The Dalai Lama

by Charles George, Linda George

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was born in 1935 to a farming family in northeastern Tibet and revealed at barely three years old to be the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. As the head of state and spiritual leader of Tibet, he has carried out his duties in exile since the Chinese military occupation of Tibet in1959. For his efforts toward the non-violent liberation of Tibet, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Along with the life story of His Holiness, this profile describes the tradition of dalai lamas in Tibet, Tibet’s history and relationship to China, and the controversy surrounding the Dalai Lama’s political activities.

96 pages, Library Binding

First published December 1, 2009

Reviews

[Kbord · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a children's non-fiction book about the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. It is written from the perspective of Tibetans' and Buddhists' beliefs as being true, such as reincarnation. (And in all fairness, practitioners of other religions would wish to have their biographies and beliefs written from their perspective, as being true.) It is also a short political history about Tibetan-Chinese relations.

I enjoyed reading the explanations of how the Dalai Lama was chosen, and learning a bit more about some of the names and titles in the Tibetan-Buddhist culture.