“At present the Tibetan struggle is between the power of truth and the power of the gun. In the short term the gun seems more powerful, but in the long run truth is more important and more effective.”
The name ‘Dalai Lama’ literally means ‘ocean teacher’ which symbolically means a wise teacher who has the depth and breadth of the ocean. Tenzin Gyatso was chosen as the successor of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1950 when he was only 2 years old. He was born in the tiny village of Takster, a peasant community of Tibetan farmers.
He was taken to Lhasa and grew up in a 1,000-room palace where his religious education began at age 6 under the tutelage of Tibetan monks who schooled him in Sanskrit, Buddhism, medicine and Tibetan language and culture. At the young age of 15 he was proclaimed the head of Tibet; and also that year China invaded Tibet, maintaining that Tibet was part of China. The Dalai Lama spent 9 years attempting to negotiate with Mao Tse Tung and the communist party but finally he was forced to flee to India with thousands of his followers, fearing assassination by the Chinese military.
The Dalai Lama set up the Tibetan government in exile in the northern state of Dharamshala, India where he has remained since 1959 as the spiritual and political leader of a country occupied by China. It is illegal to openly support either Tibetan self-rule or the Dalai Lama in Tibet – violators of these Chinese laws are subject to torture and imprisonment.
He has consistently promoted non-violence as a method of dealing with the situation with China. Speaking at Jamia Millia Islamia University, India he said, “At present the Tibetan struggle is between the power of truth and the power of the gun. In the short term the gun seems more powerful, but in the long run truth is more important and more effective.”
He has spent much of his time over the last 50 years tirelessly promoting inter-faith dialogue and making efforts to bridge gaps between religious groups. In 2010, with the help of Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, he pioneered the Common Ground Project which published a book called Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism, an attempt to open up dialogue and communication between these two world religions.
He has written numerous books and conducted hundreds of conferences, lectures and workshops at major universities and institutions throughout the world, discussing such topics as Healing Anger, Compassion, Happiness and the Convergence of Science and Spirituality. The Dalai Lama has met with many Western leaders and has visited 46 countries including the United States, Europe, Russia, Latin America and many countries in Asia on a number of occasions. His message is always one of peace, tolerance and compassion for all people.
When asked recently about the Chinese government’s repression of Tibetans he answered: “If we are to learn from that, when we are faced with conflict we have to find peaceful ways and means to resolve it. Whatever kind of problem we face, we need to address it through dialogue, by sitting down with our opponent and talking it through. Remembering the tragedies of the 20th century, we need to make this a century of dialogue.”
And despite his world-wide acclaim and adoration as a significant teacher in this time, he has always said that he is a “simple monk, nothing special.” He rises at 4 a.m. every day and spends several hours praying and meditating. He has been quoted as saying, “Kindness and a good heart are the underlying foundation for success in this life and making progress on the spiritual path.”
-- from the Urban Joshua available on Amazon
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