14th Dalai Lama

=== 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>