Monday, November 9, 2009

A Brief Biography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

A Brief Biography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama





The Dalai Lama is a lineage of religious officials of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. "Lama" is a general term referring to Tibetan Buddhist teachers. In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus, who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the director of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama (who in practice exerts much influence).
Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas were the directors of the Tibetan Government, administering a large portion of the area from the capital Lhasa, although the extent of the lineage's political authority and directorship of territory has been contested. Since 1959, the Dalai Lama has been president of the Tibetan government-in-exile, or Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).










Nomenclature
The current Dalai Lama is sometimes called "His Holiness" (HH) by Westerners (by analogy with the Pope), although this does not translate to a Tibetan title.
"Dalai" means "Ocean" in Mongolian, and is a translation of the Tibetan name "Gyatso," while "Lama" is the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru." Putting the terms together, the full title is "Ocean Teacher" meaning a teacher who is spiritually as great as the ocean. The name is often mistranslated as "Ocean of Wisdom."
"The Institution of the Dalai Lama" by R. N. Rahul Sheel in The Tibet Journal, Vol. XIV No. 3. Autumn 1989, pp. 19-32 says on pp. 31-32, n. 1: "The word Dalai is Mongolian for "ocean", used mainly by the Chinese, the Mongols, and foreigners. Rgya mtsho, the corresponding Tibetan word, always has formed the last part of the religious name of the Dalai Lama since Dalai Lama II [sic – should read Dalai Lama III]. The expression Lama (Bla ma) means the "superior one". Western usage has taken it to mean the "priest" of the Buddhism of Tibet. The term Dalai Lama, therefore, means "Ocean of Wisdom."
Before the 20th century, European sources often referred to the Dalai Lama as the "Grand Lama". For example, in 1795 Benjamin Franklin Bache mocked George Washington by terming him the "Grand Lama of this Country". Some in the West believed the Dalai Lama to be worshiped by the Tibetans as the godhead.










History

Kublai Khan
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During 1252, Kublai Khan granted an audience to Drogön Chögyal Phagpa and Karma Pakshi, the 2nd Karmapa. Karma Pakshi, however, sought the patronage of Möngke Khan. Before his death in 1283, Karma Pakshi wrote a will to protect the established interests of his sect by advising his disciples to locate a boy to inherit the black hat. His instruction was based on the premise that Buddhist ideology is eternal, and that Buddha would send emanations to complete the missions he had initiated. Karma Pakshi's disciples acted in accordance with the will and located the reincarnated boy of their master. The event was the beginning of the teacher reincarnation system for the Black-Hat Line of Tibetan Buddhism. During the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yongle bestowed the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma, the first of the three Princes of Dharma, upon the Black-Hat Karmapa. Various sects of Tibetan Buddhism responded to the teacher reincarnation system by creating similar lineages.





The origin of the title of Dalai Lama
During 1578 the Mongol ruler Altan Khan bestowed what would later become the title Dalai Lama on Sonam Gyatso, which was also later applied retroactively to the two predecessors in his reincarnation line, Gendun Drup and Gendun Gyatso. Gendun Gyatso was also Sonam Gyatso's predecessor as abbot of Drepung monastery. However, the 14th Dalai Lama asserts that Altan Khan did not intend to bestow a title as such and that he intended only to translate the name "Sonam Gyatso" into Mongolian.
As journalist Thomas Laird explains:
. . . many writers have mistranslated Dalai Lama as "Ocean of Wisdom." The full Mongolian title, "the wonderful Vajradhara, good splendid meritorious ocean," given by Altan Khan, is primarily a translation of the Tibetan words Sonam Gyatso (sonam is "merit").
The 14th Dalai Lama remarks:
The very name of each Dalai Lama from the Second Dalai Lama onwards had the word Gyatso [in it], which means "ocean" in Tibetan. Even now I am Tenzin Gyatso, so the first name is changing but the second part [the word "ocean"] became like part of each Dalai Lama's name. All of the Dalai Lamas, since the Second, have this name. So I don't really agree that the Mongols actually conferred a title. It was just a translation.
Whatever the intention may have been originally, the Mongolian "Dalai", which does not have any meaning as a Tibetan term, came to be understood commonly as a title.
The name or title Dalai Lama in Mongolian may also have derived originally from the title taken by Temüjin or Genghis Khan when he was proclaimed emperor of a united Mongolia during 1206. Temüjin took the name Cingis Qaghan or "oceanic sovereign", the Anglicized version of which is Genghis Khan.
Tibetans address the Dalai Lama as Gyalwa Rinpoche ('Precious Victor'), Kundun ('Presence') Yishin Norbu ('Wishfulfilling Gem'), and so on.

