14th Dalai Lama

== Life as the Dalai Lama ==
[[File:Potala Palace, Tibet.jpg|thumb|Lhasa's [[Potala Palace]], today a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]], 2019]]

Historically the Dalai Lamas or their [[regent]]s held political and religious leadership over [[Tibet]] from [[Lhasa]] with varying degrees of influence depending on the regions of Tibet and periods of history. This began with the [[5th Dalai Lama]]'s rule in 1642 and lasted until the 1950s (except for 1705–1750), during which period the Dalai Lamas headed the Tibetan government or [[Ganden Phodrang]]. Until 1912 however, when the 13th Dalai Lama declared the complete independence of [[Tibet (1912–1951)|Tibet]], their rule was generally subject to [[priest and patron|patronage and protection]] of firstly Mongol kings (1642–1720) and then the [[Manchu people|Manchu]]-led [[Qing dynasty]] (1720–1912).<ref>{{cite book|author1=Smith, Warren W. Jr.|title=Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations|date=1997|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New Delhi|isbn=0-8133-3155-2|pages=107–149}}</ref>

During the Dalai Lama's recognition process, the cultural Anthropologist Goldstein writes:
{{blockquote|everything the Tibetans did during the selection process was designed to prevent China from playing any role.<ref name="Goldstein1991" /><ref name="Powers">{{cite book|last1=Powers|first1=John|title=The Buddha Party: How the People's Republic of China Works to Define and Control Tibetan Buddhism}}</ref>}}

Afterwards in 1939, at the age of four, the Dalai Lama was taken in a procession of lamas to Lhasa. The traditional ceremony enthroning the 14th Dalai Lama was attended by observing Chinese and foreign dignitaries after a traditional Tibetan recognition processes.

[[Sir Basil Gould]], the British representative of the Government of India, has left a highly detailed account of the ceremonies surrounding the enthronement of the 14th Dalai Lama in Chapter 16 of his memoir, The Jewel in the Lotus.<ref>Gould, B.J., The Jewel In The Lotus London: Chatto and Windus, 1957</ref> Gould disputes the Chinese claim to have presided over it. He criticised the Chinese account as follows:
{{blockquote|The report was issued in the Chinese Press that Mr Wu had escorted the Dalai Lama to his throne and announced his installation, that the Dalai Lama had returned thanks, and prostrated himself in token of his gratitude. Every one of these Chinese claims was false. Mr Wu was merely a passive spectator. He did no more than present a ceremonial scarf, as was done by the others, including the British Representative. But the Chinese have the ear of the world, and can later refer to their press records and present an account of historical events that is wholly untrue. Tibet has no newspapers, either in English or Tibetan, and has therefore no means of exposing these falsehoods.<ref>Bell 1946, p. 400.</ref>}}
[[File:Map of Tibet- "TIBET CONFIDENTIAL" "Ethnographic Boundary of Tibet" "Approximate Line of Communist Advance" and "Reportedly occupied by Communists" "11518, CIA, 2-50" February 1950 map- 305945 11518 01.jpg|thumb|250px|Territorial extent of Tibet and approximate line of the [[Chinese Communist Party|Chinese Communist]] advance in 1950]]
Tibetan scholar Nyima Gyaincain wrote that based on Tibetan tradition, there was no such thing as presiding over an event, and wrote that the word "主持 (preside or organize)" was used in many places in communication documents. The meaning of the word was different from what we understand today. He added that Wu Zhongxin spent a lot of time and energy on the event, his effect of presiding over or organising the event was very obvious.{{Clarify|reason=Final sentence needs clarification – probably is trying to indicate his intent was to appear to preside rather than that his effect was to do so?|date=January 2021}}<ref name="王家伟尼玛坚赞1997_preside">{{cite book|author1=王家伟|author2=尼玛坚赞|title=中国西藏的历史地位|trans-title=Wang Jiawei; Nima Gyaltsen (1997). The historical position of Tibet in China. China Communication Publishing House|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eWCa0NSILSsC&pg=PA133|year=1997|publisher=五洲传播出版社|isbn=978-7-80113-303-8|pages=133–|access-date=27 September 2017|archive-date=28 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228235631/https://books.google.com/books?id=eWCa0NSILSsC&pg=PA133|url-status=live}}</ref>

After his enthronement, the Dalai Lama's childhood was then spent between the Potala Palace and [[Norbulingka]], his summer residence, both of which are now [[UNESCO World Heritage Sites]].

Chiang Kai Shek ordered Ma Bufang to put his Muslim soldiers on alert for an invasion of Tibet in 1942.<ref name="Lin">{{cite journal |title = War or Stratagem? Reassessing China's Military Advance towards Tibet, 1942–1943 |journal = The China Quarterly |volume = 186 |pages = 446–462 |last=Lin|first=Hsiao-ting |doi = 10.1017/S0305741006000233 |year = 2006 |s2cid = 154376402 }}</ref> Ma Bufang complied, and moved several thousand troops to the border with Tibet.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4_BxAAAAMAAJ&q=ma+bufang+ |title = China in the anti-Japanese War, 1937–1945: politics, culture and society |author1 = David P. Barrett |author2 = Lawrence N. Shyu |year = 2001 |publisher = Peter Lang |isbn = 978-0-8204-4556-4 |page = <!-- 98, -->240 |access-date = 28 June 2010 |archive-date = 24 June 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210624211228/https://books.google.com/books?id=4_BxAAAAMAAJ&q=ma+bufang+ |url-status = live }}</ref> Chiang also threatened the Tibetans with aerial bombardment if they worked with the Japanese. Ma Bufang attacked the Tibetan Buddhist Tsang monastery in 1941.<ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m1RuAAAAMAAJ|title = Inner Asia, Volume 4, Issues 1–2|author = University of Cambridge. Mongolia & Inner Asia Studies Unit|year = 2002|publisher = The White Horse Press for the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at the University of Cambridge|page = 204|access-date = 28 June 2010|archive-date = 27 April 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160427132150/https://books.google.com/books?id=m1RuAAAAMAAJ|url-status = live}}</ref> He also constantly attacked the Labrang monastery.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xGvECiS-uEgC&pg=PA35 |title = Labrang: a Tibetan Buddhist monastery at the crossroads of four civilizations |author = Paul Kocot Nietupski |year = 1999 |publisher = Snow Lion Publications |page = 35 |isbn = 978-1-55939-090-3 |access-date = 14 August 2015 |archive-date = 5 February 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170205084013/https://books.google.com/books?id=xGvECiS-uEgC&pg=PA35 |url-status = live }}</ref>

In October 1950 the army of the [[People's Republic of China]] marched to the edge of the Dalai Lama's territory and sent a delegation after defeating a legion of the Tibetan army in [[warlord]]-controlled [[Kham]]. On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, the 14th Dalai Lama assumed full temporal (political) power as ruler of Tibet.<ref name="dlce" />

=== Cooperation and conflicts with the People's Republic of China ===
[[File:Dalai lama, panchen lama and Mao in Beijing, 1954.jpg|thumb|An iconic photo showing [[10th Panchen Lama|Panchen Lama]] (left), Mao and Dalai Lama (right) at [[Zhongnanhai#Qinzheng Hall|Qinzheng Hall]] on 11 September 1954, four days before they attended the [[1st National People's Congress]].]]
[[File:Mao Zedong, Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama.jpg|thumb|[[Mao Zedong]] and [[Zhou Enlai]] meeting with Dalai Lama and [[10th Panchen Lama|Panchen Lama]] to celebrate [[Tibetan New Year]], 1955]]
[[File:Dalai and Panchen.jpg|thumb|A rare shot of an adult Dalai Lama without eyeglasses (right) and [[10th Panchen Lama|Panchen Lama]] (left). 1954–1955.]]

The Dalai Lama's formal rule as head of the government in Tibet was brief although he was enthroned as spiritual leader on 22 February 1940. When Chinese cadres entered Tibet in 1950, with a crisis looming, the Dalai Lama was asked to assume the role of head of state at the age of 15, which he did on 17 November 1950. Customarily the Dalai Lama would typically assume control at about the age of 20.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lopez |first1=Donald S. |title=14th Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist monk |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dalai-Lama-14th |website=britannica.com |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=10 June 2022 |archive-date=11 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011004521/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dalai-Lama-14th |url-status=live }}</ref>

He sent a delegation to Beijing, which ratified the [[Seventeen Point Agreement]] without his authorisation in 1951.<ref>Goldstein, Melvyn C., ''A History of Modern Tibet, 1913–1951'', University of California Press, 1989, pp. 812–813.</ref> The Dalai Lama believes the draft agreement was written by China. Tibetan representatives were not allowed to suggest any alterations and China did not allow the Tibetan representatives to communicate with the Tibetan government in Lhasa. The Tibetan delegation was not authorised by Lhasa to sign, but ultimately submitted to pressure from the Chinese to sign anyway, using seals specifically made for the purpose.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powers |first1=John |title=History as Propaganda: Tibetan Exiles versus the People's Republic of China |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-517426-7 |page=113 |doi=10.1093/0195174267.001.0001 |url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195174267.001.0001/acprof-9780195174267 |access-date=10 June 2022 |archive-date=10 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610025745/https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195174267.001.0001/acprof-9780195174267 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Seventeen Point Agreement recognised Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, but China allowed the Dalai Lama to continue to rule Tibet internally, and it allowed the [[Serfdom in Tibet controversy|system of feudal peasantry]] to persist.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Melvyn C. Goldstein |editor1-last=Rossabi |editor1-first=Morris |title=Governing China's Multiethnic Frontiers |date=2004 |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle |isbn=0-295-98390-6 |pages=193–194 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RmZhAwAAQBAJ |access-date=17 February 2022 |chapter=Tibet and China in the Twentieth Century |quote=Tibet, it said, had the right to exercise regional autonomy under leadership of the central PRC government. This meant that the CCP allowed the feudal system, with its serflike peasantry, to persist, and it allowed the Dalai Lama's government to continue to rule Tibet internally in accordance with its own language and traditional laws. |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407210042/https://books.google.com/books?id=RmZhAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> <blockquote>"So even if it were agreed that serfdom and feudalism existed in Tibet, this would be little different other than in technicalities from conditions in any other "premodern" peasant society, including most of China at that time. The power of the Chinese argument therefore lies in its implication that serfdom, and with it feudalism, is inseparable from extreme abuse," "based on serfdom, it was not necessarily feudal, and [Goldstein] refutes any automatic link with extreme abuse." "Evidence to support this linkage has not been found by scholars other than those close to Chinese governmental circles."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barnett |first1=Robert |title=Authenticating Tibet: Answers to China's 100 Questions |date=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA |isbn=9780520249288 |pages=81–84 |url=https://info-buddhism.com/Human-Rights-in-Tibet-before-1959_Robert_Barnett.html |access-date=10 June 2022 |archive-date=8 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708014121/https://info-buddhism.com/Human-Rights-in-Tibet-before-1959_Robert_Barnett.html |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

