Dalai Lama Research Paper

The 14th Dalai Lama is perhaps one of the most interesting and significant public figures of the modern era. The reputation of the Dalai Lama varies widely, an enemy of the People’s Republic of China or at least that’s how the Chinese considered and also accused him of hypocrisy and a lack of wisdom, unlike his own people and much of the western world loved and respected him for the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people he is. The Chinese society knew Buddhism way before it was introduced in Tibet around the first century BCE, though the forms of Buddhism that became popular in china were mostly not the same as the type of Buddhism practiced in Tibet. Back then they all lived in peace together and the emperors even confirmed …show more content…
The first is called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) which was under the direct jurisdiction of the Dalai Lama’s government, unlike the second which is usually called ethnographic Tibet. In 1949 the Chinese People’s Liberation Army entered central Tibet and the capital Lhasa itself in 1951. This sparked violent and bloody clashes between the monks and the Chinese authorities in these areas which have been well documented and everyone could see how cruel the members of the People’s Liberation Army was, therefore the Dalai Lama and his entourage were forced to escape to northern India through a dangerous Himalayan passes without alerting the Chinese, although his arrival there was something of an embarrassment to the Indian government. The Dalai Lama and his government in exile are now settled at Dharamsala in northern India doing their best to represent Tibetan interests. In 1966 after the Dalai Lama had left Tibet the Chinese Cultural Revolution made the suppression of religion their main activity, so the Religious practice was forbidden and they also destroyed much of the monasteries that were remained. …show more content…
Therefore the aspects of Buddhist teaching and practice have become absorbed by western culture, partly because Buddhism itself is diverse. Another reason why some of the westerners find Buddhism attractive is that it teaches that faith in not the way to salvation, yet Buddhism emphasizes practice built on questioning and experience known in ways such as meditation so that even Christians, Jews and even those with no religion can use in their

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