New Delhi, 6 July
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated the Dalai Lama on his 87th birth anniversary and wished him long life and good health.
In a phone call to the highest spiritual head of the Tibetan people, the Prime Minister expressed his greetings.
“Wishing His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his 87th birthday over the phone earlier today. We wish him a long life and good health,” the PM tweeted.
Wishing His Holiness a Happy 87th Birthday @Dalai Lama On the phone earlier today. We wish him long life and good health.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 6 July 2022
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born on July 6, 1935, into a farming family in a small village in Taksar, Amdo, north-eastern Tibet.
At the age of two, a child named Lhamo Dhondup was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.
The Dalai Lamas are considered to be a manifestation of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of compassion and the patron saint of Tibet.
Bodhisattvas are beings driven by a desire to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, who have vowed to be reborn in the world to help humanity.
The Dalai Lama’s official page details his early life and his perception of political power as supreme Tibetan leader.
The Dalai Lama began his monastic education at the age of six. The curriculum, derived from the Nalanda tradition, consisted of five major and five minor subjects. Major subjects included logic, fine arts, Sanskrit grammar and medicine, but the greatest emphasis was placed on Buddhist philosophy.
In 1950, following the Chinese invasion of Tibet, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power.
In 1954, he went to Beijing and met with Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Chou Enlai.
Finally, in 1959, after the brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, His Holiness was forced to flee into exile. Since then he has been living in Dharamsala, North India.