The Dalai Lama

Dalai LamaChristopher (Flickr: dalailama1_20121014_4639) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Tenzin Gyatso is the current and fourteenth Dalai Lama. He is the spiritual and political leader of Tibet.

The Dalai Lama was born Lhamo Dhondup on July 6, 1935. At an early age, he began learning Tibetan culture and art, logic, Sanskrit, medicine, and Buddhist philosophy. After his last examination in 1959, he received the Geshe Lharampa degree, which is equal to a Buddhist doctorate degree in philosophy.

The Dalai Lama took full political power of Tibet in 1950, after the 1949 Chinese invasion. In 1954, he went to Beijing, China for peace talks. He was forced into exile in 1959. Currently, he is living in Dharamsala, India, where the political administration of Tibet is located. He has gone to the United Nations three times. He created a draft of a democratic constitution for Tibet in 1963, which led to administrative reform. His draft was the foundation for a new constitution, which gave Tibetans the freedom of speech, movement, assembly, and belief. In 1992, he also created guidelines for a free Tibet (in the future).

The Dalai Lama is my hero for numerous reasons. To begin, he is unselfish. For example, in his draft constitution, he said he would hand over his political power as ruler of Tibet. Next, as a working peace activist, he has gone to the United Nations to bring peace to his country. Lastly, he leads his country and faith community without fear. Though he fled Tibet, he did it so he could keep his life and continue to work to save his country. He has done numerous things to improve Tibet’s government and its future.

The Dalai Lama is an amazing man. He has spent all of his life working to serve as political and spiritual leader of his nation. He has worked vigorously to save his people, and better his country. For all these reasons, he is my hero.