Rocco D’Ambrosca: 11/21/2008
Me: We are here today with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people, on “The WNEK 105.1 FM Weekly Interview”. How are you doing today your Holiness, did you have a good flight?
Dalai Lama: Yes, thank you I’m doing fine. Glad to be here.
Me: Can you give us a bit of background on your position and its history?
Dalai Lama: Of course, as you stated I am the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people. My 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,” and is commonly translated to mean “spiritual teacher.” Putting the terms together, the full title is “Ocean Teacher” meaning a teacher who is spiritually as deep as the ocean. I represent the 14th incarnation of the Dalai Lama in a line of incarnations going back to the first Dalai Lama, Gendun Drup, who lived from 1391–1474. I am called Tenzin Gyatso, with Gyatso being attached to the name of each Dalai Lama starting with the second Dalai Lama, Gendun Gyatso. The position of Dalai Lama has served as the leader of Tibetan Buddhism since 1391, with the establishment of the first Dalai Lama, while political leader of the Tibetan Government lasted from 1391 until 1959.
Me: Let’s start off with the basics. Where and when were you born, or in more Buddhist terms, where and when were you incarnated?
Dalai Lama: I was born Lhamo Döndrub on July 6th 1935 in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet to a farming family.
Me: How did you become the 14th Dalai Lama?
Dalai Lama: According to tradition, a search party is sent out to find the reincarnation of the past Dalai Lama to allow a continuous line of Dalai Lama’s all incarnated by the same bodhisattva. Two years after my birth a search party went looking for me as this new incarnation. They were guided to me in several ways. The head of the embalmed body of the thirteenth Dalai Lama, which originally faced south-east, mysteriously turned to face the northeast, indicating the direction where I would be found. The second indication of my location was given by the sacred lake of Lhamo La-tso, with a vision that my hometown of Amdo, was the place to search, and that my home, described as a one-story house with distinctive guttering and tiling, was my location. When they came upon my house I was presented with many toys and relics, some of which belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama, while others did not. I correctly identified all of the objects that belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama and proved myself to be the reincarnation of him. I was then renamed Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso meaning “Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Compassionate, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom”. I am normally refered to as Yishin Norbu meaning “Wish-Fulfilling Gem”, Kyabgon meaning “Savior”, or just Kundun meaning “Presence”; but my followers most often call me “His Holiness the Dalai Lama” and this is what I prefer.
Me: Absolutely amazing how you were found and that you could identify all those objects. Could you explain what a bodhisattva is?
Dalai Lama: Certainly, a bodhisattva is an individual who has attained enlightenment but does not enter the eternal bliss of nirvana, who willfully decides to continually reincarnate, rather than end the cycle, to teach humanity and help others on the path of enlightenment.
Me: That’s a very brave and self-sacrificing mission. I’m sure it must be very hard to give up nirvana to continually reincarnate in an effort to help humanity. It must be a very heavy burden.
Dalai Lama: I do not think of it in this way. It is my duty to do so and I do it not for myself but out of love for humanity. I must do so to maintain my position as social and political leader of the Tibetan people. They rely on me for my wisdom and guidance, especially in times such as these.
Me: After you were discovered to be the Dalai Lama what happened to you?
Dalai Lama: I was taken from my home to the Buddhist monastery where I began many years of study. My monastic education began at age six by my teachers: Yongdzin Ling Rinpoche, my Senior Tutor, and Yongdzin Trijang Rinpoche, my Junior Tutor. I also had a third teacher who was also a very close friend. He was an Austrian mountaineer named Heinrich Harrer, whom I met when I was eleven years old. While my two main teachers taught me about Buddhist philosophy and Tibet, Heinrich taught me about the world outside Tibet.
Me: How long did your studies last? At what age did you complete your studies?
Dalai Lama: In 1959, when I was the age of 23, I took my final examination in Lhasa’s Jokhang Temple during the annual Monlam prayer Festival. I proudly passed with honors and was awarded the Lharampa degree, the highest-level geshe degree which is roughly equivalent to a western doctorate in Buddhist philosophy.
Me: How early did your role as the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people begin? Can you also talk about how your role, as the political leader of Tibet, lead to your exile in India?
