One Man’s Efforts for World Peace and Freedom: The
Dalai Lama
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: One Man’s Efforts for World Peace and Freedom: The Dalai Lama
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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The twenty-first century exemplifies many international revolutions, signifying an overthrowing of current
governments. Protests have led to an eruption of political wars and turmoil in Egypt, Syria, and Libya for the
common goal of reforming and reclaiming their respective countries. However, one nation that has suffered a
variety of predicaments and difficulties on a scale even greater than these Middle Eastern nations is Tibet. Until
1949, Tibet was once an independent territory that functioned as the sanctuary for Tibetan Buddhism, but
coveting Tibet’s vast natural resources and strategic location in Central Asia, the Chinese invaded, causing many to
leave in exile, including their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama (A Brief Biography). Nonetheless, as a Nobel Peace
Prize laureate in 1989, the Dalai Lama promotes religious tolerance, universal responsibility, and liberation for
Tibet.
Before becoming the 14th Dalai Lama, Lhamo Thondup, was born on July 6, 1935 in a small village located in
Taktser, Amdo, in northeastern Tibet. He was born into an agricultural family sustained by barely, buckwheat, and
potatoes (A Brief Biography). Along with his birth, his mother described how he was not an ordinary boy and how
he claimed descent from heaven (Morgan 21). When Lhamo was three years old, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama had
passed away, and the search for the new reincarnation commenced. Various signs and visions led the Regent, a
senior lama, to Lhamo Thondup in order to test him (From Birth to Exile), moreover, the test specifically tested
whether Lhamo could choose the personal items of the previous Dalai Lama from a group of items laid in front of
him. Correctly choosing all of the items of the previous Dalai Lama, Lhamo Thondup was...