DHARAMSHALA, India — DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — The Dalai Lama grew to become 90 on Sunday surrounded via hundreds of fans, who thronged the Himalayan the town of Dharamshala, the place the religious chief of Tibetan Buddhism has been residing in exile since fleeing Chinese language rule in Tibet in 1959.
He sat sooner than a packed target audience that incorporated masses of red-robed clergymen and nuns who braved incessant rain to peer him.
Wearing a conventional gown and a flowing yellow wrap, the Dalai Lama was once escorted to the temple courtyard via a gaggle of clergymen, as Tibetan artists beat drums and performed bagpipes whilst senior lamas struck cymbals in his honor. The top of the democratically elected Tibetan government-in-exile, Penpa Tsering, raised the Tibetan flag because the musicians performed the Tibetan anthem.
Known international in his purple gowns and extensive smile, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, describes himself as a “easy Buddhist monk.” However thousands and thousands of Tibetan Buddhists worship him as residing manifestations of Chenrezig, the Buddhist god of compassion.
The birthday celebration capped every week of celebrations, right through which the Nobel Peace Prize winner mentioned he plans to reincarnate after his dying, finishing years of hypothesis that he may well be the final individual to carry the position. He additionally mentioned that the following Dalai Lama must be and known as consistent with previous Buddhist traditions.
On Saturday, the Dalai Lama mentioned he was hoping to are living till the age of 130.
Prior to now, the Dalai Lama has mentioned his successor might be born within the “unfastened international” — out of doors China. Many exiled Tibetans, alternatively, concern China will title its personal successor to the Dalai Lama to strengthen regulate over Tibet, a territory it poured troops into in 1950 and has dominated ever since.
China, which perspectives the Dalai Lama as a separatist, has time and again mentioned that it on my own has the authority to approve the following religious chief of Tibetan Buddhism. It additionally says it’ll reject someone selected with out Beijing’s consent.
Dignitaries together with Indian Top Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, despatched their needs to the Tibetan chief.
Modi mentioned the Dalai Lama has “been a long lasting image of affection, compassion, persistence and ethical self-discipline,” whilst Rubio mentioned the Buddhist religious chief “continues to encourage other people via embodying a message of cohesion, peace and compassion.”
The birthday celebration was once additionally attended via masses of fans from all over the world together with Hollywood film big name Richard Gere.
“He’s essentially the most peculiar guy to ever stroll on the planet,” mentioned Gere, as the gang broke right into a rapturous applause.
In a birthday message on his website online on Saturday, the Dalai Lama reiterated that he was once “only a easy Buddhist monk” and that he’s going to “proceed to concentrate on my commitments of selling human values spiritual cohesion.”
The Dalai Lama was once thrust onto the Tibetan throne in 1937. Quickly after, Chinese language troops swept into his place of origin within the Fifties and beaten a failed rebellion, forcing him to flee with hundreds of his fans to India the place he established a central authority in exile.
Since then, he has spent greater than seven a long time in exile and sustained a country in exile via managing to construct a group that’s saved the Tibetan tradition and id alive. The Dalai Lama has additionally transform probably the most international’s maximum recognizable figures whilst main a Tibetan diaspora thru their combat for autonomy and opposition of China’s regulate of Tibet.