The 19-year-old Dalai Lama toured China for almost a year from 1954 to 1955, meeting many of the revolutionary leaders and the top echelon of the Chinese communist leadership who created modern China. He learned Chinese and socialist ideals, as explained by his Chinese hosts, on a tour of China showcasing the benefits of socialism and the effective governance provided to turn the large, impoverished nation into a modern and egalitarian society, which impressed him.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Samphel |first1=Thubten |title=The Dalai Lama's China Experience and Its Impact |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-dalai-lamas-china-experience-and-its-impact_b_7068928 |access-date=10 June 2022 |publisher=Huffington Post |date=15 April 2015 |archive-date=31 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131131319/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-dalai-lamas-china-experience-and-its-impact_b_7068928 |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 1954, he went to the Chinese capital to meet [[Chairman Mao Zedong]] with the [[10th Panchen Lama]] and attend the first session of the [[National People's Congress]] as a delegate, primarily discussing [[Constitution of the People's Republic of China|China's constitution]].<ref>Goldstein, M.C., ''A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 2 – The Calm before the Storm: 1951–1955'', p. 493.</ref><ref>''[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/30/content_3422747.htm Ngapoi recalls the founding of the TAR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013180003/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/30/content_3422747.htm|date=13 October 2007}}'', [[Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme]], ''[[China View]]'', 30 August 2005.</ref> On 27 September 1954, the Dalai Lama was selected as a [[Vice Chairperson of the National People's Congress|Vice-chairman]] of the [[Standing Committee of the National People's Congress|Standing Committee]] of the National People's Congress,<ref>Goldstein, M.C., ''A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 2 – The Calm before the Storm: 1951–1955'', p. 496.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://voyage.typepad.com/china/2007/01/chairman_mao_lo.html |title=Chairman Mao: Long Live Dalai Lama! |publisher=Voyage.typepad.com |date=21 January 2007 |access-date=2 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505143746/http://voyage.typepad.com/china/2007/01/chairman_mao_lo.html |archive-date=5 May 2010 }}</ref> a post he officially held until 1964.<ref>[[s:zh:国务院关于撤销达赖喇嘛·丹增嘉措职务的决定|《国务院关于撤销达赖喇嘛·丹增嘉措职务的决定》]]（一九六四年十二月十七日国务院全体会议第一五一次会议通过）: "西藏自治区筹备委员会主任委员达赖喇嘛·丹增嘉措，一九五九年发动叛国的反革命武装叛乱。在逃往国外以后，组织流亡伪政府，公布伪宪法，支持印度反动派对我国的侵略，并积极组织和训练逃亡国外的残匪骚扰祖国边境。这一切都证明他早已自绝于祖国和人民，是一个死心塌地为帝国主义和外国反动派作走狗的叛国分子。国务院根据西藏地方人民的要求，决定撤销达赖喇嘛·丹增嘉措的西藏自治区筹备委员会主任委员和委员的职务。"
On 17 December 1964, the 151st meeting of the plenary session of the State Council approved: The Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Preparatory Committee, launched a treasonous counter-revolutionary armed rebellion in 1959. After fleeing abroad, he organized a pseudo-government in exile, promulgated a pseudo-constitution, supported the Indian reactionaries' aggression against our country, and actively organized and trained bandits who fled abroad to harass the motherland's borders. All this proves that he has terminated himself from the motherland and the people, and he is a traitor who is desperately running for the imperialism and foreign reactionaries. The State Council decided to remove the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso's duties as chairman and member of the Tibet Autonomous Region Preparatory Committee in accordance with the request of the local people in Tibet.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url = http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6284184.html |title = Official: Dalai Lama's U.S. award not to affect Tibet's stability |date = 16 October 2007 |access-date = 28 August 2010 |publisher = [[People's Daily]] |work = [[17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party]] |archive-date = 30 November 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111130105921/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6284184.html |url-status = live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|Mao Zedong who, "according to the Tibetan leader, treated him as a 'father would treat a son,'" "also showed Tibet’s political leader and its foremost spiritual master its ambivalence to Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama recounts this episode in his autobiography, ''My Land and My People'',

'A few days later I had a message from Mao Tse-tung to say that he was coming to see me in an hour’s time. When he arrived he said he had merely come to call. Then something made him say that Buddhism was quite a good religion, and Lord Buddha, although he was a prince, had given a good deal of thought to the question of improving the conditions of the people. He also observed that the Goddess Tara was a kind-hearted woman. After a very few minutes, he left. I was quite bewildered by these remarks and did not know what to make of them.'

The comments Mao made during their last meeting shocked the Dalai Lama beyond belief. 'My final interview with this remarkable man was toward the end of my visit to China. I was at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly when I received a message asking me to go to see him at this house. By then, I had been able to complete a tour of the Chinese provinces, and I was able to tell him truthfully that I had been greatly impressed and interested by all the development projects I had seen. Then he started to give me a long lecture about the true form of democracy, and advised me how to become a leader of the people and how to take heed of their suggestions. And then he edged closer to me on his chair and whispered:

'I understand you very well. But of course, religion is poison. It has two great defects: It undermines the race, and secondly it retards the progress of the country. Tibet and Mongolia have both been poisoned by it.'"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Samphel |first1=Thubten |title=The Dalai Lama's China Experience and Its Impact |url=https://tibet.net/the-dalai-lamas-china-experience-and-its-impact/ |website=tibet.net |date=16 April 2015 |publisher=Huffington Post |access-date=17 August 2022 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306151637/https://tibet.net/the-dalai-lamas-china-experience-and-its-impact/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In his autobiography, ''Freedom In Exile'', the Dalai Lama recalls: "How could he have thought I was not religious to the core of my being?'"<ref>{{cite news |last1=Douglas |first1=Ed |title=The Dalai Lama: The lost horizons |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/1999/may/08/books.guardianreview9 |access-date=10 June 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=7 May 1999 |archive-date=10 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610025745/https://www.theguardian.com/books/1999/may/08/books.guardianreview9 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

In 1956, on a trip to India to celebrate the [[Buddha's Birthday]], the Dalai Lama asked the [[Prime Minister of India]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], if he would allow him [[political asylum]] should he choose to stay. Nehru discouraged this as a provocation against peace, and reminded him of the Indian Government's [[Non-interventionism|non-interventionist]] stance agreed upon with its [[Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence|1954 treaty with China]].<ref name="bio" />

Long called a "splittist" and "traitor" by China,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Burns |first1=John F. |title=Dalai Lama Finds China's Threats A Subject for Humor and Anxiety |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/06/world/dalai-lama-finds-china-s-threats-a-subject-for-humor-and-anxiety.html |access-date=22 October 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=6 March 1996 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022173733/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/06/world/dalai-lama-finds-china-s-threats-a-subject-for-humor-and-anxiety.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the Dalai Lama has attempted formal talks over Tibet's status in China.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |last2=Pomfret |first2=John |title=Dalai Lama Delays Plan for Formal Talks With China |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/china/stories/dalai111198.htm |access-date=22 October 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=11 November 1998 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022221801/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/china/stories/dalai111198.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2019, after the United States passed a law requiring the US to deny visas to Chinese officials in charge of implementing policies that restrict foreign access to Tibet, the US Ambassador to China "encouraged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, without preconditions, to seek a settlement that resolves differences".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Martina |first1=Michael |title=U.S. ambassador urges China to talk to the Dalai Lama |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-tibet/us-ambassador-urges-china-to-talk-to-the-dalai-lama-idUSKCN1SW01C |access-date=28 January 2020 |publisher=Reuters |date=25 May 2019 |archive-date=28 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128150753/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-tibet/us-ambassador-urges-china-to-talk-to-the-dalai-lama-idUSKCN1SW01C |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned the US and other countries to "shun" the Dalai Lama during visits and often uses trade negotiations and human rights talks as an incentive to do so.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Blanchard |first1=Ben |title=China says no excuses for foreign officials meeting Dalai Lama |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-congress-tibet/china-says-no-excuses-for-foreign-officials-meeting-dalai-lama-idUSKBN1CQ057 |access-date=22 October 2019 |work=Reuters |date=21 October 2017 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022173732/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-congress-tibet/china-says-no-excuses-for-foreign-officials-meeting-dalai-lama-idUSKBN1CQ057 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Miglani |first1=Sanjeev |title=Dalai Lama faces cold shoulder as India looks to improve China ties |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-china/dalai-lama-faces-cold-shoulder-as-india-looks-to-improve-china-ties-idUSKBN1H51O7 |access-date=22 October 2019 |publisher=Reuters |date=29 March 2018 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022173733/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-china/dalai-lama-faces-cold-shoulder-as-india-looks-to-improve-china-ties-idUSKBN1H51O7 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Stobdan |first1=Phunchok |title=Dalai Lama is at the centre of a new great game in Himalayas between India, China & Tibet |url=https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/dalai-lama-at-centre-of-new-great-game-himalaya-india-china-tibet/308985/ |access-date=22 October 2019 |agency=Printline Media |publisher=The Print |date=22 October 2019 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022140428/https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/dalai-lama-at-centre-of-new-great-game-himalaya-india-china-tibet/308985/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ramzy |first1=Austin |title=Obama and Dalai Lama Meet Over China's Objection |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/world/asia/obama-dalai-lama-meeting.html |access-date=22 October 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=15 June 2016 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022233610/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/world/asia/obama-dalai-lama-meeting.html |url-status=live }}</ref> China sporadically bans images of the Dalai Lama and arrests citizens for owning photos of him in Tibet.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wee |first1=Sui-Lee |title=China's ban on displaying Dalai Lama pictures is lifted |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinas-ban-on-displaying-dalai-lama-pictures-is-lifted-8677489.html |access-date=22 October 2019 |publisher=Reuters |date=27 June 2013 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022175235/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinas-ban-on-displaying-dalai-lama-pictures-is-lifted-8677489.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Tenzin |first1=Kunsang |title=Tibetans Beaten, Detained in Kardze Over Dalai Lama Photos |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/photos-07292019165028.html |access-date=22 October 2019 |publisher=Radio Free Asia |date=29 July 2019 |archive-date=17 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017200451/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/photos-07292019165028.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title="Severe punishments" for Dalai Lama photos |url=https://freetibet.org/news-media/na/severe-punishments-dalai-lama-photos |access-date=22 October 2019 |publisher=Free Tibet |date=3 February 2016 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022173744/https://freetibet.org/news-media/na/severe-punishments-dalai-lama-photos |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] government job candidates must strongly denounce the Dalai Lama, as announced on the Tibet Autonomous Region government's online education platform, <blockquote>"Support the (Communist) Party's leadership, resolutely implement the [Chinese Communist] Party's line, line of approach, policies, and the guiding ideology of Tibet work in the new era; align ideologically, politically, and in action with the Party Central Committee; oppose any splittist tendencies; expose and criticize the Dalai Lama; safeguard the unity of the motherland and ethnic unity and take a firm stand on political issues, taking a clear and distinct stand".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Patranobis |first1=Sutirtho |title=Tibetan graduates need to 'expose and criticise Dalai Lama' for Chinese government jobs |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/tibetan-graduates-need-to-expose-and-criticise-dalai-lama-for-chinese-govt-jobs/story-3DiVaJxfScyPUyibtvIcrK.html |access-date=22 October 2019 |work=Hindustan Times |date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=20 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020235102/https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/tibetan-graduates-need-to-expose-and-criticise-dalai-lama-for-chinese-govt-jobs/story-3DiVaJxfScyPUyibtvIcrK.html |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

