Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Dalai Lama


His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New York, 1987
Photograph by Herb Ritts

unused, bought in 2010

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Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub; on 6 July 1935) is the 14th Dalai Lama, a spiritual leader revered among the people of Tibet. Tibetans traditionally believe him to be the reincarnation of his predecessors.

He was proclaimed the tulku or rebirth of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two. Then on November 17, 1950, he was enthroned formally as Dalai Lama: at the age of fifteen, and he became the region's most important spiritual leader and political ruler.

A noted public speaker worldwide, the Dalai Lama is often described as charismatic. He is the first Dalai Lama to travel to the West, where he seeks to spread Buddhist teachings. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

On 17 December 2008, after months of speculation, he announced his semi-retirement. The then 73-year-old Nobel laureate, who had recently undergone surgery, told reporters, "I have grown old.... It is better if I retire completely and get out of the way of the Tibetan movement."

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