Dalai Lama: On November 25th, 1939 a nine-member delegation, consisting of staff from the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, arrived in Lhasa, and were later joined by Wu Zhongxin, the Commission’s director of Tibetan Affairs. The arrival in Lhasa was carefully planned to coincide with the enthronement ceremony for myself as the fourteenth Dalai Lama. On February 22nd, 1940, Wa Zhongxin and other foreign representatives attended the ceremony in the Potala, the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas. Later the Kuomintang and the Communists claimed that Wu had ‘presided’ over the ceremony and that his involvement was essential to the recognition of the new Dalai Lama. There is no evidence to suggest that Wu Zhongxin ‘presided’ over the installation of myself as Dalai Lama. However, the delegation managed to establish a permanent office in Lhasa, and installed a direct radio communication with Nanjing. Problems continued to arise between Tibet and China when on July 8th, 1949, the Kashag or Tibetan Parliament called Chen Xizhang, the acting director of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission office in Lhasa. He was informed that the Tibetan Government had decided to expel all Chinese connected with the Guomingdang Government. Fearing that the Chinese might organize protests in the streets of Lhasa, the Kashag imposed a curfew until all the Chinese had left. They did this on July 14th, 17th and 20th of 1949. At the same time the Tibetan Government sent a telegram to General Chiang Kai-shek and to President Liu Zongren informing them of this decision. On November 17th 1950, at the age of fifteen, with the country facing possible conflict with the People’s Republic of China, I was enthroned as the temporal leader of Tibet. My governorship, however, was short. In October of that year the army of the People’s Republic of China entered the territory controlled by the Tibetan administration, easily breaking through the Tibetan defenders. I sent a delegation to Beijing and, although under PLA military pressure, ratifiedthe subsequent Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet and tried to work with Beijing. In September 1954, the 10th Panchen Lama and I went to Beijing to attend the first session of the first National People’s Congress, meeting Mao Zedong. I was even elected to be the Vice Chairman of the Congress.However, during 1959, there was a major uprising among the Tibetan population. In the tense political environment that ensued, my followers and I began to suspect that China was planning to assassinate me. Consequently, we fled to Tawang, India, on March 17th of that year, entering India on March 31st during the Tibetan uprising.
Me: Wow, you took on a great deal of responsibility at such a young age. Can you speak a bit more about how you established yourself and your administration in India?
Dalai Lama: Absolutely. I met with the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, to urge India to pressure China into giving Tibet an autonomous government, as relations with China were not proving successful. Nehru did not want to increase tensions between China and India, so he encouraged me to work on the Seventeen Point Agreement Tibet had with China. But, after the failed uprising in 1959, I fled Tibet and set up the Government of Tibet in Exile in Dharamsala, India, which is often referred to as “Little Lhasa”. After the founding of the exiled government, I reestablished the approximately 80,000 Tibetan refugees who followed me into exile in agricultural settlements.I created a Tibetan educational system in order to teach the Tibetan children the traditional language, history, religion, and culture. The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts was establishedin 1959 and the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studiesbecame the primary university for Tibetans in India. I also supported the refounding of 200 monasteries and nunneries in an attempt to preserve Tibetan Buddhist teachings and the Tibetan way of life.
Me: What was done in an effort to reestablish Tibet as an independent nation?
Dalai Lama: I appealed to the United Nations on the question of Tibet. My appeal resulted in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959, 1961, and 1965. These resolutions required China to respect the human rights of Tibetans and their desire for self-determination. In 1963, I promulgated a democratic constitution which is based upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A Tibetan parliament-in-exile is elected by the Tibetan refugees scattered all over the world, and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile is likewise elected by the Tibetan parliament. In 1970, I opened the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala which houses over 80,000 manuscripts and important knowledge resources related to Tibetan history, politics and culture. It is considered one of the most important institutions for Tibetology in the world. At the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1987 in Washington, D.C., I proposed a Five-Point Peace Plan regarding the future status of Tibet. The plan called for Tibet to become a “zone of peace” and for the end of movement by ethnic Han Chinese into Tibet. It also called for “respect for fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms” and “the end of China’s use of Tibet for nuclear weapons production, testing, and disposal.” Finally, it urged “earnest negotiations” on the future of Tibet. I proposed a similar plan at Strasbourg on June 15th, 1988. I expanded on the Five-Point Peace Plan and proposed the creation of a self-governing democratic Tibet, “in association with the People’s Republic of China.” This plan was rejected by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in 1991. In October 1991, I expressed my wish to return to Tibet to try to make a mutual assessment on the situation with the Chinese local government. At this time I feared that a violent uprising would take place and wished to avoid it. I have continually expressed my wish to return to Tibet, but only if the People’s Republic of China sets no preconditions for my return, which they have so far, refused to do.
Me: We can only hope that some kind of peaceful resolution will be reached allowing your safe return and reestablishment in your rightful home of Lhasa, Tibet. I would like to make reference to your numerous awards including the Nobel Peace Prize which you were awarded on December 10th, 1989 and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal awarded on September 27th 2006 with the actual ceremony taking place on October 17th, 2007. In our final minutes your Holiness, any parting words of wisdom?
Dalai Lama: “World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not the absence of violence. Peace is the manifestation of human compassion.”
Me: Excellent words, excellent words! This is Rocco D’Ambrosca signing off for “The WNEK 105.1 FM Weekly Interview”. I would like to thank our listeners and once again our guest His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Dalai Lama: May you each find your own inner peace and happiness.
End of Broadcast
Bibliography:
Dalai Lama article on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet Official Site
http://www.dalailama.com/
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama article on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso,_14th_Dalai_Lama
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