Biography

Q&A

A first person encounter with His Holiness, Tenzin Gyatso. An interview with UB Law School professor, Rebecca French.

The fourteenth and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. As the first Dalai Lama to travel to the West, Tenzin Gyatso has increased interest in Buddhism and gained a wide audience as an advocate for peaceful resolution of political conflict. He was awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to resolve Tibet's conflicts with the Chinese government through nonviolent means.

Born in 1935 into a farming family and named Lhamo Thondup, the Dalai Lama was recognized, in 1937, by travelers searching for the reincarnation of the thirteenth Dalai Lama, when he identified toys and relics belonging to the previous Dalai Lama. He was enthroned at the age of five and began his monastic education.

The Dalai Lama was made temporal leader of Tibet in 1950. In 1959, during a Tibetan uprising against Chinese authority, he sought political asylum in India where he has since created schools and other institutions to preserve the Tibetan language, religion, and culture within the refugee community.

Now familiar to people around the world, the Dalai Lama travels extensively, seeking to advance the causes of peace, human rights, and religious understanding. You can find a biography of the Dalai Lama at the Web site of The Office of Tibet, New York, which is the official agency of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.