Dalai Lama is one of the living legends of the world whom we admire. He is considered to be one of the happiest person in the world.
Profile of His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama (1935-)
In a world torn by sectarian conflict, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, has touched the hearts of many. His scientific approach to religion and non-violent approach to politics are shining examples of the application of Buddhist ethics to contemporary problems.
The Dalai Lama has multiple identities-he is believed to be a reincarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, is the spiritual as well as temporal head of the Tibetan people, winner of the 1989 Nobe Prize for Peace, and perhaps the single largest factor responsible for the current global interest in Buddhism.
Born in a peasant's family in Tibet, he was recognised as the reincarnation of his predecessor at age two. He was just 15 when the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950. After 10 years of struggle and facing atrocities by the Chinese, His Holiness along with 80,000 Tibetan refugees, fled to India. Since then, he lived in exile in Dharamashala in Himachal Pradesh.
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly appealed to the United Nations and the world community on behalf of Tibet. He has been able to bring a measure of democracy in the traditionally feudal Tibetan society-members of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile are elected directly by the Tibetan diaspora. He has encouraged his people to protest nonviolently against Chinese occupation and has never termed the Chinese as his 'enemy', repeatedly assertng that he feels no hatred towards them whatsoever.
Starting life as head of a nation, the Dalai Lama has grown to be so much more. With his simple message of peace and compassion, he has touched the hearts and minds of millions of non-Tibetan, non-Buddhist people around the world. In 1989, while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of all oppressed people of the world, he said: "I am always reminded that we are all basically alike: we are all human beings." Despite his worldwide fame, His Holiness identifies himself as nothing more than a Buddhist monk and lives in a simple cottage, practising what he preaches.
Pico Iyer on Dalai Lama from October-November 2003 Edition of Life Positive Plus
What is the real nature of his charisma, his appeal, I thought. And on this particular day, the answer that came to me was: he's suffered. To an almost incomprehensible degree. He's seen more suffering in the incarnation than most of us will see in a thousand lifetimes. If there's one major theme in his life, looked at in a certain light, it's the central Buddhist theme of loss.
He was forced to leave the country he loves and serves, he's seen hundreds of thousands of his people die, often in his service, and he's seen almost every diplomatic advance of 40 years rejected. As Dalai Lama, he accepts all this, no doubt, as his responsibility, his destiny, but there's a human side, too, that can only feel the pain.
And in the middle of this, what is the man famous for? Pure optimism. Happiness, calm, and an invincible sense of peace. His smile, his warmth, all the things that make him what one friend of mine calls "the happiest man alive".It makes you humble, in a way; it also causes you to think.
If someone who has seen and lost all that he has seen and lost-40 years waiting to go back to a home that is slowly, systematically, being destroyed-can look at the light in things, what right does any of us have to feel sorry for ourselves? If he can find hope, how can the rest of us not do so?
Some people would say, and I think with justice, that the Dalai Lama's message, on one level, is a rigorous optimism. Others would just point to his kindness-the equivalent of the Buddha holding up a flower and saying nothing.
But one of them, at least-might be just his life: one long, unbroken trail of separation and tragedy, and yet to look at him, to listen to him you would think that every moment was lit up with pure gold.
Profile of His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama (1935-)
In a world torn by sectarian conflict, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, has touched the hearts of many. His scientific approach to religion and non-violent approach to politics are shining examples of the application of Buddhist ethics to contemporary problems.
The Dalai Lama has multiple identities-he is believed to be a reincarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, is the spiritual as well as temporal head of the Tibetan people, winner of the 1989 Nobe Prize for Peace, and perhaps the single largest factor responsible for the current global interest in Buddhism.
Born in a peasant's family in Tibet, he was recognised as the reincarnation of his predecessor at age two. He was just 15 when the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950. After 10 years of struggle and facing atrocities by the Chinese, His Holiness along with 80,000 Tibetan refugees, fled to India. Since then, he lived in exile in Dharamashala in Himachal Pradesh.
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly appealed to the United Nations and the world community on behalf of Tibet. He has been able to bring a measure of democracy in the traditionally feudal Tibetan society-members of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile are elected directly by the Tibetan diaspora. He has encouraged his people to protest nonviolently against Chinese occupation and has never termed the Chinese as his 'enemy', repeatedly assertng that he feels no hatred towards them whatsoever.
Starting life as head of a nation, the Dalai Lama has grown to be so much more. With his simple message of peace and compassion, he has touched the hearts and minds of millions of non-Tibetan, non-Buddhist people around the world. In 1989, while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of all oppressed people of the world, he said: "I am always reminded that we are all basically alike: we are all human beings." Despite his worldwide fame, His Holiness identifies himself as nothing more than a Buddhist monk and lives in a simple cottage, practising what he preaches.
Pico Iyer on Dalai Lama from October-November 2003 Edition of Life Positive Plus
What is the real nature of his charisma, his appeal, I thought. And on this particular day, the answer that came to me was: he's suffered. To an almost incomprehensible degree. He's seen more suffering in the incarnation than most of us will see in a thousand lifetimes. If there's one major theme in his life, looked at in a certain light, it's the central Buddhist theme of loss.
He was forced to leave the country he loves and serves, he's seen hundreds of thousands of his people die, often in his service, and he's seen almost every diplomatic advance of 40 years rejected. As Dalai Lama, he accepts all this, no doubt, as his responsibility, his destiny, but there's a human side, too, that can only feel the pain.
And in the middle of this, what is the man famous for? Pure optimism. Happiness, calm, and an invincible sense of peace. His smile, his warmth, all the things that make him what one friend of mine calls "the happiest man alive".It makes you humble, in a way; it also causes you to think.
If someone who has seen and lost all that he has seen and lost-40 years waiting to go back to a home that is slowly, systematically, being destroyed-can look at the light in things, what right does any of us have to feel sorry for ourselves? If he can find hope, how can the rest of us not do so?
Some people would say, and I think with justice, that the Dalai Lama's message, on one level, is a rigorous optimism. Others would just point to his kindness-the equivalent of the Buddha holding up a flower and saying nothing.
But one of them, at least-might be just his life: one long, unbroken trail of separation and tragedy, and yet to look at him, to listen to him you would think that every moment was lit up with pure gold.
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