Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday wished the Tibetan spiritual leader, 14th Dalai Lama, on his 90th birthday. In a message posted on X, PM Modi referred to him as a epitome of ‘love, compassion, patience and moral discipline’ and wished his ‘good health and long life’.
At the same time, monks at an exile Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Shimla saw to special prayers on the day. There were celebrations in Dharamshala on Saturday too, visited by leaders such as BJP’s Vijay Jolly and JD(U)’s Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, who met to mark the Dalai Lama’s milestone birthday.
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The Life of the Dalai Lama
To Tibetans, the 14th Dalai Lama is Gyalwa Rinpoche, the supreme spiritual leader and head of Tibet. Born on July 6, 1935, in the Takster village in northeastern Tibet, his birth name was Lhamo Dhondup. At two, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. By 1939, he was brought to Lhasa, and in February 1940 he was installed as Tibet’s head of government in a formal ceremony. Later to be called Tenzin Gyatso, at age six he started his monastic studies.
The name ‘Dalai Lama’ is derived from Mongolian and means ‘Ocean of Wisdom’. Dalai Lamas in Tibetan Buddhism are seen as incarnations of the Bodhisattva of compassion, enlightened ones who opt for rebirth to assist others.
In 1950, following China’s invasion of Tibet the year before, the Dalai Lama took all political powers. After a failed revolution in 1959, he escaped to India with over 80,000 of his followers. For more than six decades since, he has advocated the cause of peace, love, and compassion across the globe.