PM Modi calls Dalai Lama on his 87th birth anniversary

New Delhi, July 6

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted the Dalai Lama on his 87th birth anniversary and prayed for his long life and good health.

In a phone call to the supreme spiritual head of the Tibetan people, the prime minister conveyed his greetings.

The PM tweeted, “Conveyed 87th birthday greetings to His Holiness the @DalaiLama over phone earlier today. We pray for his long life and good health.”

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born on July 6, 1935, to a farming family in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo in the north-eastern Tibet.

At the age of two, the child, then named Lhamo Dhondup, was recognised as the reincarnation of the previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.

The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of compassion and the patron saint of Tibet.

Bodhisattvas are realised beings inspired by a wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, who have vowed to be reborn in the world to help humanity.

The official page of the Dalai Lama details his early life and his assumption of political power as the supreme Tibetan leader.

The Dalai Lama began his monastic education at the age of six. The curriculum, derived from the Nalanda tradition, consisted of five major and five minor subjects. The major subjects included logic, fine arts, Sanskrit grammar, and medicine, but the greatest emphasis was given to the Buddhist philosophy.

In 1950, after China’s invasion of Tibet, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power.

In 1954, he went to Beijing and met with Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Chou Enlai.

Finally, in 1959, following the brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, His Holiness was forced to escape into exile. Since then, he has been living in Dharamsala in northern India.