Dalai Lama
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Revision as of 18:44, 16 October 2010
The Dalai Lama is the head of one branch of the Tibetan school of Buddhism, although he is often thought of by outsiders as the head of all Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama has, over the centuries, gained sufficient status to be accepted as ruler of Tibet.
Traditionally the office has been held by a single man reincarnating over and over again into the same job. The current holder of the job, Tenzin Gyatso, is in exile from Chinese occupation of his country, and has sometimes talked of being the last Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama has become a world wide celebrity, particularly on the human rights circuit. He is (mostly) a believer in pacifism.[1] Moreover, he constantly agitates for greater autonomy for Tibet, though he has not called for complete independence in a long time.
History
The first Dalai Lama, Gendun Drup, died in 1474. It was not until the fifth Dalai Lama, Lobsang Gyatso (1617–1682), that the current system of successive incarnations was recognised.
In September 2007 the Chinese government said the selection of the next Dalai Lama must be approved by the government, presumably because the Communist Party has some sort of insight into which person the shade of the current Dalai Lama will alight in the next incarnation.
In March of 2008, people across Tibet (and in neighboring Gansu and Sichuan provinces) rioted against the Chinese regime. Despite the Dalai Lama's urging of peace on both sides and for an end to the violence, the Chinese regime blamed the whole thing squarely on him.
Notes
- ↑ He did once say that violence was acceptable if otherwise the last Buddhist in the world was going to be killed.