Houston Community News >> 10 Things You Might Not Know About the Dalai Lama
5/6/2007- Tenzin Gyatso, the
14th Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and head of the
government-in-exile of Tibet, which has been under Chinese authority for more
than half a century. He will visit Chicago on Sunday for two events in
Millennium Park: a Buddhist teaching at the Harris Theater and a public talk at
Pritzker Pavilion. Here's more about the Nobel Peace Prize winner: 1 'Dalai' is
a Mongolian word for ocean, and 'lama' is a Tibetan word for a monk of high
rank. The Dalai Lama's wisdom is said to be as broad as an ocean.
2 The boy who would become known as the Dalai Lama (and as Kundun, meaning 'The
Presence') was born on the floor of a cowshed on his family's farm in the
northeastern Tibetan village of Taktser in 1935. He was named Lhamo Dhondrub.
His parents, who met for the first time at their wedding ceremony, had 16
children, but only seven survived past infancy.
3 The leadership of Tibetan Buddhism is transferred through reincarnation,
adherents believe. When a dalai lama dies-- as the 13th one did in 1933 -- monks
begin the search for a boy who is his new embodiment. According to various
accounts, including the book 'Kundun' by Mary Craig, the discovery of the 14th
Dalai Lama occurred like this: Members of a Buddhist search party arrived in
Taktser disguised as traders. The group's leader was dressed as a servant but
was wearing a rosary that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama. Two-year-old
Lhamo Dhondrub asked for the rosary and was told he could have it if he guessed
who he was talking to. The boy said correctly that the man dressed as a servant
was a 'Sera aga,' a lama from the Sera monastery. The boy also impressed the
visitors by knowing other details about them, and he later identified more
possessions of the 13th lama.
4 In the film 'Caddyshack,' the golf course groundskeeper played by Bill Murray
(below) describes how he caddied for the Dalai Lama. An excerpt: 'I give him the
driver. He hauls off and whacks one -- big hitter, the Lama-- long, into a
10,000-foot crevice, right at the base of this glacier. ... So we finish the
18th and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, 'Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little
something, you know, for the effort, you know.' And he says, 'Oh, uh, there
won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total
consciousness.' So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.' The film's director,
Harold Ramis, and his wife, Erica Mann Ramis, are executive producers of the
cultural programming that will accompany the Dalai Lama's public talk Sunday.
5 The great monk has plenty of celebrity admirers, including Richard Gere
(below), Steven Seagal and Carmen Electra. Model-actress Elle Macpherson (left)
said last year that she was considering a lawsuit against model Heidi Klum for
allegedly appropriating her nickname, 'The Body,' but after meeting with the
Dalai Lama, she dropped any plans to sue. 'A few people have made me stop in my
tracks, and the Dalai Lama would be one of them,' Macpherson said.
6 The Dalai Lama is fascinated by science and has said that if he had not become
a monk, he would have become an engineer. He is especially interested in
neuroplasticity, the study of how the brain rewires itself. The Dalai Lama spoke
to the Society for Neuroscience in 2005 despite some members' objections about
mixing religion and science. The Dalai Lama declared that 'if a surgery of the
brain could provide the same benefits as hours of meditation daily, I would do
it,' according to the Agence France-Presse news service.
7 Rock star Patti Smith was keenly interested in the Dalai Lama when she was 12.
She studied Tibet for a yearlong school project, and she prayed that it would
become newsworthy. When China's oppression became so severe that the Dalai Lama
fled in 1959, 'I felt tremendously guilty,' she told the Shambhala Sun, a
Buddhist magazine. 'I felt that somehow my prayers had interfered with Tibetan
history. I worried about the Dalai Lama. It was rumored that his family had been
killed by the Chinese. I was quite relieved when he reached India safely.' (The
Dalai Lama has been based in Dharamsala, India, since then.) 8 He served as a
guest editor for an issue of French Vogue magazine in 1992.
9 Tibetans often change their names after major events, such as recovery from
illness or the visit of a great lama. When the boy named Lhamo Dhondrub was
recognized as the reincarnated leader of his people, he was renamed Jetsun
Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (meaning Holy Lord, Gentle Glory,
Compassionate, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom). His people sometimes
call him Yeshe Norbu (the Wish-fulfilling Gem).
10 What will happen when the 71-year-old Dalai Lama dies? He has left open the
possibility that the tradition of the dalai lama will end. But more likely, he
says, there will be rival dalai lamas-- one found among the Tibetan exile
community, and another appointed by the Chinese
(Contributed by Chicago Tribune)