Dalai Lama Research Paper

On July 6, 1935 a farming family in northeast Tibet welcomed into the world a baby boy whom they named Tenzin Gyatso. Two years later in 1937 the monks of Lhasa came across this boy during their search for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Lama’s are the highest ranking monks in the Buddhist society who have mastered Tibetan meditation and are reborn to help people follow the noble eightfold path towards nirvana (ultimate enlightenment). It is said that the monks quizzed the little boy by showing him some of the belongings of the previous Dalai Lama, and when they did this the boy shouted out: “It is mine!” Shortly after this event, Tenzin Gyatso was named the 14th Dalai Lama. In 1950, when he was 15 years old, the Dalai Lama became the …show more content…
Some of the most important values are compassion, tolerance, trust, and self discipline. Dalai Lama once said that “Compassion reduces our fear, boosts our confidence, and opens us to inner strength.” Having compassion is important because when you are compassionate about something you want to do your best, doing your best gives you confidence and having confidence makes you less fearful. The Dalai Lama believes tolerance is one of the most essential values a human can have. He states that “In the practice of tolerance one's enemy is the best teacher.” This means that in able to be a tolerant person you must understand and empathize with the people that you do not get along with. If you can understand where your enemy is coming from the chances are you can be civil in your disagreements and come to a productive compromise. If everyone tolerated one another our world would not be so violent and hateful. According to the Dalai Lama trust is the basis of all relationships, and having positive relationships greatly contributes to a person's happiness. He is right because without trust a relationship is susceptible to suspicion and fear. In the Dalai Lama’s eyes self discipline is the practice of sticking to your values. He once acknowledged that “The very purpose of spirituality is self-discipline. Rather than criticizing others, we should evaluate and criticize …show more content…
He expressed his views on the importance of helping others saying: “Our prime purpose in life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” He elaborates on what it means to “help” saying: “Helping others is not limited to providing food, shelter, and so forth, but includes relieving the basic causes of suffering and providing the basic causes of happiness.” You can easily help others simply by doing the little things like cracking a joke when someone's sad or assisting someone in picking up their dropped belongings. Acts of kindness not only help others they also make the person being charitable feel great. The Dalai Lama preaches that anyone can make a difference by being kind, you don’t have to be rich or powerful to have an impact. He hilariously remarked “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a

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