![]() ![]() Buddhism grew out of a reform movement in reaction to the Hindu religion. ![]() He lived a long, full life and died at the age of eighty. Buddha taught many followers and was revered as the Exalted One. He saw himself as one who had "arrived," or transcended the imperfections of life. Buddha was regarded by his followers as a great man and a master teacher. Buddhismīuddhism is an East Indian religious tradition that began around the sixth century bce by Siddhartha Gautama, or Buddha (the Enlightened One). Lhasa was known to the rest of the world as The Forbidden City because of its mystery and isolation. They needed to take him to the great monastery in Lhasa, the "home of the divine" in Tibet. The search party was fully convinced they had discovered the reincarnation. He passed the required tests for a Dalai Lama. They arrived in Taktser when Lhamo was about two years old. Senior lamas (priests) and high dignitaries were sent out to all parts of Tibet. Combined with other evidence, it indicated the direction where the new Dalai Lama should be sought. Searchers recalled that the Dalai Lama's body had been placed facing south, but after a few days the face had turned towards the northeast. State oracles (sources of wise or god-like counsel) and learned lamas were consulted in order to find out where the reincarnation would appear. Initially a Regent, or trustee, is appointed by the Tibetan National Assembly to govern the country until the reincarnation (rebirth in a new body or other form of life) of the Dalai Lama can be found and grow to maturity. Choosing the Dalai Lama (see box) is done in accordance with time-honored customs and traditions. With the passing of the Dalai Lama, an immediate search began in order to choose his successor. He lived in exile in British India from 1913 until his death in 1933. The eastern district of Tibet was under the secular (nonreligious leaders) rule of China at the time Lhamo was born, but the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thupten Gyatso (1876–1933), was the spiritual leader of the people. They lived a simple life in the tiny, solitary hamlet of Taktser among about twenty other families, unaware of much that happened in the world beyond their own horizon. The family's main livelihood was agriculture, but they also kept cattle and chickens, and his father had a special fondness for horses. She often placed him in a corner of the field under an umbrella that was staked to the ground while she took care of the crops. When he was a baby his mother carried him on her back when she went out to work in the fields. His mother gave birth to sixteen children, but only seven survived through infancy in the isolated and harsh climate of Tibet. Like most Tibetans his parents, Choekyong and Dekyi Tsering, were faithful Buddhists (see box). Lhamo Thondup, later renamed Tenzin Gyatso, was born in 1935 to a farming family in northeastern Tibet, which later became the Chinghai province of China. ![]() His message of freedom and peace was recognized by numerous awards, including the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. ![]() In 1981, the Dalai Lama spoke at an interfaith service organized by the World Congress of Faiths and called for inter-religious understanding and universal responsibility. In 1973, the Dalai Lama and Pope Paul VI (1897–1978) held an historic press conference when the leaders of two faith traditions met at the Vatican in Rome. The Dalai Lama traveled internationally and met with all the religious and political leaders of the major nations to promote negotiations between the Tibetan and Chinese people. "The suppression of the rights and freedoms of any people by … governments is against human nature, and the recent movements for democracy in various parts of the world are a clear indication of this." He lectured around the world and authored more than fifty books. His Holiness the Dalai Lama held the Geshe Lharampa Degree (Doctorate of Buddhist Philosophy). For over four decades he set up educational, cultural, and religious institutions to promote peace and preserve the Tibetan identity. The Dalai Lama lived in exile (banished from one's own country) in India in the early twenty-first century following the invasion of Tibet by the People's Republic of China in 1959. Tenzin Gyatso was the fourteenth Dalai Lama, the spiritual and former political leader of Tibetan people. ![]()
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