#atozchallenge – Tenzin Gyatso Inspires Me

I am not exactly sure when I first learned about The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. I knew about him long before I began studying Buddhism and long before I learned about meditation and Mindfulness. The plight of Tibet came to my attention in the mid-1990s, but I  knew of him even before then. I consider Tenzin Gyatso as my primary teacher, so perhaps he came into my consciousness in the early 1990s while I was studying world religions in college. It seems his teachings have always been with me. I’ve often wondered how hard it would be to be exiled from your home and forced to live in a foreign country. Thank goodness India is partially Buddhist and Tenzin Gyatso can make a comfortable home for himself there. I would love to see him return to Tibet in his lifetime. That is my one wish for him. So what it is about this simple monk that inspires me so deeply? His dedication and service to his position, his people and for spreading love, peace and compassion around the world. In these times, I think we can use more people like him.

Here are some of my favorite quotes by The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso:

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And here are a few Youtube videos of his talks that I think you will find enlightening:

Interesting Facts: Tenzin Gyatso was selected as the tulku of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937 and formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama at a public declaration near the town of Bumchen in 1939. His enthronement ceremony as the Dalai Lama was held in Lhasa on February 22, 1940, and he eventually assumed full temporal (political) duties on 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, after China’s invasion of Tibet. During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India, where he currently lives as a refugee. The 14th Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He has traveled the world and has spoken about the welfare of Tibetans, environment, economics, women’s rights, non-violence, interfaith dialogue, physics, astronomy, Buddhism and science, cognitive neuroscience, reproductive health, and sexuality, along with various Mahayana and Vajrayana topics. (source)

To learn more about this humble and amazing monk, check out his Official Website

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Thank you for joining me for the A-to-Z Challenge. If you’d like to see who else is participating, check them out here.

Each day, I will be posting about People Who Inspire Me.