The Dalai Lama is a target of Chinese state sponsored hacking. Security experts claim "targeting Tibetan activists is a strong indicator of official Chinese government involvement" since economic information is the primary goal of private Chinese hackers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Perlroth |first1=Nicole |title=Case Based in China Puts a Face on Persistent Hacking |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/technology/hacking-in-asia-is-linked-to-chinese-ex-graduate-student.html |access-date=23 October 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=29 March 2012 |archive-date=23 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023055645/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/technology/hacking-in-asia-is-linked-to-chinese-ex-graduate-student.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009 the personal office of the Dalai Lama asked researchers at the [[Munk Center for International Studies]] at the [[University of Toronto]] to check its computers for malicious software. This led to uncovering [[GhostNet]], a large-scale cyber spying operation which infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries, including embassies, foreign ministries, other government offices, and organisations affiliated with the Dalai Lama in India, Brussels, London and New York, and believed to be focusing on the governments of South and Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Markoff |first1=John |title=Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/technology/29spy.html |access-date=22 October 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=28 March 2009 |archive-date=1 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401224950/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/technology/29spy.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Markoff |first1=John |title=Tracking Cyberspies Through the Web Wilderness |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/12cyber.html |access-date=22 October 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=11 May 2009 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022234433/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/12cyber.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7970471.stm|title=Major cyber spy network uncovered|work=BBC News|date=29 March 2009|access-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315213515/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7970471.stm|archive-date=15 March 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

A second cyberspy network, [[Shadow Network]], was discovered by the same researchers in 2010. Stolen documents included a year's worth of the Dalai Lama's personal email, and classified government material relating to India, West Africa, the Russian Federation, the Middle East, and NATO. "Sophisticated" hackers were linked to universities in China, Beijing again denied involvement.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Branigan |first1=Tania |title=Cyber-spies based in China target Indian government and Dalai Lama |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/apr/06/cyber-spies-china-target-india |access-date=23 October 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=6 April 2010 |archive-date=23 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023055646/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/apr/06/cyber-spies-china-target-india |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Markoff |first1=John |last2=Barboza |first2=David |title=Researchers Trace Data Theft to Intruders in China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/science/06cyber.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=23 October 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=5 April 2010 |archive-date=23 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023055654/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/science/06cyber.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> Chinese hackers posing as [[The New York Times]], [[Amnesty International]] and other organisation's reporters targeted the private office of the Dalai Lama, [[Tibetan Parliament]] members, and Tibetan nongovernmental organisations, among others, in 2019.<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news |last1=Perlroth |first1=Nicole |last2=Conger |first2=Kate |last3=Mozur |first3=Paul |title=China Sharpens Hacking to Hound Its Minorities, Far and Wide |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/technology/china-hackers-ethnic-minorities.html |access-date=22 October 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=25 October 2019 |archive-date=22 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022091003/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/technology/china-hackers-ethnic-minorities.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Exile to India ===
[[File:IMG 1206 Lhasa Potala.jpg|thumb|The abandoned former quarters of the Dalai Lama at the [[Potala Palace|Potala]]. The empty vestment placed on the throne symbolises his absence]]
[[File:The 14th Dalai Lama with Lillard Hill in 1959.jpg|thumb|The 14th Dalai Lama interviewed by [[Voice of America]] journalist [[Lillard Hill]] in 1959.]]
[[File:The Dalai Lama opens art exhibit in Tokyo, 1967.jpg|thumb|In 1967, Dalai Lama was out of India for the first time since he resided there from 1959. The [[Eisaku Satō|Japanese government]] granted him visa on the condition he would not attack PRC while in Japan.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dalai Lama opens exhibit of Tibetan art at Ueno|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/dalai-lama-opens-exhibit-of-tibetan-art-at-ueno-1.18977|work=[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]|date=28 September 1967|access-date=11 May 2021|archive-date=11 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511134035/https://www.stripes.com/news/dalai-lama-opens-exhibit-of-tibetan-art-at-ueno-1.18977|url-status=live}}</ref>
]]

At the outset of the [[1959 Tibetan uprising]], fearing for his life, the Dalai Lama and his retinue [[Dalai Lama's escape from China|fled Tibet]] with the help of the [[CIA]]'s [[Special Activities Division]],<ref>The CIA's Secret War in Tibet, Kenneth Conboy, James Morrison, The University Press of Kansas, 2002.</ref> crossing into India on 30 March 1959, reaching [[Tezpur]] in [[Assam]] on 18 April.<ref>Richardson (1984), p. 210.</ref> Some time later he set up the [[Government of Tibet in Exile]] in [[Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh|Dharamshala]], India,<ref>"Witness: Reporting on the Dalai Lama's escape to India." Peter Jackson. ''Reuters''. 27 February 2009.[https://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE51Q4OB20090227 Witness: Reporting on the Dalai Lama's escape to India| Reuters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720072727/http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE51Q4OB20090227 |date=20 July 2009 }}</ref> which is often referred to as "''[[McLeod Ganj|Little Lhasa]]''". After the founding of the government in exile he re-established the approximately 80,000 Tibetan refugees who followed him into exile in agricultural settlements.<ref name="bbcprofile" />

He created a Tibetan educational system in order to teach the Tibetan children the [[Tibetic languages|language]], [[History of Tibet|history]], [[Tibetan Buddhism|religion]], and [[Tibet#Culture|culture]]. The [[Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts]] was established<ref name="bbcprofile" /> in 1959 and the [[Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies]]<ref name="bbcprofile" /> became the primary university for Tibetans in India in 1967. He supported the refounding of 200 monasteries and nunneries in an attempt to preserve Tibetan Buddhist teachings and the Tibetan way of life.

The Dalai Lama appealed to the [[United Nations]] on the rights of Tibetans. This appeal resulted in three resolutions adopted by the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]] in 1959, 1961, and 1965,<ref name="bbcprofile" /> all before the People's Republic [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758|was allowed representation at the United Nations]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1971/12295509436546-1/ |title=Events of 1971 |work=Year in Review |year=1971 |publisher=United Press International |access-date=28 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503142809/http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1971/12295509436546-1/ |archive-date=3 May 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The resolutions called on China to respect the human rights of [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]].<ref name="bbcprofile" /> In 1963, he promulgated a democratic constitution which is based upon the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], creating an elected [[Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration|parliament]] and an [[Central Tibetan Administration|administration]] to champion his cause. In 1970, he opened the [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]] in Dharamshala which houses over 80,000 manuscripts and important knowledge resources related to Tibetan history, politics and culture. It is considered one of the most important institutions for [[Tibetology]] in the world.<ref name="LTWA">{{cite web |url = http://www.tibet.com/ltwa.html |title = Library of Tibetan Works and Archives|year=1997 |publisher = [[Government of Tibet in Exile]] |access-date = 23 September 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080421150024/http://www.tibet.com/ltwa.html |archive-date=21 April 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2016, there were demands from Indian citizens and politicians of different political parties to confer the Dalai Lama the prestigious [[Bharat Ratna]], the highest civilian honour of India, which has only been awarded to a non-Indian citizen twice in its history.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bharat-Ratna-demanded-for-Dalai-Lama/articleshow/55877372.cms|title=Bharat Ratna demanded for Dalai Lama|work=The Times of India|date=8 December 2016 |access-date=4 January 2017|archive-date=9 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109083901/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/bharat-ratna-demanded-for-dalai-lama/articleshow/55877372.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2021, it was revealed that the Dalai Lama's inner circle were listed in the [[Pegasus Project revelations in India|Pegasus project data]] as having been targeted with [[spyware]] on their phones. Analysis strongly indicates potential targets were selected by the Indian government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/jul/22/dalai-lama-inner-circle-listed-pegasus-project-data|title=Dalai Lama's inner circle listed in Pegasus project data|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=22 July 2021|access-date=3 September 2021|archive-date=4 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904190127/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/jul/22/dalai-lama-inner-circle-listed-pegasus-project-data|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/dalai-lamas-inner-circle-listed-in-pegasus-project-data/|title=Dalai Lama's inner circle listed in Pegasus project data|access-date=25 November 2021|archive-date=25 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125174233/https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/dalai-lamas-inner-circle-listed-in-pegasus-project-data/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== International advocacy ===
[[File:Die Schweiz für Tibet - Tibet für die Welt - GSTF Solidaritätskundgebung am 10 April 2010 in Zürich IMG 5703.JPG|thumb|The [[flag of Tibet]] (designed by the 13th Dalai Lama) shares the stage with Gyatso in April 2010 in [[Zürich|Zurich]], Switzerland|alt=]]

