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Julian Zambrano
Mrs. Hope
World Liturature & Writers Workshop
9 November 2015

Biography: Dalai Lama the Soul of Tibet

Lhamo Thondup was born on July 6th, 1935 in a tiny village in the
northeastern province of Tibet called Amdo. He was the fifth of seven children of
Diki and Choekyong Tsering. Tibet at the time was a very peaceful and secluded
country. Tibet adopted the Buddhist principles and all the people dedicated
themselves to becoming enlightened beings. The country is led by the
reincarnations of the Dalai Lama, which is the highest spiritual being in Tibet. After
the death of the 13th Dalai Lama many of the high ranking monks and Lamas began
to search for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. When Lhamo Thondup was
slightly older than 2 years of age, in 1937, a group of Senior Monks came to visit
Lhamo Thondup and his family to take a look at Lhamo. The monks were astonished
by the fact that he could cal all the monks by name and pick out all of the 13 th Dalai
Lamas belongings. After a few other tests the monks concluded that he was the
reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and renamed him Tenzin Gyatso.
In 1950, Tenzin was named King even though he was only 15 years old. At
that time China had taken over Tibet and began to oppress the Tibetan people. The
Chinese soldiers attacked monks and damaged religious grounds throughout Tibet;
however, the Dalai Lama advised his people to refrain from resulting to violence and

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to keep praying. By 1959, the situation in Tibet gradually kept becoming worse and
worse, until eventually there was an attack on the Dalai Lamas summer palace;
that led to a large massacre of unarmed Tibetan protesters in the sacred city of
Lasso. The Dalai Lama then fled to India with some of his people and established a
state in Dharamshala India. People began to rebuild homes and schools as the Dalai
Lama made an effort to keep the Tibetan culture among his people. In 1966 China
went through the Cultural Revolution, which resulted in the destruction of religious
texts, arts, artifacts, and temples in Tibet. As the situation continued to get worse in
Tibet, the Dalai Lama was still making visits to other countries an areas to spread
news of the events going on in Tibet, as well, as to pray for those in need. In 1979,
the Dalai Lama made his first visit to the United States, and quickly began to gain
support for Tibet. The Dalai Lama would soon find out, however, that the Chinese
had wiped out a majority of Tibetan culture along with killing off approximately 1/6
of the Tibetan population. If the Dalai Lama had not made an effort to preserve the
culture of Tibet, it may have been lost forever. In 1987, the Dalai Lama proposed a
5-point peace plan for his people, but the Tibetan people had been fed up with
keeping their peace for almost 40 years. The Tibetan people attempted to cause
violent protests, but their efforts were in vein since they were killed in mass by the
Chinese soldiers. Two years later, Dalai Lama was awarded that Nobel Prize for
Peace for his constant practice of nonviolence in the attempt to free Tibet, as well
as, his concern for other global issues. The Dalai Lama still lives in Dharamshala in
the state that founded there.
Buddhism has a profound impact on the Dalai Lama. Despite the situation he
might be in, the Dalai Lama always follows all the teachings and principles of
Buddhism throughout his life,. Every day the Dalai Lama meditates for 4 to 5 five

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hours, attends rituals and religious ceremonies, as well as comforting those in need.
He feels that serving others is also part of how to live a spiritual life. This
documentary portrayed Buddhism as a very pacifistic and peaceful religion. The
Dalai Lama, and the people of Tibet, do not use violence even when it is acted upon
them. The Dalai Lama also displays a selfless character by putting the needs of
others before his, which reflects the way the religion is portrayed in this
documentary. The fundamental ideas of the Buddhist teachings can be mirrored
through the life of the Dalai Lama.