+Our Gift Person for July is special for countless reasons. If you had to select a single word for what makes the Dalai Lama so special, which would it be? For me, it is the word "all-embracing." His compassion embraces not just Tibetans or Buddhists, but all people everywhere; and it embraces all of every person - mind, soul, and body. I experienced both. Once, when i was privileged to sit next to His Holiness while someone else was lecturing, he noticed that both of us were fingering our prayer beads. Quietly, he reached over, took the string of beads i was using, and let me use his. With this one gesture, a Buddhist embraced all Christians. On another occasion, he noticed that my hands were cold, simply took them between his own hands, and rubbed them, as a mother might do with a child. With this one gesture, another human being embraced all of me. — Br. David

"Certain signs, considered auspicious, were noted on the day of his birth, July 6, 1935, in the village of Taktser, Tibet. "

From his earliest youth, the 14th Dalai Lama was recognized as exceptional. Certain signs, considered auspicious, were noted on the day of his birth, July 6, 1935, in the village of Taktser, Tibet. And in 1937, high lamas and government ministers were led by premonitions, divinations, and clues left by the previously deceased Dalai Lama, to the home of the precocious two-year-old boy named Lhamo Dhondrub.

In keeping with Tibetan tradition and disguising themsleves as merchants, members of the search party tested the child by asking him to identify personal belongings of the deceased 13th Dalai Lama and answer a series of questions. In addition to his successful responses, the child gave even further information and offered a tray of cookies to his guests, convincing officials they had indeed found the next successor to the Lion Throne, a position earned through rebirth rather than inheritance.

In August of 1939, a delegation took the boy and his family on the two-month journey through the Himalayas to the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa. Their destination was the magnificant Potala Palace. Another two months later, the child took his novice monk vows, not uncommon in the old and deeply devout Tibetan society where at least one child from each family became a monk or nun. Before reaching the age of five, however, this youngster was installed --- pending reaching the age of maturity --- as the 14th Dalai Lama, political and spiritual leader of Tibet. His name was now Tenzin Gyatso, or Ocean of Wisdom.

At age six, Tenzin Gyatso began an 18-year course of studies with primary emphasis on the highly complex and sophisticated system of Tibetan Buddhist metaphysical inquiry and meditation. The child spent his winter months at the Potala Palace, and each summer traveled two miles west to enjoy country life at Norbulingka, or Jewel Park. Here, he taught himself to disassemble and reconstruct the few mechanical items available to him "on the roof of the world," a region practically untouched by modern society. He was also deeply interested in geography and Western civilization, virtually unknown subjects in isolated Tibet. These interests became unexpectedly useful in his adult life.

On January 1, 1950, Radio Peking announced the intention of the People's Liberation Army to "liberate Tibet" along with Taiwan and Hainan. Communist Chinese troops had already begun to infiltrate Tibet. On October 25, China announced that troops were in the process of defeating "imperialist oppression;" there were concrete goals for turning the strategically located country into a less "primitive" possession of China. Tenzin Gyatso was only 15 years old, three years younger than the accepted age for ascending the throne as Dalai Lama. But the Chinese were at hand and Tibet needed a ruler. So, in November, 1950, Tenzin Gyatso was officially installed as the youngest Dalai Lama in history. Throughout the next nine years, he studied intensively for his Doctor of Divinity degree, or Geshe Lharampa, while working to keep peace between the Tibetan people and the Chinese army.

At the age of 24, the Dalai Lama sat for his final examinations in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy at the Jokhang Temple, in Lhasa. Eighty scholars relentlessly questioned the young man, all day and well into the night, as approximately 20,000 monks watched and listened. In the end, Tibet's most respected intellectuals agreed that this young Dalai Lama's abilities were most unusual, even phenomenal. This was early March, 1959. Within ten days, tensions between Chinese invaders and native Tibetans were to reach a crisis in the capital city.

In a massive gathering at Jewel Park, on March 10, Chinese military police angrily insisted that the Dalai Lama turn himself over to their "protection," while thousands of Tibetans surrounded the summer residence in support of His Holiness. It was decided by Tibetan ministers that the Dalai Lama's life was in danger and the young leader could best serve his people by fleeing Tibet until the unrest settled. Shortly after his secret departure by horseback, the Chinese released bombs on the summer palace and machine-gunned citizens who were there to support His Holiness.

With the Dalai Lama gone, communist invaders dissolved the Tibetan Administration and bagan a ruthless campaign to demolish monasteries, destroy ancient works of art and literature, and severely oppress the people by restricting their opportunities, destroying cultural monuments, and imposing lengthy imprisonments under horrendous conditions. The Dalai Lama, who has never encouraged violent retaliation, immediately established a government-in-exile. To date, well over one million of the total population of six million Tibetans have died as a direct result of Chinese domination. In addition, Tibet's natural resources are being abused and depleted.

On April 20, 1959, the Dalai Lama was welcomed in Mussoorie by the government of India. It had become evident that the period of exile would become prolonged; the former British hill station at Dharamsala was selected for a Tibetan headquarters. Within six months, Tibetan refugee camps overflowed in India and surrounding countries. The Dalai Lama and his administration proceeded to oversee the needs of eighty-five thousand homeless Tibetans worldwide, and to monitor developments within Tibet. In 1963, a constitution was drafted in Dharamsala, and democratic reforms have been implemented over time. Now, over forty years after the original exodus, His Holiness the Dalai Lama continues to live in India and still enthusiastically greets new arrivals from Tibet.

The Dalai Lama, who refers to himself as "a simple Buddhist monk," promotes an autonomous region for Tibet and is firmly committed to the life of his country's unique culture. He has also become a hugely popular public figure worldwide, admired for his simple message of loving kindness. In 1989, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He speaks of the late Indian pacifist Mahatma Ghandi as an inspiration, and encourages his people to persevere in the face of grave sorrow and periods of near extinction. Due to the Dalai Lama's foresight and direct guidance, the rich heritage of Tibet still thrives. Rarely, if ever, in history have political and spiritual leadership been so uniquely balanced.

Reprinted with kind permission by the author from
Living Tibet: The Dalai Lama in Dharamsala
Text by Nanci Rose
Photographs by Bill Warren
Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
1997; Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, NY

See Nanci Rose's essay Meeting the Dalai Lama

Nanci Rose works with emotionally distressed children and their families, and is co-author of Living Tibet: The Dalai Lama In Dharamsala available from Amazon.com via this site.

Photo credit: ©Bill Warren, Snow Lion Publications