At the [[Congressional Human Rights Caucus]] in 1987 in [[Washington, D.C.]], the Dalai Lama gave a speech outlining his ideas for the future status of Tibet. The plan called for Tibet to become a democratic "zone of peace" without [[nuclear weapons]], and with support for [[human rights]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}} The plan would come to be known as the "Strasbourg proposal," because the Dalai Lama expanded on the plan at [[Strasbourg]] on 15 June 1988. There, he proposed the creation of a self-governing Tibet "in association with the People's Republic of China." This would have been pursued by negotiations with the PRC government, but the plan was rejected by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in 1991.<ref>From Article 31 of Charter of the Tibetans-in-exile 1991: "The Council of Regency shall exercise executive powers and authority in the following circumstances: (1)(a) of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has not assumed or retained the powers of the head of the Tibetan Administration and the executive functions therein;"</ref> The Dalai Lama has indicated that he wishes to return to Tibet only if the People's Republic of China agrees not to make any precondition for his return.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/05/china.lukeharding Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211081911/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/05/china.lukeharding |date=11 February 2021 }} with ''[[The Guardian]]'', 5 September 2003</ref> In the 1970s, the [[Paramount leader]] [[Deng Xiaoping]] set China's sole return requirement to the Dalai Lama as that he "must [come back] as a Chinese citizen ... that is, patriotism".<ref>{{Cite news |url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/01/content_10921943_3.htm |title = Origin of the title of "Dalai Lama" and its related background |date = 1 March 2009 |access-date = 28 August 2010 |first = Jiang |last = Yuxia |publisher = [[Xinhua]] |archive-date = 27 September 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110927193359/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/01/content_10921943_3.htm |url-status = dead }}</ref>

The Dalai Lama celebrated his 70th birthday on 6 July 2005. About 10,000 Tibetan refugees, monks and foreign tourists gathered outside his home. [[Patriarch Alexius II]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] alleged positive relations with Buddhists. However, later that year, the Russian state prevented the Dalai Lama from fulfilling an invitation to the traditionally Buddhist republic of [[Kalmykia]].<ref>Fagan, Geraldine. "Russia: How Many Missionaries Now Denied Visas'." Forum 18 News Service. Vol. 7. 2005.</ref> The President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), [[Chen Shui-bian]], attended an evening celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday at the [[Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall]] in Taipei.<ref>{{cite news|title=China keeps up attacks on Dalai Lama |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/04/01/taiwan.dalailama.05/ |work=CNN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061218161849/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/04/01/taiwan.dalailama.05/ |archive-date=18 December 2006 }}</ref> In October 2008 in Japan, the Dalai Lama addressed the [[2008 Tibetan unrest|2008 Tibetan violence]] that had erupted and that the Chinese government accused him of fomenting. He responded that he had "lost faith" in efforts to negotiate with the Chinese government, and that it was "up to the Tibetan people" to decide what to do.<ref>{{Cite news |url = http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/11/200811382944579283.html |title = Dalai Lama admits Tibet failure |publisher = [[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |date = 3 November 2008 |access-date = 28 August 2010 |archive-date = 11 March 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090311172035/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/11/200811382944579283.html |url-status = live }}</ref>

During his visit to Taiwan after [[Typhoon Morakot]] 30 Taiwanese indigenous peoples protested against the Dalai Lama and denounced it as politically motivated.<ref>{{cite news |author= AFP |date= 31 August 2009 |title= Protesters accuse Dalai Lama of staging 'political show' in Taiwan |url= http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Asia/Story/A1Story20090831-164580.html |newspaper= asiaone news |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200902/http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Asia/Story/A1Story20090831-164580.html |archive-date= 4 March 2016 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Wang |first= Amber |date= 31 August 2009 |title= Dalai Lama visits Taiwan typhoon victims |url= https://www.smh.com.au//breaking-news-world/dalai-lama-visits-taiwan-typhoon-victims-20090831-f4p7.html |newspaper= The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date= 20 February 2020 |archive-date= 19 October 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171019214943/http://www.smh.com.au//breaking-news-world/dalai-lama-visits-taiwan-typhoon-victims-20090831-f4p7.html |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= Staff Writers |date= 31 August 2009 |title= Dalai Lama visits Taiwan typhoon victims amid Chinese anger |url= http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Dalai_Lama_visits_Taiwan_typhoon_victims_amid_Chinese_anger_999.html |newspaper= Terra Daily |location= Kaohsiung, Taiwan (AFP) |access-date= 8 November 2015 |archive-date= 11 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210211195725/https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Dalai_Lama_visits_Taiwan_typhoon_victims_amid_Chinese_anger_999.html |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125168355194471405|title=Dalai Lama Visits Taiwan|date=2 September 2009|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=4 August 2017|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308194922/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125168355194471405|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Dalai Lama is an advocate for a world free of nuclear weapons, and serves on the Advisory Council of the [[Nuclear Age Peace Foundation]].

The Dalai Lama has voiced his support for the [[Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly]], an organisation which campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://en.unpacampaign.org/supporters/overview/?mapcountry=allnob&mapgroup=nob|title=Overview|work=Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly|access-date=21 September 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019195947/http://en.unpacampaign.org/supporters/overview/?mapcountry=allnob&mapgroup=nob|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Teaching activities, public talks ===
[[File:Dalai Lama 1997.jpg|thumb|left|Gyatso during a visit to [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1997]]
[[File:His Holiness giving teachings at Sissu, Lahaul.jpg|thumb|Gyatso giving teachings at [[Sissu]], [[Lahaul]]]]
Despite becoming 80 years old in 2015, he maintains a busy international lecture and teaching schedule.<ref name="Schedule">{{cite web |title = Schedule |url = http://www.dalailama.com/teachings/schedule |publisher = Office of the Dalai Lama |access-date = 19 May 2015 |archive-date = 22 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150522055813/http://www.dalailama.com/teachings/schedule |url-status = live }}</ref> His [[public talks]] and [[teachings]] are usually [[webcast]] live in multiple languages, via an inviting organisation's [[website]], or on the Dalai Lama's own website. Scores of his past teaching videos can be viewed there, as well as [[public talks]], [[Convention (meeting)|conferences]], [[interviews]], [[dialogues]] and [[panel discussion]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title = Browse webcasts – Teachings |url = http://dalailama.com/webcasts/category/1 |publisher = Office of the Dalai Lama |access-date = 19 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131209033538/http://www.dalailama.com/webcasts/category/1 |archive-date = 9 December 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

The Dalai Lama's best known teaching subject is the [[Kalachakra tantra]] which, as of 2014, he had conferred a total of 33 times,<ref>{{cite web |author1=Kshipra Simon |title=His Holiness Dalai Lama leading the 33rd Kalachakra World Peace Prayer in Ladakh. |url=http://www.demotix.com/news/5330591/33rd-kalachakra-ladakh#media-5330334 |publisher=Demotix |location=New Delhi, India |format=Photojournalism |date=21 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703140659/http://www.demotix.com/news/5330591/33rd-kalachakra-ladakh#media-5330334 |archive-date=3 July 2015 }}</ref> most often in India's upper Himalayan regions but also in the [[Western world]].<ref name="Office of Dalai Lama">{{cite web |title = Kalachakra Initiations by His Holiness the Dalai Lama |url = http://dalailama.com/teachings/kalachakra-initiations |publisher = Office of Dalai Lama |access-date = 19 May 2015 |quote = List of |archive-date = 14 December 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091214213557/http://www.dalailama.com/teachings/kalachakra-initiations |url-status = live }}</ref> The [[Kalachakra]] (Wheel of Time) is one of the most complex teachings of Buddhism, sometimes taking two weeks to confer, and he often confers it on very large audiences, up to 200,000 students and disciples at a time.<ref name="Office of Dalai Lama" /><ref>{{cite web |author1 = Antonia Blumberg |title = Dalai Lama Delivers Kalachakra Buddhist Teaching To Thousands of Devotees |url = https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/07/dalai-lama-kalachakra_n_5564616.html |work = HuffPost |date = 7 July 2014 |quote = Roughly 150,000 devotees reportedly converged for the event |access-date = 20 February 2020 |archive-date = 19 October 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171019215242/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/07/dalai-lama-kalachakra_n_5564616.html |url-status = live }}</ref>

The Dalai Lama is the [[#Publications|author of numerous books on Buddhism]],<ref name=books>{{cite web |author1 = The Dalai Lama |title = Books (on Buddhism) by the Dalai Lama |url = http://www.dalailama.com/biography/books/ |publisher = Various |access-date = 3 May 2015 |archive-date = 12 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150512011836/http://www.dalailama.com/biography/books |url-status = live }}</ref> many of them on general Buddhist subjects but also including books on particular topics like [[Dzogchen]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great Perfection |url=http://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/dzogchen-the-heart-essence-of-the-great-perfection/ |publisher=Shambala Publications |access-date=3 May 2015 |archive-date=19 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019220405/https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/dzogchen-the-heart-essence-of-the-great-perfection/ |url-status=live }}</ref> a Nyingma practice.

