Who is the Dalai Lama?
I’ve heard him described as a god. I’ve heard him described as Buddha. “Is he just the spiritual leader of the Buddhists in Tibet, or is he the one who on March 28, 1969, established a government-in-exile in the same way as Taiwan was established to counter the reality of a single China?” Manuel said Tibet’s history had to be looked at, because the Lamas had been “feudal overlords” in that country. “The reason why the Dalai Lama wants to be here… is to make a big global political statement about the secession of Tibet from China and he wants to make it on the free soil of South Africa. “I’m sure he’s welcome to come at any other time, but we shouldn’t allow him to raise global issues that will impact on the standing of South Africa. “Quite frankly this has nothing to do with the PSL [Premier Soccer League], it is a matter of relations between states and that’s what we have to stand up for.
All forms of Buddhism believe in reincarnation; everyone is bound to a cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth until they gain enlightenment and can ‘step off the wheel’. Certain enlightened ones choose to stay on the wheel of life as an act of charity and kindness, to assist others in finding enlightenment. These ‘volunteer returnees’ are called Bodhisattvas. In Tibet, the regional form of Buddhism has evolved a kind of inheritance. The inheritance flows not from parent to child, but from deceased to his reincarnation. Recognized reincarnates proliferate in Tibet and are called tulkus. The most famous tulku is the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama was first recognized in the sixteenth century. The first person so designated, a leader of the ‘yellow sect’ of Tibetan Buddhism named Sonan Gyats, was given the title of the Third Dalai Lama, and his two predecessors were recognized as the first and second Dalai Lamas after the fact. It was the fifth Dalai Lama who became the state ruler as well a
The Dalai Lama is considered the head monk of Tibetan Buddhism and, by tradition, is responsible for governing the Himalayan country. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born Lhamo Dhondub to a farming family in a northeastern Tibetan village in 1935. Buddhist officials recognized him as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama when he was two years old. Buddhists believe the successive Dalai Lamas form a lineage back to the 14th century.How does China view the Dalai Lama? China, which has ruled Tibet with a heavy hand since its forces invaded in 1951, considers the Dalai Lama a separatist and traitor for advocating Tibetan self-rule. The Dalai Lama remains immensely popular in Tibet. The Dalai Lama has led an effective government-in-exile based in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959 amid a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.
