His Holiness as a baby with his mother Dekyi Tsering, father Choekyong Tsering and elder brother Gyalo Thondup taken in Taktser, Amdo Tibet (Photo taken approx. 1935/36) (Photo: http://www.dalailama.com/)
The longest living Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th and the present Dalai Lama and holds the profile of a spiritual and political leader of Tibet. In the tradition of Bodhisattva, Spiritual leaders of Tibetan Buddhism and Dalai Lamas are said to spend their entire life committed to promoting humanity.
Here are 10 milestone events in the life of the present Dalai Lama
1) His Holiness the Dalai Lama was born on 6 July 1935, and named Lhamo Thondup, to a Tibetan farming family in the small village of Taktser, located in the province of Amdo.
If legends are to be believed, it is said that there were numerous omens and spiritual signs that pointed at Lhamo as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.
The head of the preserved body of the 13th Dalai Lama which was facing southeast had mysteriously turned northeast, indicating the direction in which his successor would be found. Later on, the Regent, Reting Rinpoche, had a vision, which indicated Amdo as the region where the successor would be found. At the tender age of two, young Lhamo was proclaimed as the 14th Dalai Lama and was renamed Tenzin Gyatso.
2) Gyatso was not enthroned until the age of fifteen. As a result, the Regent acted as the head of the Tibetan parliament or Kashag until that time.
3) At 23 the Dalai Lama took his final examination at Lhasa's Jokhang Temple during the annual Monlam or prayer Festival. He passed the exam with distinction and was awarded Geshe Lharampa degree, the highest-level degree, equivalent to a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy.
4) The Dalai Lama’s first major political move was when he sent a delegation from Tibet to Beijing in 1950, which endorsed the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet.
5) Four years later, along with the 10th Panchen Lama, he crossed borders to meet the Chinese leaders Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Chou Enlai for initiating peace talks. He attended the first session of the National People's Congress as a delegate. Later on, he was selected as the Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a post he officially held until 1964.
6) With the 1959 Tibetan uprising and the brutal suppression of the same in the Lhasa region by the Chinese troops, the Dalai Lama was forced to escape into exile for the fear of assassination. Assisted by the CIA Special Activities Division, the Dalai Lama crossed the border to reach Tezpur in Assam, India.
7) His Holiness established the Government of Tibet in Exile in Dharamsala, a city in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. The city came to be known as ‘Little Lhasa’. Since then, His Holiness has been living in Dharamsala.
8) After the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Dalai Lama the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee officially gave the prize to the Dalai Lama for "the struggle of the liberation of Tibet and the efforts for a peaceful resolution" and "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi" although the President of the Committee also said that the prize was intended to put pressure on China, which was reportedly infuriated that the award was given to a separatist.
9) In 2011 Dalai Lama transferred political powers to Lobsang Sangay, who was elected as Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in exile.
10) July 6th 2015, The Dalai Lama celebrates his 80th birthday
(Photos: www.dalailama.com/AFP/AP)