In his essay "The Ethic of Compassion" (1999), the Dalai Lama expresses his belief that if we only reserve compassion for those that we love, we are ignoring the responsibility of sharing these characteristics of respect and empathy with those we do not have relationships with, which cannot allow us to "cultivate love." He elaborates upon this idea by writing that although it takes time to develop a higher level of compassion, eventually we will recognise that the quality of empathy will become a part of life and promote our quality as humans and inner strength.<ref>{{cite book|author=Dalai Lama XIV|title=The Ethic of Compassion|date=1999|publisher=Riverhead Books|pages=123–31}}</ref>

He frequently accepts requests from students to visit various countries worldwide in order to give teachings to large Buddhist audiences, teachings that are usually based on classical Buddhist texts and commentaries,<ref name=DLSch>{{cite web |title = Schedule |url = http://www.dalailama.com/teachings/schedule |publisher = Office of Dalai Lama |access-date = 3 May 2015 |location = World-wide |archive-date = 22 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150522055813/http://www.dalailama.com/teachings/schedule |url-status = live }}</ref> and most often those written by the 17 pandits or great masters of the [[Nalanda]] tradition, such as Nagarjuna,<ref>{{cite web|title=His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Brisbane |url=http://www.karuna.org.au/announcements/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-in-brisbane |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110134531/http://www.karuna.org.au/announcements/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-in-brisbane |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 January 2015 |date=5 January 2015 |quote=The Dalai Lama's Brisbane teaching will be based on the classic text, Nagarjuna's 'Precious Garland' }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1 = Donald S Lopez Jr. |title = Nagarjuna |url = http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/401601/Nagarjuna |publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica |date = 24 April 2014 |access-date = 3 May 2015 |archive-date = 16 March 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140316140605/http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/401601/Nagarjuna |url-status = live }}</ref> Kamalashila,<ref>{{cite web|author1=Jamyang Dorjee Chakrishar |title=When Indian Pandit Kamalashila defeated China's Hashang in Tibet |url=http://www.sherpaworld.com/show.php?at=1&sn=6805 |publisher=Sherpa World |access-date=3 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521052014/http://www.sherpaworld.com/show.php?at=1&sn=6805 |archive-date=21 May 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Dalai Lama teaching Kamalashila text in Australia, 2008 |url = http://www.dalailamainaustralia.org/pages/?PageID=210 |publisher = Dalai Lama in Australia |date = 11 June 2008 |quote = by reference to Kamalashila's text, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will demonstrate how the nature of awareness, developed through meditative practices can be transformed into the direct perceptual wisdom necessary to achieve enlightenment itself |access-date = 3 May 2015 |archive-date = 4 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160404054502/http://dalailamainaustralia.org/pages/?pageid=210 |url-status = dead }}</ref> Shantideva,<ref>{{cite web |title = Compassion in Emptiness: Dalai Lama Teaches Shantideva |url = http://www.oscilloscope.net/films/film/51/Compassion-in-Emptiness |publisher = Oscilloscope |format = DVD set |date = 7 May 2011 |quote = In 2010, His Holiness traveled to New York City to teach A Commentary on Bodhicitta by Nagarjuna and A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Shantideva. |access-date = 3 May 2015 |archive-date = 26 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210226044123/http://www.oscilloscope.net/films/film/51/Compassion-in-Emptiness |url-status = live }}</ref> Atisha,<ref name="Atis">{{cite web |author1 = Phuntsok Yangchen |title = Disciples from over 60 countries attend the Dalai Lama's teachings |url = http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=32210 |publisher = Phayul.com |date = 1 October 2012 |quote = The Dalai Lama today began his four-day teachings on Atisha's [text] 'Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment' |access-date = 3 May 2015 |archive-date = 20 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150520175445/http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=32210 |url-status = live }}</ref> Aryadeva<ref name="Arya">{{cite web |title = The Dalai Lama's Boston teachings |url = http://www.shambhala.com/blog/shambhala/the-dalai-lamas-teaching-on-stages-of-meditation |publisher = Shambala Publications |date = 17 October 2012 |quote = Texts mentioned by His Holiness in his talk ... Aryadeva's 400 Stanzas of the Middle Way |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150521130539/http://www.shambhala.com/blog/shambhala/the-dalai-lamas-teaching-on-stages-of-meditation |archive-date = 21 May 2015 }}</ref> and so on.

[[File:Dalai lama teaching room.jpg|thumb|The Dalai Lama's main teaching room at [[Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh|Dharamshala]]]]
[[File:14th Dalai Lama at Bodh Gaya Kalachakra in December 1985.jpg|thumb|Dalai Lama conferring Kalachakra initiation at Bodh Gaya, India, December 1985]]
[[File:Bodh Gaya Kalachakra crowd overview December 1985.jpg|thumb|right|Overview of teaching venue at Bodh Gaya Kalachakra, 1985]]
The Dalai Lama refers to himself as a follower of these Nalanda masters,<ref>{{cite web |author1 = James Blumenthal, PhD |title = The Seventeen Pandits of Nalanda Monastery |url = http://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/mandala-for-2012/july/the-seventeen-pandits-of-nalanda-monastery/ |publisher = FPMT |access-date = 19 May 2015 |ref = Mandala Magazine |format = Online Magazine |date = July 2012 |quote = he Dalai Lama frequently refers to himself as a follower of the lineage of the seventeen Nalanda masters today |archive-date = 7 April 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150407073629/http://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/mandala-for-2012/july/the-seventeen-pandits-of-nalanda-monastery/ |url-status = live }}</ref> in fact he often asserts that 'Tibetan Buddhism' is based on the Buddhist tradition of Nalanda monastery in ancient India,<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Seventeen Paṇḍitas of Nālandā |url=http://www.bodhimarga.org/meditation-teachings/the-nalanda-tradition/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160424082907/http://www.bodhimarga.org/meditation-teachings/the-nalanda-tradition/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 April 2016 |publisher=Bodhimarga |access-date=19 May 2015 |quote=they came to shape the very meaning of Buddhist philosophy and religious practice, both in India and Tibet }}</ref> since the texts written by those 17 Nalanda pandits or masters, to whom he has composed a poem of invocation,<ref>{{cite web |author1=Dalai Lama |title=An invocation of the seventeen great sagely adepts of glorious Nalanda |url=http://thubtenchodron.org/2001/12/nalanda-prayer/ |publisher=Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron |format=Poetry |date=15 December 2001 |access-date=19 May 2015 |archive-date=8 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108112008/https://thubtenchodron.org/2001/12/nalanda-prayer/ |url-status=live }}</ref> were brought to Tibet and translated into Tibetan when Buddhism was first established there and have remained central to the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism ever since.<ref>{{cite news|author1 = HT Correspondent|title = Tibetan language must to keep Nalanda tradition alive: Dalai Lama|url = http://www.hindustantimes.com/himachalpradesh/tibetan-language-must-to-keep-nalanda-tradition-alive-dalai-lama/article1-1323860.aspx|work = Hindustan Times|date = 7 March 2015|location = Dharamsala|quote = The unique quality of Tibetan Buddhism is that it is based on ancient India's Nalanda Buddhist tradition|access-date = 19 May 2015|archive-date = 21 April 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150421012015/http://www.hindustantimes.com/himachalpradesh/tibetan-language-must-to-keep-nalanda-tradition-alive-dalai-lama/article1-1323860.aspx|url-status = dead}}</ref>

As examples of other teachings, in London in 1984 he was invited to give teachings on the Twelve Links of Dependent Arising, and on [[Dzogchen]], which he gave at Camden Town Hall; in 1988 he was in London once more to give a series of lectures on Tibetan Buddhism in general, called 'A Survey of the Paths of Tibetan Buddhism'.<ref>{{cite web |title = A Survey of the Paths of Tibetan Buddhism |date = 2 April 2015 |url = http://www.lamayeshe.com/index.php?sect=article&id=421 |publisher = Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive |access-date = 18 May 2015 |archive-date = 29 March 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150329181659/http://lamayeshe.com/index.php?sect=article&id=421 |url-status = live }}</ref> Again in London in 1996 he taught the [[Four Noble Truths]], the basis and foundation of Buddhism accepted by all Buddhists, at the combined invitation of 27 different Buddhist organisations of all schools and traditions belonging to the Network of Buddhist Organisations UK.<ref>{{cite web |author1 = Tseten Samdup |title = His Holiness the Dalai Lama will visit the UK from July 15–22 1996 |url = http://www.tibet.ca/en/library/wtn/archive/old?y=1996&m=7&p=7_2 |publisher = World Tibet Network News |date = 7 July 1996 |quote = For the first time in the West, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will give two exclusive days of teaching on 17 and 18 July 1996 on the Four Noble Truths—the heart of the Buddha's teachings. This has been requested by The Network of Buddhist Organisations—a forum for dialogue and co-operation between Buddhist organisations in the UK. |access-date = 18 May 2015 |archive-date = 6 October 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151006015128/http://www.tibet.ca/en/library/wtn/archive/old?y=1996&m=7&p=7_2 |url-status = live }}</ref>

In India, the Dalai Lama gives religious teachings and talks in Dharamsala<ref name="Atis" /> and numerous other locations including the monasteries in the Tibetan refugee settlements,<ref name="DLSch" /> in response to specific requests from Tibetan monastic institutions, Indian academic, religious and business associations, groups of students and individual/private/lay devotees.<ref>{{cite web |title = Teachings |url = http://www.dalailama.com/teachings |publisher = Office of Dalai Lama |access-date = 3 May 2015 |quote = His Holiness has also been giving teachings in India at the request of various Buddhist devotees from Taiwan and Korea |archive-date = 21 April 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150421232032/http://www.dalailama.com/teachings |url-status = live }}</ref> In India, no fees are charged to attend these teachings since costs are covered by requesting sponsors.<ref name="DLSch" /> When he travels abroad to give teachings there is usually a ticket fee calculated by the inviting organisation to cover the costs involved<ref name="DLSch" /> and any surplus is normally to be donated to recognised charities.<ref>{{cite web |title = ONLINE DONATION FACILITY IS AVAILABLE |url = http://www.dalailamainaustralia.org/schedule/detail.aspx?ArtistID=19 |publisher = Dalai Lama in Australia |access-date = 3 May 2015 |quote = Should there be any surplus funds from His Holiness' events, that surplus will be disbursed to charitable organizations under the advisement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama |archive-date = 20 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150520040742/http://www.dalailamainaustralia.org/schedule/detail.aspx?ArtistID=19 |url-status = live }}</ref>

