During a semester celebrating the coming of the Dalai Lama, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that His Holiness is a human man with a human life.
That man was born with the name Lhamo Dhondrub on July 6, 1935 in Tibet. He would spend the next 70 years of his life recognized by much of the world as the embodiment of humility and piety.
The title that has come to serve as his name, the Dalai Lama, is Mongolian and Tibetan for “ocean” and “wisdom,” respectively.
Every time the Dalai Lama – the ocean of wisdom – passes away, a search for a replacement, lasting a year or more, ensues. His monks search for a child reincarnation of the being in a form that has reached or is able to reach Buddhist enlightenment; the government of the People’s Republic of China approves the final choice when the child is found. … spectrum.buffalo.edu
[Although politically correct, the statement above is not accurate. The Dalai Lama was approved by the Chinese government after the fact. The 14th Dalai Lama was born before it came to power, and the occasion has not since arisen. The Chinese government has passed legislation that says it must approve, but in fact that has no merit as regards the Government of Tibet in Exile or the Buddhist community in Tibet. The rest of the article is accurate. D Z]
‘Fearless’ Li Moves On
“I would like to spend more of my energy practicing Buddhism and helping younger Chinese people to understand life, because I still (feel) very painful that these people are committing suicide,” said Jet Li, who noted that in 2003 about a quarter of a million people committed suicide in China. “When people commit suicide, they cause 10 people to suffer. So this is causing millions and millions of people to suffer.”
Dalai Lama urges compassion, love
DENVER — From high in the rafters of the Pepsi Center, perched on a bare stage in a big leather chair, the Dalai Lama looked small.
But his message was as big as the world.
“This century should be the century of dialogue,” he said Sunday. “The past century somehow became a century of violence, century of bloodshed.”
As global trade, travel, telecommunications and the Internet bring people together, the old ways of war and territorial thinking have to give way to mutual respect and aid, he said.
“Take care of others, you will benefit,” he said. “Think only of yourself, you will lose.”
Spectrum Online: Some Students Question HHDL’s Visit, Worth
Some students, like jnior English major Kevin Leatherbarrow, question the purpose for the Dalai Lama’s visit.
“I don’t think we should have got him in the first place,” Leatherbarrow said. “I think it’s a waste of money, and what real educational value is in this?”
At the Bridge Campus Ministries (Commons Christian Fellowship) Pastor Alexander Tullis shed some light on possible reasons why some in the UB community didn’t see the affects of the visit.
“I have nothing against the Dalai Lama, but it’s easy to be that way,” Tullis said. “It’s very nice, but it’s too dreamy. It is about peace, and I think it’s wonderful in that sense.”
