The current Dalai Lama is the Buddhist monk Tenzen Gyatso. He is the absolute spiritual and temporal head of his people and country. He is the fourteenth Dalai Lama in a chain which Tibetan Buddhists believe are all the reincarnation of the same soul.
The Dalai Lama is thought to be an extension of Deity known as Chenrezi, who is the embodiment of compassion. In the West we know this being as Avolokiteshvara or as Quan Yin.
The Dalai Lama’s home is really the whole world since he had to flee Tibet in 1959, because of the Communist Chinese invasion. India generously provided a base of operations for him at this time and in most recent years he has done an enormous amount of traveling. Most recently we know him as winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
He describes his work as first for the Tibetan people, and secondly for the good of all sentient beings. The Dalai Lama is a Bodhisattva. A being who has voluntarily remained on earth after achieving enlighten-ment to help and serve humanity. Tibetan Buddhism was introduced into Tibet by the great Indian spiritual Master "Padmasambhava" also known as the lotus born. He is known in Tibet as Guru Rinposhe or "The precious Teacher". He overcame all opposition and established Buddhism in Tibet in 747 AD.
After the death of the thirteenth Dalai Lama a regent was appointed to search for the fourteenth Dalai Lama who, of course, was the thirteenth Dalai Lama’s next incarnation. The regent gathered all signs already obtained and then went to Lake Lhamo. In the waters of this lake adepts could see visions of the future. The lake becomes like a crystal ball.
The regent saw in the lake the letters ah, ka, and ma. He also saw a vision of a monastery with roofs of gold and copper and a twisting road leading to a mountain nearby. He saw a distinctive house with a peach tree in bloom, and a woman with a baby in her arms. The regent had a clear knowingness that the baby was the fourteenth Dalai Lama.
The regent then went to Samye and consulted the local oracle (channel and psychic). These oracles were able to see the future in a mirror. The regent got further confirmation. A search party was formed and possessions of the thirteenth Dalai Lama were brought along.
The search party disguised themselves so no one would know who they were or what their mission was. They finally came to the house which the regent had seen in his vision and everything looked exactly as he saw it in the lake. The disguised lama Tsedrung Lobang Tsewant, walked into the kitchen where the boy was playing and the boy ran to him shouting, "Lama, Lama" even though he was disguised.
He sat in the Lama’s lap and grabbed the rosary that belonged to him in his past incarnation and said, "This is mine". Then he said "Please may I have it." The lama told him he could have it if he could guess who he was. The child said "era-aga". Sera was the great monastery near Lhasa where the lama had come from. As a young child the boy told his parents he would be going to Lhasa at a young age. Even the parents suspected he might be an incarnate lama, however, they never dreamed he was the Dalai Lama.
They began giving the child tests where he had to choose objects that were his in his past life from others that were not. He chose rightly on all accounts. On being given a physical exam he had a birth mark like a conch shell which was a traditional sign associated with the Dalai Lama. He was also able to speak and understand the Lhasa dialect even though he did not speak it at home. The child was only two years old.
On a later occasion after the traveling to Lhasa with the child, he insisted that a certain box that had not been opened contained his teeth from his past life. Sure enough when the box was opened it contained the false teeth of his past life as the thirteenth Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama’s first incarnation as a Dalai Lama began as far back as 1391.
When China attacked Tibet in 1950 the Dalai Lama was only fifteen years old. Yet it was at this time he was given the temporal leadership of Tibet. Tibetans appealed for help from the entire world including the United Nations. The United Nations didn’t lift a finger to help.
During the nine year period before His complete exodus from Tibet he had an opportunity to have a personal meeting with Mao Tse Tung, the leader of Communist China at the time. The Dalai lama described it as a memorable meeting.
At one point in the meeting Mao described religion in the following manner as quoted from a book called the "Great Ocean, the Dalai Lama", by Roger Hicks and Hgakpa Chogyam. "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." (We see here why Communism is destined to fail).
By 1959 Communist China had dissolved the Tibetan government thus completely violating the Seventeenth Point Agreement that their political leaders had set in place. China was only interested in a complete military takeover. The Dalai Lama had to flee and set up a Tibetan colony in Charamsala, India. It came to be known as "Little Lhasa".
It was in 1967 that the Dalai Lama first began to travel extensively. His first trip was to Japan for four weeks and then to Thailand. Later He did an extensive European tour. In the late 1970’s He made His first major tour of the United States.
He was extremely well received in the United States. He was not officially received by the United States Government at that time. However he did meet with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Republican Senator, Jacob K. Javits from New York said about him, "His Holiness is a fabulous man, a devoted patriot, and he gave us all the impression that He was the symbol of freedom."
He lectured and spoke all over the country. While in Los Angeles, he met with a party of Hopi elders. These Hopi elders had driven all night to see Him. They told Him that His arrival had fulfilled an ancient Hopi prophecy, as well as one of Tibet. The prophecy stated that the world’s axis passed through both their land and that of Tibet. At the end of a thousand years of Hopi religious practice, a great spiritual leader would arrive from the East. He would be the Sun Clan Brother, and His name would be linked with salt water. Ghatso means ocean in the Tibetan language.
An ancient Tibetan prophecy stated; "When the iron bird flies, and the horse runs upon rails, the Dharma will travel West to the Land of the Red Man." By the end of His trip He had visited 25 American cities. On His trip home He also visited with Pope John Paul II. On His next trip to the United States it was even more significant. On this trip He gave the Kalachakra initiation. Never in all of history had it been given outside of Tibet or India.
The Dalai Lama firmly believes that He will one day return to Tibet. His Holiness has said, "China may have swallowed Tibet, but they have completely failed to digest it. Sooner or later they must realize that they will never do so."
I, personally, have always had a special interest in Tibetan Buddhism because Djwhal Khul, Kuthumi, and El Morya, were all Tibetan Buddhists in the later sequence of past lives. Djwhal Khul, of course, wrote the Alice A. Bailey books and later ascended as a Tibetan Buddhist.
In this section I will attempt to share with you some of the basics of this most noble teaching. Tibetan Buddhism begins with the understanding that we each are our own master and we cause our own reality. The goal of life is enlightenment and becoming a Bodhisattva and a perfect Buddha.
Djwhal Khul has told me that a perfect Buddha is someone who has achieved the sixth initiation or ascension. A Bodhisattva is a being who has achieved enlightenment, yet returns to earth to help all sentient beings.
Tibetan Buddhism, as other forms of Buddhism, are based on the "Three Jewels" (Buddha, the Doctrine, and Spiritual practice). To be a good Buddhist one must practice altruism, compassion, honesty, kindness, selflessness, and a deep abiding concern for the welfare of others. This is developed through meditation and the cultivation of wisdom. Buddha emphasized the perfect balance of a good brain and a good heart.
Tibetan Buddhism emphasizes the letting go of material desire and the letting go of all afflictive or negative emotions. The basic nature of the mind is seen as being made up of the "clear light". It is the clear light that Tibetan Buddhist also see merging with, in the after death or bardo experience.
Defilements or negativity do not reside in the enlightened mind. It is the job of the Buddhist to clear this delusion and ignorance from the mind. The complete removal of this psychic debris and/or obstructions is called liberation. A person who achieves this is called a foe destroyer or Arhat. Interestingly enough, in Theosophy and Djwhal Khul’s writings this was the term for the achievement of the fourth initiation.
When this most important altruistic attitude is achieved it is put into action by practicing the six perfections:
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