He has frequently visited and lectured at colleges and universities,<ref>{{cite web |author1 = Michael Caddell |title = His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to give public talk at Princeton University |url = https://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S41/02/76E28/index.xml?section=topstories |publisher = Princeton University |date = 9 September 2014 |access-date = 3 May 2015 |archive-date = 18 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518071333/https://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S41/02/76E28/index.xml?section=topstories |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Dalai Lama Visits Colgate |url = http://dalailama.com/news.242.htm |publisher = The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama |access-date = 23 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506015358/http://www.dalailama.com/news.242.htm |archive-date=6 May 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www3.lehigh.edu/dalaiLama/index.html |title = Lehigh University: His Holiness the Dalai Lama |publisher = .lehigh.edu |access-date = 2 May 2010 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100528021841/http://www3.lehigh.edu/dalailama/index.html |archive-date = 28 May 2010 }}</ref> some of which have conferred [[honorary degree]]s upon him.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.dalailama.umn.edu/ |title = The Dalai Lama |publisher = umn.edu |access-date = 9 May 2012 |archive-date = 14 December 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111214020110/http://dalailama.umn.edu/ |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://themacweekly.com/2014/03/his-holiness-the-14th-dalai-lama-visits-macalester-speaks-to-over-3500/ |title = His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visits Macalester, speaks to over 3,500 |date = 7 March 2014 |publisher = The Mac Weekly |access-date = 9 March 2014 |archive-date = 14 July 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190714065914/https://themacweekly.com/2014/03/his-holiness-the-14th-dalai-lama-visits-macalester-speaks-to-over-3500/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

Dozens of videos of recorded webcasts of the Dalai Lama's public talks on general subjects for non-Buddhists like peace, happiness and compassion, modern ethics, the environment, economic and social issues, gender, the empowerment of women and so forth can be viewed in his office's archive.<ref>{{cite web |title = Public talks |url = http://dalailama.com/webcasts/category/4 |publisher = Office of the Dalai Lama |access-date = 19 May 2015 |format = Video |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131009074232/http://www.dalailama.com/webcasts/category/4 |archive-date = 9 October 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

=== Interfaith dialogue ===
The Dalai Lama met [[Pope Paul VI]] at the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] in 1973. He met [[Pope John Paul II]] in 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, and 2003. In 1990, he met a delegation of Jewish teachers in Dharamshala for an extensive interfaith dialogue.<ref>Kamenetz, Rodger (1994)[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060645741 The Jew in the Lotus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213185339/https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060645741 |date=13 December 2021 }} Harper Collins: 1994.</ref> He has since visited Israel three times, and in 2006 met the Chief Rabbi of Israel. In 2006, he met [[Pope Benedict XVI]] privately. He has met the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], Dr. [[Robert Runcie]], and other leaders of the Anglican Church in London, [[Gordon B. Hinckley]], who at the time was the [[President of the Church (LDS Church)|president]] of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], as well as senior [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Muslim]], [[Hindu]], [[Jewish]], and [[Sikh]] officials.

In 1996 and 2002, he participated in the first two Gethsemani Encounters hosted by the [[Monastic Interreligious Dialogue]] at the [[Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani#Monastic interreligious dialogue| Abbey of Our Lady of Getshemani]], where [[Thomas Merton]], whom the Dalai Lama had met in the late 1960s, had lived.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Borelli |first1=John |title=In Memoriam: Bishop Joseph John Gerry, O.S.B. (1928-2023) |journal=Dilatato Corde |date=2023 |volume=XIII |issue=2 July - December |url=https://dimmid.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7b7F171057-4EB9-487F-9E54-5DC835955930%7d |access-date=6 February 2024 |publisher=DIMMID |archive-date=3 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203141910/https://dimmid.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B7F171057-4EB9-487F-9E54-5DC835955930%7D |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Fischer |first1=Norman |title=On Conferences: The Second Gethsemani Encounter |url=https://tricycle.org/magazine/conferences-second-gethsemani-encounter/ |website=Tricycle: The Buddhist Review |publisher=Tricycle |access-date=6 February 2024 |language=en |date=Fall 2002 |archive-date=6 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206165448/https://tricycle.org/magazine/conferences-second-gethsemani-encounter/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He is also a member of the Board of World Religious Leaders as part of [[The Elijah Interfaith Institute]]<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.elijah-interfaith.org/?id=729 |title = The Elijah Interfaith Institute – Buddhist Members of the Board of World Religious Leaders |publisher = Elijah-interfaith.org |date = 24 December 2006 |access-date = 17 July 2013 |archive-date = 19 October 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171019215252/http://www.elijah-interfaith.org/?id=729 |url-status = live }}</ref> and participated in the Third Meeting of the Board of World Religious Leaders in [[Amritsar]], India, on 26 November 2007 to discuss the topic of Love and Forgiveness.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elijah-interfaith.org/programs/board-of-world-religious-leaders/third-meeting-of-the-bwrl.html |title=Third Meeting of the Board of World Religious Leaders |publisher=Elijah-interfaith.org |date=7 April 2013 |access-date=17 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227160915/https://www.elijah-interfaith.org/programs/board-of-world-religious-leaders/third-meeting-of-the-bwrl.html |archive-date=27 December 2013 }}</ref> In 2009, the Dalai Lama inaugurated an [[Interfaith dialogue|interfaith]] "World Religions-Dialogue and Symphony" conference at [[Gujarat]]'s [[Mahuva (Bhavnagar district)|Mahuva]] religions, according to [[Morari Bapu]].<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dalai-Lama-inaugurates-6day-world-religions-.../407503 |title = Dalai Lama inaugurates 6-day world religions meet at Mahua |work =The Indian Express|date = 7 January 2009 |access-date = 2 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author = Canada Tibet Committee |url = http://www.tibet.ca/en/newsroom/wtn/5137 |title = Dalai Lama to inaugurate inter-faith conference |publisher = Tibet.ca |access-date = 2 May 2010 |archive-date = 10 June 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110610102745/http://www.tibet.ca/en/newsroom/wtn/5137 |url-status = live }}</ref>

In 2010, the Dalai Lama, joined by a panel of scholars, launched the [[Common Ground Project]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://islambuddhism.com/ |title = Islam and Buddhism |publisher = Islambuddhism.com |date = 12 May 2010 |access-date = 17 July 2013 |archive-date = 12 April 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180412172131/http://www.islambuddhism.com/ |url-status = live }}</ref> in [[Bloomington, Indiana]] (USA),<ref>{{cite web |url = http://islambuddhism.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22:dalai-lama-muslim-leaders-seek-peace-in-bloomington&catid=6:in-the-news&Itemid=4 |title = Dalai Lama, Muslim Leaders Seek Peace in Bloomington |publisher = Islambuddhism.com |date = 31 May 2010 |access-date = 17 July 2013 |archive-date = 12 December 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131212214713/http://islambuddhism.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22:dalai-lama-muslim-leaders-seek-peace-in-bloomington&catid=6:in-the-news&Itemid=4 |url-status = live }}</ref> which was planned by himself and [[Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad]] of [[Jordan]] during several years of personal conversations. The project is based on the book ''Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism''.<ref>{{cite book |title = Common Ground Between Islam and Buddhism |date = 2010 |publisher = Fons Vitae|location=Louisville, KY. |isbn =978-1-891785-62-7}}</ref>

