By the Ourwon That Sholsh.hes.
Dharamasla, India (Reuters) -Daily Lama, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, is often called an ordinary monk, but for more than 60 years, armed with a little more than charm and conviction, he has managed to preserve the cause of his people in the international spotlight.
Tenzin Gatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled to exile in India in 1959 with thousands of other Tibetans after an unsuccessful uprising against Chinese rule. Since then, he has advocated a non -violent “middle way” to seek autonomy and religious freedom for Tibetan people, gaining the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
He has met dozens of world leaders, while inspiring millions with his cheerful location and views on life as “be kind when possible. It is always possible.”
But his popularity annoys China, who views him as a dangerous separatist, as a former chief of the Communist Party describes him as “waiting” and has the “heart of the beast”.
The Dalai Lama is 90 years old on Sunday, especially an important birthday, as he has a banner that he can say more about a potential heir around. The Tibetan tradition claims that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk reincarnates into the body of a child after his death.
In the book “Voices for the Voiceless”, published earlier this year, he said that the Tibetans around the world want the Dalai Lama institution to continue after his death and said that his successor would be born in the “free world”, which he described as outside China.
The statements were his strongest so far in the likelihood of an heir. In previous years, he also said that his heir may be a girl and may not have a heir at all.
However, he said that any heir elected by China who has accumulated pressure on foreign governments to divert him will not be respected.
Exile
The Dalai Lama was born Lhamo Dhondup in 1935 into a family of buckwheat and barley farmers in the present northwestern Chinese province of Kinghai. At the age of two, he was considered by a party to search for the 14th incarnation of Tibet’s spiritual and temporary leader after identifying several of his predecessor’s possessions.
China took control of Tibet in 1950 in what he called “Peace Liberation”, and the teenager Dalai Lama took on a political role shortly after, traveling to Beijing to meet Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders. Nine years later, they fear that the Dalai Lama can be abducted, nourishing a large rebellion.
The subsequent repression by the Chinese army forced him to escape, disguised as an ordinary soldier from the Palace in Lhasa, where his predecessors kept absolute power.
The Dalai Lama fled to India and settled in the Dharamasla, the Himalayan city, where he lives in Saedinen to a temple, ringed from green hills and snowy mountains. There he opened his government in exile for ordinary Tibetans with a selected parliament.
Disappointed with how little he gained from his efforts to engage with Beijing, he announced in 1988 that he gave up the search for complete independence from China and would instead seek cultural and religious autonomy in China.
In 2011, the Dalai Lama announced that she would abandon her political role, passing on these responsibilities to the elected leader to the Tibetan government in exile.
But he remains active, and nowadays the Dalai Lama, dressed in her usual garments of Marons and saffron, continues to receive a constant flow of visitors.
He had a number of health problems, including knee surgery and difficulty walking. However, he expects to live for a long time.
“According to my dream, I can live 110 years,” he told Reuters in December.
(Report from Krishna das; additional reporting from tanning meht; writing by Edwina Gibbs; Editing by Raju Gopalakishnan)