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. Office of the Dalai Lama. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  10. ^ Goldstein 1991, p. 328–.
  11. ^ "Report to Wu Zhongxin from the Regent Reting Rinpoche Regarding the Process of Searching and Recognizing the Thirteenth Dalai lama's Reincarnated Soul Boy as well as the Request for an Exemption to Drawing Lots". The Reincarnation of Living Buddhas. Museum of Tibetan Culture of China Tibetology Research Center. 1940. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  12. ^ Goldstein, Melvyn C. (18 June 1991). A History of Modern Tibet, 1913–1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State. University of California Press. pp. 328ff. ISBN 978-0-520-91176-5. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Executive Yuan's Report to the National Government Regarding the Request to Approve Lhamo Thondup to Succeed the Fourteenth Dalai lama and to Appropriate Expenditure for His Enthronement". The Reincarnation of Living Buddhas. Museum of Tibetan Culture of China Tibetology Research Center. 1940. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  14. ^ van Pragg, Walt; C. Van, Michael (1 March 1988). "The Legal Status of Tibet". Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine (12–1). Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  15. ^ Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S., Jr. (2013). The Princeton dictionary of Buddhism. Archived 12 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400848058. Entries on "Dalai Lama" and "Dga' ldan pho brang".
  16. ^ "Definition of Dalai Lama in English". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 7 July 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2015. The spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism and, until the establishment of Chinese communist rule, the spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet
  17. ^ the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. "Message of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Fourteenth Assembly of the Tibetan People's Deputies". dalailama.com. Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Retrieved 6 July 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "Life in exile". britannica.com. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  19. ^ Yardley, Jim; Wong, Edward (10 March 2011). "Dalai Lama Gives Up Political Role". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  20. ^ "About Central Tibetan Administration". tibet.net. Central Tibetan Administration. 18 June 2011. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  21. ^ "His Holiness's Middle Way Approach For Resolving the Issue of Tibet". dalailama.com. Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  22. ^ Wong, Edward (22 November 2008). "Tibetans Reaffirm a Conciliatory Approach to China". New York Times. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  23. ^ "'Middle Way' approach for Tibet not just about politics: Dalai Lama". Radio Free Asia. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  24. ^ "Will Tibetans' 'middle way' approach to China ties keep peace in the region?". South China Morning Post. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  25. ^ Koch, Christof (1 July 2013). "Neuroscientists and the Dalai Lama Swap Insights on Meditation". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  26. ^ Foley, Ryan J. (14 May 2010). "Scientist, Dalai Lama Share Research Effort". NBC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 11 October 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  27. ^ "The Children of Gandhi" (excerpt). Time. 31 December 1999. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013.
  28. ^ "Congressional Gold Medal Recipients". history.house.gov. United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  29. ^ Dolma, Yangchen (23 January 2024). "His Holiness the Dalai Lama's birthday to be celebrated as the "Universal Day of Compassion"". Tibet Post International -. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  30. ^ "12th Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace Declares His Holiness the Dalai Lama "Universal Supreme Leader of the Buddhist World"". Central Tibetan Administration. 23 January 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.


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