Sonam Gyatso
Sonam Gyatso was an Abbot at the Drepung Monastery who was considered widely as one of the most eminent lamas of his time. Although Sonam Gyatso became the first lama to have the title "Dalai Lama" as described above, since he was the third member of his lineage, he became known as the "Third Dalai Lama." The previous two titles were conferred posthumously upon his earlier incarnations.
Yonten Gyatso (1589 – 1616), the 4th Dalai Lama and a non-Tibetan, was the grandson of Altan Khan.
Verhaegen (2002: p. 5-6) states that the tulku tradition of the Dalai Lama has evolved into, and been inaugurated as, an institution and is recognized as a "cornerstone of Tibetan identity and culture":
The institution of the Dalai Lama has become, over the centuries, a central focus of Tibetan cultural identity; "a symbolic embodiment of the Tibetan national character." Today, the Dalai Lama and the office of the Dalai Lama have become focal points in their struggle towards independence and, more urgently, cultural survival. The Dalai Lama is regarded as the principal incarnation of Chenrezig (referred to as Avalokiteshvara in India), the bodhisattva of compassion and patron deity of Tibet. In that role the Dalai Lama has chosen to use peace and compassion in his treatment of his own people and his oppressors. In this sense the Dalai Lama is the embodiment of an ideal of Tibetan values and a cornerstone of Tibetan identity and culture.
Verhaegen (2002: p. 6) mentions the trans-polity influence that the Institution of the Dalai Lama has had historically in areas such as western China, Mongolia, Ladakh in addition to the other Himalayan Kingdoms:
The Dalai Lamas have also functioned as the principal spiritual guide to many Himalayan kingdoms bordering Tibet, as well as western China, Mongolia and Ladakh. The literary works of the Dalai Lamas have, over the centuries, inspired more than fifty million people in these regions. Those writings, reflecting the fusion of Buddhist philosophy embodied in Tibetan Buddhism, have become one of the world's great repositories of spiritual thought.
List of Dalai Lamas
This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.
This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.
There have been 14 recognized reincarnations of the Dalai Lama:
Name
Picture
Lifespan
Recognized
Reign
Tibetan/Wylie
PRC transcription (Chinese transcription)
Alternative spellings
1
Gendun Drup

1391–1474

N/A
???????????????dge ‘dun ‘grub
Gêdün Chub (????)
Gedun DrubGedün DrupGendun Drup
2
Gendun Gyatso

1475–1542

1492–1542
?????????????????dge 'dun rgya mtsho
Gêdün Gyaco (????)
Gedün GyatsoGendün Gyatso
3
Sonam Gyatso

1543–1588
?
1578–1588
?????????????????bsod nams rgya mtsho
Soinam Gyaco (????)
Sönam Gyatso
4
Yonten Gyatso

1589–1617
?
1601–1617
???????????????yon tan rgya mtsho
Yoindain Gyaco (????)
Yontan Gyatso
5
Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso

1617–1682
1618
1642–1682
????????????????blo bzang rgya mtsho
Lobsang Gyaco (????)
Lobzang GyatsoLopsang Gyatso
6
Tsangyang Gyatso

1683–1706
1688
1697–1706
??????????????????tshang dbyangs rgya mtsho
Cangyang Gyaco (????)
7
Kelzang Gyatso

1708–1757
?
1720–1757
?????????????????bskal bzang rgya mtsho
Gaisang Gyaco (????)
Kelsang GyatsoKalsang Gyatso
8
Jamphel Gyatso

1758–1804
1760
1762–1804
??????????????????byams spel rgya mtsho
Qambê Gyaco (????)
Jampel GyatsoJampal Gyatso
9
Lungtok Gyatso

1805–1815
1807
1810–1815
??????????????????lung rtogs rgya mtsho
Lungdog Gyaco (????)
Lungtog Gyatso
10
Tsultrim Gyatso

1816–1837
1822
1826–1837
??????????????????tshul khrim rgya mtsho
Cüchim Gyaco (????)
Tshültrim Gyatso
11
Khendrup Gyatso

1838–1856
1841
1842–1856
?????????????????mkhas grub rgya mtsho
Kaichub Gyaco (????)
Kedrub Gyatso
12
Trinley Gyatso

1857–1875
1858
1860–1875
?????????????????'phrin las rgya mtsho
Chinlai Gyaco (????)
Trinle Gyatso
13
Thubten Gyatso

1876–1933
1878
1879–1933
?????????????????thub bstan rgya mtsho
Tubdain Gyaco (????)
Thubtan GyatsoThupten Gyatso
14
Tenzin Gyatso

born 1935
1937
1950–present(currently in exile)
??????????????????bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho
Dainzin Gyaco (????)
Tenzing Gyatso
There has also been one nonrecognized Dalai Lama, Ngawang Yeshe Gyatso, declared during 1707, when he was 25 years old, by the Dzungars as the "true" 6th Dalai Lama - but never accepted as such by the majority of the population.

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Official site of his Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader and statesman. Featuring his life story, teachings, speeches, and more.www.dalailama.com -
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The Dalai Lama is a lineage of religious officials of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. "Lama" is a general term referring to Tibetan Buddhist teachers. In religious terms, the Dalai...
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A biography of His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, from the pages of Tibetan Government in Exile. Includes a section on how, at the age of two, he was ...www.tibet.com/DL -
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News and information on the government and culture of Tibet, maintained and updated by The Office of Tibet, the official agency of the Dalai Lama in London.www.tibet.com -
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Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama, a spiritual leader revered among the people of Tibet. He is the head of the government-in-exile based in...
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Profile of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama appearing in the August 1999 issue of Time magazine.www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/lama1.html -
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Features speeches, letters, biography, teachings, and books by the 14th Dalai Lama. From the pages of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition.www.fpmt.org/teachers/hhdl -
Nobel Peace Prize 1989: 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso)
Winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. Includes his biography, Nobel lecture, acceptance speech, and other resources.www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1989