(This biography was published by the Nobel
Foundation.)
The 14th Dalai Lama
The Nobel Peace Prize
1989
Biography
His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the
spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. He was born in
a small village called Takster in northeastern Tibet. Born to a
peasant family, His Holiness was recognized at the age of two, in
accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his
predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lamas are the
manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who chose to
reincarnate to serve the people. Dalai Lama means Ocean of Wisdom.
Tibetans normally refer to His Holiness as
Yeshin 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.
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."
From Les Prix Nobel.The Nobel Prizes 1989, Editor Tore
Frängsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1990
