5 Times The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, Made Headlines In His Lifetime
Recently, the 14th Dalai Laman, Tenzin Gyatso, went viral for a video in which he had asked a boy to suck his tongue. He later apologised for teasing the child.
The 87-year-old is certainly no stranger to making the news.
Source: Dalai Lama on Facebook
In his early adulthood, he had been displaced from Tibet due to China’s invasion of the country.
Following this, he made a name for himself by fighting for Tibet’s liberation using non-violent means.
At the peak of his advocacy, he was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
1. Exiled from Tibet in 1959
According to the official Dalai Lama website, Tenzin Gyatso was born on 6 July 1935.
Besides completing the highest doctorate in Buddhist philosophy in 1959, he was also forced into exile that same year.
Source: OHHDL via Dalai Lama
Due to the Chinese armed invasion of Lhasa in March 1959, the Dalai Lama and his convoy fled their home base in search of safety.
According to a report by The Singapore Free Press on 28 March 1959, the Dalai Lama had left with a “20-man entourage”.
Safe to say, the Dalai Lama survived the ordeal as he arrived in Mussoorie, India more than a month later.
On 22 April 1959, The Straits Times (ST) reported that he had trekked across over 2,500km of mountains and dusty plains.
2. Dalai Lama visited Singapore in 1982
Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso remained in exile for most of his adult years.
By the 1980s, he had built a new sanctuary in Dharamshala, India.
In fact, he was still in exile when he visited Singapore for the first time on 30 July 1982.
According to ST, he had been on his way to the Borobudur temple in Indonesia.
Speaking to reporters, he asserted that the visit was strictly non-political.
While in Singapore, Berita Harian reported that he visited Sultan Mosque, where he met Singapore’s Mufti at the time.
3. Delivered the Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet to the United States Congress
Furthermore, his travels around the world did not stop in the Southern Hemisphere.
On 21 December 1987, he visited Washington DC, USA to present his Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet.
His points were as such:
- Transformation of the whole of Tibet into a zone of peace
- Abandonment of China’s population transfer policy which threatens the very existence of the Tibetans as a people
- Respect for the Tibetan people’s fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms
- Restoration and protection of Tibet’s natural environment and the abandonment of China’s use of Tibet for the production of nuclear weapons and dumping of nuclear waste
- Commencement of earnest negotiations on the future status of Tibet and of relations between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples
The following year, he presented the same plan in Strasbourg, France, this time addressing the European Parliament.
Source: Dalai Lama
His Five Point Peace Plan would be recognised two years later in Oslo, Norway as a keystone of his peaceful struggle for Tibet.
4. Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989
On 10 December 1989, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the non-violent liberation of Tibet from China.
According to the Nobel Peace Prize website, he had been given the award “for advocating peaceful solutions based upon tolerance and mutual respect in order to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of his people”.
At the award ceremony, the 14th Dalai Lama introduced himself as a “simple Buddhist monk from Tibet”.
However, he acknowledged that he had committed a lot of work to protect the fate of Tibet, its people, and its culture.
“This award represents worldwide recognition and support for the just cause of the Tibetan people’s struggle for freedom and self-determination,” he said.
Furthermore, he also declared that he hopes and prays every day for “enduring peace” in the world.
5. Drew criticism for gendered comments
In his older age, the Dalai Lama has made the news twice for making inappropriate remarks about women.
He made the first comment in 2015, saying that a female successor following him would have to be attractive.
Source: BBC News
Four years later, he echoed this in another interview with BBC News.
He has since apologised for these transgressions.
Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso & the times he made the news
Given his long history of being in the public eye, the 14th Dalai Lama has experienced his fair share of public scrutiny.
For most of his golden days, he was praised for his non-violent approaches — he even met prominent statesmen around the world.
Source: Dalai Lama on Facebook
However, in more recent times, it appears as though he has caught a bit of bad press.
In light of all the good that he has done, his recent actions come across as perplexing.
Do you accept the explanation that the tongue incident was just an innocent joke? Let us know in the comments.
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Featured image adapted from Dalai Lama on Facebook.
