Dalai Lama

Born to a farming family in a small hamlet located in Takster, Amdo, north-eastern Tibet, Lhamo Donrub, as he was then christened, was fifth of the sixteen children in the family. He was one of the seven to survive childhood.

If the legends are to be believed, it is said that there were numerous omens and spiritual signs that intercepted Lhamo as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.

The head of the preserved body of the 13th Dalai Lama which was facing southeast had mysteriously turned northeast, indicating the direction in which his successor would be found. Later on, the Regent, Reting Rinpoche, had a vision which indicated Amdo as the region where the successor would be found.

Interestingly, when young Lhamo was presented with various relics, some of which belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama and some not, he immediately recognized those that were owned by his predecessor. Thus, at the tender age of two, young Lhamo was proclaimed as the 14th Dalai Lama was renamed Tenzin Gyatso.

Gyatso was not enthroned until the age of fifteen. As a result, the Regent acted as the head of the Tibetan parliament or Kashag until that time.

Meanwhile, relations between People’s Republic of China and Tibet had worsened in Tenzin Gyatso’s growing years. Ma Bufang prevented the Tibetans from gaining independence. He even threatened Tibet with aerial bombardment lest it seeked helped from the Japanese.

Ma Bufang attacked various Tibetan Buddhist monasteries such as the Tsang monastery and Labrang monastery.

In 1950, the army of the People's Republic of China had defeated the Tibetan counterparts and marched up to the edge of the Dalai Lama's territory, sending a delegation thereafter. Almost a month later, the 14th Dalai Lama ascended to His throne, assuming full political power and was formally adjudged as the temporal ruler of Tibet.

His first major political move was when he sent a delegation from Tibet to Beijing in 1950, which endorsed the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet.

Four years later, along with the 10th Panchen Lama, he crossed borders to meet the Chinese leader Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Chou Enlai for initiating peace talks. He attended the first session of the National People's Congress as a delegate. Later on, he was selected as a deputy chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a post he officially held until 1964

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has held strong viewpoints about various social causes. To start off with, he is a strong advocator of democracy and non-violence and considers himself as the messenger of India, who is mainly assisting in spreading the message of non-violence and religious harmony. He envisions a world where tolerance and dialogue precedes violence and discord.

The Dalai Lama’s take on abortion is not a very rigid one. Though he condemns the act and considers it sacrilegious, in special cases where the unborn child can be retarded after birth or when there is a harm of life during pregnancy, he thinks it to be ethically acceptable.

On the economic front, His Holiness has firm belief in true Marxist policy and not those practiced by certain countries. He believes that Marxism is the only economic theory that is concerned with equal distribution of wealth and equitable utilisation of the means of production. It also pays equal importance on all the class of the society, right from working class to those who are underprivileged and victims of the minority class who face exploitation.

The Dalai Lama strongly upholds the cause for safeguarding the environment. He has given numerous talks across the globe about the cause. He believes in preserving the environment and conserving the wildlife.

Other social aspects which have drawn the attention of His Holiness include women’s rights and health. While he claims himself as a feminist and proclaims that women have the ability to create a compassionate world due to their nurturing nature, health is also supremely important and only a healthy living can help attain peace of mind, body and soul.