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The Dalai Lama, a Leader in Exile Essay

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Whilst examining the world’s leaders, there is no one who compares to the Dalai Lama, who is the religious and political leader of Tibet. The Dalai Lama, (Tenzin Gyatso) had a customary childhood until the age of three, when Regent, one of the senior Lama’s, had a vision that was conclusive to having Tenzin Gyatso as the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. After years of schooling in religion and worldly affairs, he became Head of the State of Tibet at the age of 16, but was later forced into exile by the Chinese government in when Tibet was invaded. Despite all the hardship he has been forced to endure, he refuses to give up his fight for freedom and treats all sentiment beings with love and compassion. Through his fight for freedom, he …show more content…

He held his ground and defended his people against China, a country that is much tougher than his own. Many feared for his life but the Dalai Lama said that he would stand by his people, regardless of the consequences. In 1959, The Dalai Lama was forced into exile by the Chinese, but that did not end his fight for the liberation of his people. About 100,000 individuals followed him into exile as he established a democratically based alternative government at Dharamsala in Punjab, India, aptly known as ‘Little Lhasa’. It has cultural and educational establishments and serves as a “capital-in-exile” for 140,000 Tibetan refugees. In the past decade, the Dalai Lama has tried repeatedly to negotiate with the Chinese. Currently his pleas for help have been ignored by the United Nations and other world organizations. Nations of the world seem to have forgotten the plight of the Tibetan people. Despite the fact that other nation’s actions have forsaken the Tibetan people; the quest for Tibetan independence has been overshadowed by the resilient magnet of Chinese commercialism. The Dalai Lama, at age 75 is still the most important freedom fighter for the people of Tibet. The Dalai Lama is also known for his writings, such as Freedom in Exile and The Art of Happiness. In 1989, the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize for steadily advocating policies of nonviolence and human rights in his own exiled country as well as in other stricken

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