In 2019, the Dalai Lama fully sponsored the first-ever 'Celebrating Diversity in the Muslim World' conference in New Delhi on behalf of the Muslims of [[Ladakh]].<ref name=cdmw2019>{{Cite web|title=His Holiness the Dalai Lama ushers religious harmony amongst Muslim communities at 'Celebrating Diversity in the Muslim World' Conference|url=https://tibet.net/to-practise-one-religion-explicitly-is-to-practise-them-all-implicitly-at-the-internal-level-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-at-celebrating-diversity-in-the-muslim-world-conference/|access-date=25 June 2021|work=Central Tibetan Administration|date=15 June 2019|archive-date=25 June 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210625081009/https://tibet.net/to-practise-one-religion-explicitly-is-to-practise-them-all-implicitly-at-the-internal-level-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-at-celebrating-diversity-in-the-muslim-world-conference/|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute ===
[[File:Dalai Lama's Baby Austin car.jpg|thumb|Remains of Dalai Lama's [[Baby Austin]] car. Lhasa, 1993]]
[[File:Remains of Dalai Lama's Dodge car. Lhasa, 1993.jpg|thumb|Remains of Dalai Lama's [[Dodge]] car. Lhasa, 1993]]
The Dalai Lama's lifelong interest in science<ref name=nyt>{{cite news |author1 = Tenzin Gyatso |title = Our Faith in Science |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/opinion/12dalai.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& |work = The New York Times |date = 12 November 2005 |quote = Science has always fascinated me |access-date = 5 February 2017 |archive-date = 31 March 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140331071556/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/opinion/12dalai.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1 = Melissa Rice |title = Carl Sagan and the Dalai Lama found deep connections in 1991–92 meetings, says Sagan's widow |url = http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2007/10/meeting-two-minds-carl-sagan-and-dalai-lama |publisher = Cormell University, Cornell Chronicle |date = 3 October 2007 |quote = The Dalai Lama, who has had a lifelong interest in science |access-date = 6 May 2015 |archive-date = 16 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150516064128/http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2007/10/meeting-two-minds-carl-sagan-and-dalai-lama |url-status = live }}</ref> and technology<ref name=Grnd>{{cite web |author1 = James Kingsland |title = Dalai Lama enlightens and enraptures contemplative scientists in Boston |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/nov/03/dalai-lama-scientists-boston-international-symposium-contemplative-studies |work = The Guardian |location = Boston, USA |date = 3 November 2014 |quote = Asked how his interest in science originally developed he said he'd been fascinated by technology since childhood, recalling a clockwork toy British soldier with a gun that he played with for a few days before taking apart to see how it worked. He described how as a young man visiting China he was excited to be shown around hydroelectric dams and metal smelting works |access-date = 10 December 2016 |archive-date = 5 January 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210105142140/https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/nov/03/dalai-lama-scientists-boston-international-symposium-contemplative-studies |url-status = live }}</ref> dates from his childhood in Lhasa, Tibet, when he was fascinated by mechanical objects like clocks, watches, telescopes, film projectors, clockwork soldiers<ref name="Grnd" /> and motor cars,<ref name=itm>{{cite web |title=The Dalai Lama and Western Science |url = http://www.investigatingthemind.org/hhdl.science.html |publisher=Mind and Life Institute |access-date=6 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150219190156/http://investigatingthemind.org/hhdl.science.html |archive-date=19 February 2015 }}</ref> and loved to repair, disassemble and reassemble them.<ref name="nyt" /> Once, observing [[the Moon]] through a [[telescope]] as a child, he realised it was a crater-pocked lump of rock and not a heavenly body emitting its own light as Tibetan [[cosmologists]] had taught him.<ref name="nyt" /> He has also said that had he not been brought up as a monk he would probably have been an [[engineer]].<ref>{{cite web |first = Bobbie L. |last = Kyle |title = 10 Things You Didn't Know About the Dalai Lama |url = https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2008/03/28/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-dalai-lama |publisher = The U.S. News & World Report |date = 28 March 2008 |quote = The Dalai Lama has an interest in machines, which he developed as a young boy. As a teenager he repaired a movie projector by himself, without its guide or any instructions. He has been known to say that he would have become an engineer if he hadn't been a monk |access-date = 22 August 2017 |archive-date = 6 January 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210106024738/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2008/03/28/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-dalai-lama |url-status = live }}</ref> On his first trip to the west in 1973 he asked to visit [[Cambridge University]]'s [[astrophysics]] department in the UK and he sought out renowned scientists such as [[Sir Karl Popper]], [[David Bohm]] and [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]],<ref name=itm /> who taught him the basics of science.

The Dalai Lama sees important common ground between [[science and Buddhism]] in having the same approach to challenge dogma on the basis of [[empirical evidence]] that comes from [[observation]] and [[analysis]] of [[phenomena]].<ref name=MITTR>{{cite web |author1 = Curt Newton |title = Meditation and the Brain |url = http://www.technologyreview.com/news/402450/meditation-and-the-brain/ |website = technologyreview.com |publisher = MIT Technology Review |date = 1 February 2004 |quote = The Dalai Lama notes that both traditions encourage challenging dogma based on observation and analysis, and a willingness to revise views based on empirical evidence. |access-date = 16 May 2015 |archive-date = 12 April 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150412070955/http://www.technologyreview.com/news/402450/meditation-and-the-brain/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

His growing wish to develop meaningful scientific dialogue to explore the [[Buddhism and science]] interface led to invitations for him to attend relevant conferences on his visits to the west, including the [[Alpbach]] Symposia on Consciousness in 1983 where he met and had discussions with the late Chilean neuroscientist [[Francisco J. Varela]].<ref name=itm /> Also in 1983, the American [[social entrepreneur]] and [[innovator]] [[R. Adam Engle]],<ref>{{cite web |author1 = Vincent Horn |title = The Evolution of the Mind and Life Dialogues |url = http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2009/05/bg-122-the-evolution-of-the-mind-and-life-dialogues/ |publisher = Buddhist Geeks |access-date = 9 May 2015 |ref = BD 122 |format = Podcast Interview, transcription |quote = This week, Adam Engle, the business mastermind behind the Mind and Life Institute, joins us to discuss both the evolution of the project as well as its larger impact |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150504061533/http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2009/05/bg-122-the-evolution-of-the-mind-and-life-dialogues/ |archive-date = 4 May 2015 }}</ref> who had become aware of the Dalai Lama's deep interest in science, was already considering the idea of facilitating for him a serious dialogue with a selection of appropriate scientists.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Begley, Sharon |title = Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain |date = 2007 |publisher = Random House|location=New York |isbn =978-0-345-47989-1 |page = 19|edition=2008 Paperback|chapter=1}}</ref> In 1984 Engle formally offered to the Dalai Lama's office to organise a week-long, formal dialogue for him with a suitable team of scientists, provided that the Dalai Lama would wish to fully participate in such a dialogue. Within 48 hours the Dalai Lama confirmed to Engle that he was "truly interested in participating in something substantial about science" so Engle proceeded with launching the project.<ref name=TYM1 /> [[Francisco Varela]], having heard about Engle's proposal, then called him to tell him of his earlier discussions with the Dalai Lama and to offer his scientific collaboration to the project.<ref name=TYM1>{{cite book|author1=Begley, Sharon |title = Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain |date = 2007 |publisher = Random House|location=New York |isbn =978-0-345-47989-1|pages=20–22|edition=2008 Paperback|chapter=1}}</ref> Engle accepted, and Varela assisted him to assemble his team of six specialist scientists for the first [[Mind and Life Institute|'Mind and Life']] dialogue on the [[cognitive sciences]],<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.mindandlife.org/mission/ |title = Mission |publisher = Mind and Life Institute |access-date = 6 May 2015 |quote = Mind and Life emerged in 1987 from a meeting of three visionaries: Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama – the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and a global advocate for compassion; Adam Engle, a lawyer and entrepreneur; and Francisco Varela, a neuroscientist |archive-date = 21 August 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200821123151/https://www.mindandlife.org/mission/ |url-status = live }}</ref> which was eventually held with the Dalai Lama at his residence in Dharamsala in 1987.<ref name=itm /><ref name="TYM1" /> This five-day event was so successful that at the end the Dalai Lama told Engle he would very much like to repeat it again in the future.<ref name=BG122>{{cite web |author1 = Vincent Horn |title = The Evolution of the Mind and Life Dialogues |url = http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2009/05/bg-122-the-evolution-of-the-mind-and-life-dialogues/ |publisher = Buddhist Geeks |access-date = 9 May 2015 |ref = BD 122 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150504061533/http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2009/05/bg-122-the-evolution-of-the-mind-and-life-dialogues/ |archive-date = 4 May 2015 }}</ref> Engle then started work on arranging a second dialogue, this time with [[neuroscientists]] in California, and the discussions from the first event were edited and published as Mind and Life's first book, ''"Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind".''<ref>{{cite web |title = Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind |url = https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104960.Gentle_Bridges |publisher = Shambala |access-date = 6 May 2015 |quote = a historic meeting that took place between several prominent Western scientists and the Dalai Lama |archive-date = 5 December 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151205213514/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104960.Gentle_Bridges |url-status = live }}</ref>

As [[Mind and Life Institute]]'s remit expanded, Engle formalised the organisation as a non-profit foundation after the third dialogue, held in 1990, which initiated the undertaking of [[neurobiological]] research programmes in the United States under scientific conditions.<ref name=BG122 /> Over the following decades, as of 2014 at least 28 dialogues between the Dalai Lama and panels of various world-renowned scientists have followed, held in various countries and covering diverse themes, from the nature of [[consciousness]] to [[cosmology]] and from [[quantum mechanics]] to the [[neuroplasticity]] of the brain.<ref>{{cite web |title = Past Dialogues |url = https://www.mindandlife.org/dialogues-dalai-lama/ |publisher = Mind and Life Institute |access-date = 6 May 2015 |archive-date = 18 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518072135/https://www.mindandlife.org/dialogues-dalai-lama/ |url-status = dead }}</ref> Sponsors and partners in these dialogues have included the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]],<ref>{{cite web |title = The Dalai Lama Centre for Ethics and Transformative Values |url = http://thecenter.mit.edu/about/mission/ |publisher = Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date = 7 May 2015 |quote = The Center focuses on the development of interdisciplinary research and programs in varied fields of knowledge, from science and technology to education and international relations |archive-date = 18 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518095704/http://thecenter.mit.edu/about/mission/ |url-status = live }}</ref> [[Johns Hopkins University]],<ref>{{cite web|title=The Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation |url=http://www.investigatingthemind.org/about.sponsors.html |publisher=Mind and Life XIII |date=2005 |quote=Johns Hopkins is one of the world's premier centers for scholarship, research and patient care |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220020049/http://investigatingthemind.org/about.sponsors.html |archive-date=20 February 2015 }}</ref> the [[Mayo Clinic]],<ref>{{cite web |title = His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Give Special Presentation at Mayo Clinic |url = http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-to-give-special-presentation-at-mayo-clinic/?_ga=1.228989404.1318053370.1426080660 |publisher = Mayo Clinic |date = 20 April 2012 |access-date = 7 May 2015 |archive-date = 4 March 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024909/http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-to-give-special-presentation-at-mayo-clinic/?_ga=1.228989404.1318053370.1426080660 |url-status = live }}</ref> and [[University of Zurich|Zurich University]].<ref>{{cite web |author1 = Tenzin Gyatso |title = Science at the Crossroads |url = http://www.dalailama.com/messages/buddhism/science-at-the-crossroads |publisher = Office of Dalai Lama |location = Washington DC |date = 12 November 2005 |quote = I am also grateful to the numerous eminent scientists with whom I have had the privilege of engaging in conversations through the auspices of the Mind and Life Institute which initiated the Mind and Life conferences that began in 1987 at my residence in Dharamsala, India. These dialogues have continued over the years and in fact the latest Mind and Life dialogue concluded here in Washington just this week. |access-date = 7 May 2015 |archive-date = 29 April 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150429161612/http://www.dalailama.com/messages/buddhism/science-at-the-crossroads |url-status = live }}</ref>

