"A simple Buddhist monk." That's the answer you'd receive if you were ever fortunate enough to ask Tenzin Gyatso what he considered himself to be. Quite a humble response from someone who is often referred to as his holiness, the wishful filing gem, or simply the presence by Tibetans. You see, that simple Buddhist monk is the 14th Dalai Lama. Now you may not be too familiar with exactly what that means, and no it does not in any way have to do with the llamas that spit. In short, the Dalai Lamas are the manifestations of the Bodhisattva (Buddha) of Compassion who chose to be reincarnated to serve the people, and indeed helping people is exactly what his holiness the Dalai Lama sets out to do. As I continue, I'd like to discuss with you …show more content…

However, the Chinese army would hear nothing of it. The Dalai Lama escaped to India where he was given political asylum. Nearly 80,000 Tibetan refugees followed him into exile. Since 1960, the Dalai Lama has resided in Dharamsala, India, known as "Little Lhasa," the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. In the early years of exile, he appealed to the United Nations on the question of Tibet, resulting in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959, 1961, and 1965, calling on China to respect the human rights of Tibetans. With the newly constituted Tibetan Government-in-exile, he saw that the task at hand was to save both the Tibetan exiles and their culture. Economic development was promoted and the creation of a Tibetan educational system was established to raise refugee children with full knowledge of their language, history, religion and culture, and Over 200 monasteries were re-established to preserve the Tibetan Buddhist teachings. In 1963, he drew up a democratic constitution; based on Buddhist principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a model for a future free Tibet. The Dalai Lama has continuously emphasized the need to further democratize the Tibetan administration and has publicly declared that once Tibet regains her independence he will not hold political