Dalai
Lama
His
Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin GyatsoYeshin Norbu, the Wish-fulfilling
Gem, or simply, Kundun, meaning The Presence.
Education in
Tibet
He began his education at the age of six and completed the
Geshe Lharampa Degree (Doctorate of Buddhist Philosophy) when he was 25. At 24,
he took the preliminary examination at each of the three monastic universities:
Drepung, Sera and Ganden. The final examination was held in the Jokhang, Lhasa,
during the annual Monlam Festival of Prayer, held in the first month of every
year. In the morning he was examined by 30 scholars on logic. In the afternoon,
he debated with 15 scholars on the subject of the Middle Path, and in the evening,
35 scholars tested his knowledge of the canon of monastic discipline and the study
of metaphysics. His Holiness passed the examinations with honours, conducted before
a vast audience of monk scholars.
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Leadership
Responsibilities
In 1950, at 16, His Holiness was called upon to
assume full political power as Head of State and Government when Tibet was threatened
by the might of China. In 1954 he went to Peking to talk with Mao Tse-Tung and
other Chinese leaders, including Chou En-Lai and Deng Xiaoping. In 1956, while
visiting India to attend the 2500th Buddha Jayanti, he had a series of meetings
with Prime Minister Nehru and Premier Chou about deteriorating conditions in Tibet.
In 1959 he was forced into exile in India after the Chinese military occupation
of Tibet. Since 1960 he has resided in Dharamsala, aptly known as "Little
Lhasa", the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.
In the early
years of exile, His Holiness appealed to the United Nations on the question of
Tibet, resulting in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959,
1961 and 1965. In 1963, His Holiness promulgated a draft constitution for Tibet
which assures a democratic form of government. In the last two decades, His Holiness
has set up educational, cultural and religious institutions which have made major
contributions towards the preservation of the Tibetan identity and its rich heritage.
He has given many teachings and initiations, including the rare Kalachakra Initiation,
which he has conducted more than any of his predecessors.
His Holiness
continues to present new initiatives to resolve the Tibetan issues. At the Congressional
Human Rights Caucus in 1987 he proposed a Five-Point Peace Plan as a first step
towards resolving the future status of Tibet. This plan calls for the designation
of Tibet as a zone of peace, an end to the massive transfer of ethnic Chinese
into Tibet, restoration of fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms and
the abandonment of China's use of Tibet for nuclear weapons production and the
dumping of nuclear waste, as well as urging "earnest negotiations" on
the future of Tibet and relations between the Tibetan and Chinese people. In Strasbourg,
France, on June 15, 1988, he elaborated on this Five-Point Peace Plan and proposed
the creation of a self-governing democratic Tibet, "in association with the
People's Republic of China." In his address, the Dalai Lama said that this
represented "the most realistic means by which to re-establish Tibet's separate
identity and restore the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people while accommodating
China's own interests." His Holiness emphasized that "whatever the outcome
of the negotiations with the Chinese may be, the Tibetan people themselves must
be the ultimate deciding authority."
Contact with the West
Unlike his predecessors, His Holiness has met and talked with many Westerners
and has visited the United States, Canada, Western Europe, the United Kingdom,
the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Greece, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia,
Nepal, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Vatican, China and Australia. He has met with religious
leaders from all these countries.
His Holiness met with the late Pope
Paul VI at the Vatican in 1973, and with His Holiness Pope John Paul II in 1980,
1982, 1986 and 1988. At a press conference in Rome, His Holiness the Dalai Lama
outlined his hopes for the meeting with John Paul II: "We live in a period
of great crisis, a period of troubling world developments. It is not possible
to find peace in the soul without security and harmony between the people. For
this reason, I look forward with faith and hope to my meeting with the Holy Father;
to an exchange of ideas and feelings, and to his suggestions, so as to open the
door to a progressive pacification between people.".
In 1981,
His Holiness talked with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, and with
other leaders of the Anglican Church in London. He also met with leaders of the
Roman Catholic and Jewish communities and spoke at an interfaith service in his
honour by the World Congress of Faiths. His talk focused on the commonality of
faiths and the need for unity among different religions: "I always believe
that it is much better to have a variety of religions, a variety of philosophies,
rather than one single religion or philosophy. This is necessary because of the
different mental dispositions of each human being. Each religion has certain unique
ideas or techniques, and learning about them can only enrich one's own faith."
Recognition by the West
Since his first visit to the west
in the early 1970s, His Holiness' reputation as a scholar and man of peace has
grown steadily. In recent years, a number of western universities and institutions
have conferred Peace Awards and honorary Doctorate Degrees upon His Holiness in
recognition of his distinguished writings in Buddhist philosophy and of his distinguished
leadership in the service of freedom and peace.
Universal Responsibility
During his travels abroad, His Holiness has spoken strongly for better
understanding and respect among the different faiths of the world. Towards this
end, His Holiness has made numerous appearances in interfaith services, imparting
the message of universal responsibility, love, compassion and kindness. "The
need for simple human-to-human relationships is becoming increasingly urgent .
. . Today the world is smaller and more interdependent. One nation's problems
can no longer be solved by itself completely. Thus, without a sense of universal
responsibility, our very survival becomes threatened. Basically, universal responsibility
is feeling for other people's suffering just as we feel our own. It is the realization
that even our enemy is entirely motivated by the quest for happiness. We must
recognize that all beings want the same thing that we want. This is the way to
achieve a true understanding, unfettered by artificial consideration."