Apart from time spent teaching Buddhism and fulfilling responsibilities to his Tibetan followers, the Dalai Lama has probably spent, and continues to spend, more of his time and resources investigating the interface between [[Buddhism and science]] through the ongoing series of [[Mind and Life Institute|Mind and Life]] dialogues and its spin-offs than on any other single activity.<ref name=Grnd /> As the institute's Cofounder and the Honorary chairman he has personally presided over and participated in all its dialogues, which continue to expand worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |title = Dialogues with the Dalai Lama |url = https://www.mindandlife.org/dialogues-dalai-lama/ |publisher = Mind and Life Institute |access-date = 6 May 2015 |quote = These Dialogues will expand as Mind and Life grows to include Europe, Asia, and beyond |archive-date = 18 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518072135/https://www.mindandlife.org/dialogues-dalai-lama/ |url-status = dead }}</ref>

These activities have given rise to dozens of DVD sets of the dialogues and books he has authored on them such as ''Ethics for the New Millennium'' and ''The Universe in a Single Atom'', as well as scientific papers and university research programmes.<ref name=pdf>{{cite web |title = A 25 Years History of Accomplishment |url = https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gns1ff0ziu9ikx3/AAAH3rqan1jP_RyksNVOYl0Da/MLI%2025%20years%20of%20Accomplishment.pdf?dl=0 |publisher = Mind and Life Institute |access-date = 6 May 2015 |date = 2012 |archive-date = 13 December 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211213185342/https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gns1ff0ziu9ikx3/AAAH3rqan1jP_RyksNVOYl0Da/MLI%2025%20years%20of%20Accomplishment.pdf?dl=0 |url-status = live }}</ref> On the Tibetan and Buddhist side, science subjects have been added to the curriculum for Tibetan monastic educational institutions and scholarship.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Dalai Lama and Western Science |url=http://www.investigatingthemind.org/hhdl.science.html |publisher=Mind and Life Institute |access-date=6 May 2015 |quote=he has led a campaign to introduce basic science education in Tibetan Buddhist monastic colleges and academic centers, and has encouraged Tibetan scholars to engage with science as a way of revitalizing the Tibetan philosophical tradition |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219190156/http://investigatingthemind.org/hhdl.science.html |archive-date=19 February 2015 }}</ref> On the Western side, university and research programmes initiated by these dialogues and funded with millions of dollars in grants from the Dalai Lama Trust include the Emory-Tibet Partnership,<ref>{{cite web|title=Emory-Tibet Science Initiative receives $1&nbsp;million grant from Dalai Lama Trust |url=https://tibet.emory.edu/news-and-media/news/2014/emory-tibet-science-initiative-receives-1-million-grant-from-dalai-lama-trust/index.html |publisher=Emory University |location=Georgia, USA |date=2014 |quote=For more than 30 years I have been engaged in an ongoing exchange with scientists, exploring what modern scientific knowledge and time-honored science of mind embodied by the Tibetan tradition can bring to each other's understanding of reality |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518083919/https://tibet.emory.edu/news-and-media/news/2014/emory-tibet-science-initiative-receives-1-million-grant-from-dalai-lama-trust/index.html |archive-date=18 May 2015 }}</ref> [[Stanford School of Medicine]]'s Centre for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARES)<ref>{{cite web |title = His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso Founding Patron, CCARE |url = http://ccare.stanford.edu/about/people/patron-committee/#150 |publisher = Stanford University School of Medicine |access-date = 7 May 2015 |location = Palo Alto, California |quote = He has been a strong supporter of the neurosciences for over two decades. His Holiness is a benefactor of CCARE having personally provided the largest sum he has ever given to scientific research |archive-date = 18 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518064949/http://ccare.stanford.edu/about/people/patron-committee/#150 |url-status = live }}</ref> and the Centre for Investigating Healthy Minds,<ref>{{cite web|title=Our History |url=http://www.investigatinghealthyminds.org/ |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Madison |access-date=7 May 2015 |location=Madison, Wisconsin, USA |quote=In 1992, the Dalai Lama personally challenged Dr. Davidson to investigate how well-being could be nurtured through the insights from neuroscience. His Holiness believes that "All humans have an innate desire to overcome suffering and find happiness." This launched a robust series of research studies and new discoveries have emerged about how the mind works and how well-being can be cultivated. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150507230519/http://www.investigatinghealthyminds.org/ |archive-date=7 May 2015 }}</ref> amongst others.

In 2019, Emory University's Center for Contemplative Sciences and Compassion-Based Ethics, in partnership with The Dalai Lama Trust and the Vana Foundation of India, launched an international SEE Learning (Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning) program in New Delhi, India, a school curriculum for all classes from kindergarten to Std XII that builds on psychologist [[Daniel Goleman]]'s work on emotional intelligence in the early 1990s. SEE learning focuses on developing critical thinking, ethical reasoning and compassion and stresses on commonalities rather than on the differences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.emory.edu/stories/2019/04/upress_see_learning/campus.html|title=Emory University launches global Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning program|date=2 April 2019|website=news.emory.edu|language=en|access-date=12 June 2019|archive-date=8 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608221026/http://news.emory.edu/stories/2019/04/upress_see_learning/campus.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/emory-university-and-the-dalai-lama-trusts-see-learning-launch-is-curriculum-for-the-education-of-the-heart-and-mind/article26808514.ece|title=SEE learning and why we need compassionate classrooms|last=Mohan|first=Shriya|website=@businessline|date=12 April 2019 |language=en|access-date=12 June 2019|archive-date=18 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218112830/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/emory-university-and-the-dalai-lama-trusts-see-learning-launch-is-curriculum-for-the-education-of-the-heart-and-mind/article26808514.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://seelearning.emory.edu/|title=Home – SEE Learning|website=seelearning.emory.edu|access-date=12 June 2019|archive-date=30 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030202827/https://seelearning.emory.edu/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/dalai-lama-to-launch-emory-universitys-see-learning-program-in-new-delhi/articleshow/68727865.cms|title=Dalai Lama to launch Emory University's SEE Learning program in New Delhi|last=Khando|first=Tenzin|date=4 April 2019|work=The Economic Times|access-date=12 June 2019|archive-date=27 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527115723/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/dalai-lama-to-launch-emory-universitys-see-learning-program-in-new-delhi/articleshow/68727865.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

In particular, the Mind and Life Education Humanities & Social Sciences initiatives have been instrumental in developing the emerging field of Contemplative Science, by researching, for example, the effects of contemplative practice on the human brain, behaviour and biology.<ref name="pdf" />

In his 2005 book ''The Universe in a Single Atom'' and elsewhere, and to mark his commitment to scientific truth and its ultimate ascendancy over religious belief, unusually for a major religious leader the Dalai Lama advises his Buddhist followers: "If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims."<ref>{{cite book|author=Dalai Lama |title = The Universe in a Single Atom |date = 2005 |publisher = Random House|location=New York |isbn =978-0-375-72845-7 |page = 3|edition=First Large Print}}</ref> He has also cited examples of archaic Buddhist ideas he has abandoned himself on this basis.<ref name="nyt" /><ref>{{cite web |author1 = James Kingsland |title = Dalai Lama enlightens and enraptures contemplative scientists in Boston |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/nov/03/dalai-lama-scientists-boston-international-symposium-contemplative-studies |work = The Guardian |location = Boston, USA |date = 3 November 2014 |quote = He ... had long since abandoned Buddhist ideas about cosmology after reading about the findings of modern astronomers |access-date = 10 December 2016 |archive-date = 5 January 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210105142140/https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/nov/03/dalai-lama-scientists-boston-international-symposium-contemplative-studies |url-status = live }}</ref>

These activities have even had an impact in the Chinese capital. In 2013 an 'academic dialogue' with a Chinese scientist, a Tibetan 'living Buddha' and a professor of Religion took place in Beijing. Entitled "High-end dialogue: ancient Buddhism and modern science" it addressed the same considerations that interest the Dalai Lama, described as 'discussing about the similarities between Buddhism and modern science'.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Lethe Guo |title=High-end dialogue: ancient Buddhism and modern science |url=http://eng.tibet.cn/2010zj/zjhd/201312/t20131219_1960457.html |publisher=China Tibet Online |date=18 December 2013 |quote=crossover between Buddhism and science has become a hot topic in the academic and cultural circles over the recent decades |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005160313/http://eng.tibet.cn/2010zj/zjhd/201312/t20131219_1960457.html |archive-date=5 October 2015 }}</ref>

=== Personal meditation practice ===
The Dalai Lama uses various [[meditation]] techniques, including analytic meditation and [[Śūnyatā#Tibetan Buddhism|emptiness meditation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tibet.net/dalai-lama-on-analytic-meditation-and-how-it-helps-cultivate-positivity/|title=Dalai Lama on Analytic Meditation And How It Helps Cultivate Positivity|date=February 2017|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=28 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328161317/https://tibet.net/dalai-lama-on-analytic-meditation-and-how-it-helps-cultivate-positivity/|url-status=live}}</ref> He has said that the aim of meditation is {{blockquote|"to maintain a very full state of alertness and mindfulness, and then try to see the natural state of your consciousness."<ref>{{cite web |url = https://hackspirit.com/dalai-lama-reveals-practice-meditation-properly/ |title = The Dalai Lama Reveals How to Practice Meditation Properly – Hack Spirit |date = 3 May 2017 |access-date = 8 May 2018 |archive-date = 15 April 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210415013407/https://hackspirit.com/dalai-lama-reveals-practice-meditation-properly/ |url-status = live }}</ref> "All human beings have an innate desire to overcome suffering, to find happiness. Training the mind to think differently, through meditation, is one important way to avoid suffering and be happy."<ref>{{cite web |title=The Dalai Lama and Scientists Unite to Study Meditation |url=https://centerhealthyminds.org/news/the-dalai-lama-and-scientists-unite-to-study-meditation |website=centerhealthyminds.org |publisher=Center for Healthy Minds University of Wisconsin–Madison |access-date=17 October 2022 |archive-date=17 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017013232/https://centerhealthyminds.org/news/the-dalai-lama-and-scientists-unite-to-study-meditation |url-status=live }}</ref>}}