Tibet's Exiled Political Leader, The Dalai Lama, Through The Years (PHOTOS)

It seems the 14th Dalai Lama is stepping out of his political role.

The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet has also been the political leader of the region since his reign began in 1950. However, he has lived in exile for almost 52 years, since a 1959 uprising forced him to flee to India.

Since then, his Eminence the Dalai Lama has advocated for a number possible solutions for the region, including turning it into a "zone of peace," free of nuclear weapons and with support for human rights. He has campaigned for numerous peaceful solutions throughout the years, meeting with world leaders to discuss important human rights issues.

However, the Lama has long sought to divorce himself from the political struggles of Tibet, as he feels his image looms over the situation. According to the AP, he plans to propose amendments to the exile constitution "reflecting my decision to devolve my formal authority to the elected leader."

For some historic images of the Dalai Lama's long political career, check out the images below.

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In this September 1954 picture, the two spiritual leaders of Tibet, the Panchen (C) and Dalai Lamas (R), both Tibet's MP, are shown casting their votes during the First Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. Communist China announced 28 March 1959 that it had deposed the Dalai Lama and set up a new government in rebellious Tibet under the Panchen Lama. The late Panchen Lama (1938-89), a spiritual leader and teacher in Tibetan Buddhism (second in importance to the Dalai Lama), was said to be reincarnation of the Buddha Amitabha. He became the ward of the Chinese in his childhood, and some Tibetans disputed his status. Dalai Lama or Tenzin Gyatso, born in 1935, is the traditional religious and temporal head of Tibet's Buddhist clergy . In March 1959, there was an unsuccessful armed uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. As a result, the Dalai Lama, fled with some 100,000 supporters to northern India, where a government-in-exile was established. The Chinese ended the the former dominance of the lamas (Buddhist monks) and destroyed many monasteries. Tibet (Xizang), occupied in 1950 by Chinese Communist forces, became an 'Autonomous Region' of China in September 1965, but the majority of Tibetans have continued to regard the Dalai Lama as their 'god-king' and to resent the Chinese presence, leading to intermittent unrest. (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)

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In this September 1954 picture, the two spiritual leaders of Tibet, the Panchen (C) and Dalai Lamas (R), both Tibet's MP, are shown casting their votes during the First Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. Communist China announced 28 March 1959 that it had deposed the Dalai Lama and set up a new government in rebellious Tibet under the Panchen Lama. The late Panchen Lama (1938-89), a spiritual leader and teacher in Tibetan Buddhism (second in importance to the Dalai Lama), was said to be reincarnation of the Buddha Amitabha. He became the ward of the Chinese in his childhood, and some Tibetans disputed his status. Dalai Lama or Tenzin Gyatso, born in 1935, is the traditional religious and temporal head of Tibet's Buddhist clergy . In March 1959, there was an unsuccessful armed uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. As a result, the Dalai Lama, fled with some 100,000 supporters to northern India, where a government-in-exile was established. The Chinese ended the the former dominance of the lamas (Buddhist monks) and destroyed many monasteries. Tibet (Xizang), occupied in 1950 by Chinese Communist forces, became an 'Autonomous Region' of China in September 1965, but the majority of Tibetans have continued to regard the Dalai Lama as their 'god-king' and to resent the Chinese presence, leading to intermittent unrest. (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)

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Comments

[JackTheSkipper]

09:39 PM on 03/15/2011

Photo #8 with President Clinton is priceless. Dalai Lama is asking him "Why...Why...Why did you do that. I mean there are lots of good looking women in US".

[lmunoz]

01:42 PM on 03/14/2011

Hmm. I didnt know that the Panchen Lama and Dalai Lama were "rivals"...
You should check your source for this claim, it is innacurate and misleading.

[Pod-gers]

02:35 PM on 03/14/2011

Faved. You are spot on, they are not rivals.

[lmunoz]

11:33 PM on 03/14/2011

Well lets hope they notice because it is quite a mistake to print this especially given the tragic history of Tibet...
I am very surprised to find this here....

[ConsensusReality]

01:29 PM on 03/14/2011

If you meet him, are you supposed to say "Hello Dalai/"

[ethiopia1a]

01:13 PM on 03/14/2011

i meet him at Au last year

[Pod-gers]

04:10 PM on 03/12/2011

Even thought the cold war is over, the US continues the "Tibet Program," to the tune, last year, of some $14-$20 million dollars, including $1million to "support dialogue between the Dalai Lama and China." Now I ask you, how effective has that program been?

[cliffhammond]

10:42 PM on 03/12/2011

When you consider that we have an intelligence presence in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Kashmir, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the other Central Asian states, it becomes clear that the United States and NATO are involved in Central Asia for a far greater geopolitical strategy than chasing down "al-Qaeda" in a "war on terror."

We are there not just for the resources of Central Asia, but also to enforce the foreign policy of "containment" of China, the Russian Federation and Iran. We want to control the resources. The neocon/neolibs estimated that they had a window of about 5-years after 911 to fill the vacuum left by the former USSR before it recovered enough to effect a resurgence into the region. Ergo, the Afghanistan invasion and our current program of building military bases throughout the region.

Given this geopolitical strategy, we can surmise that much, much more is being spent in Tibet than the figures you provide. The poppy/heroin market in Afghanistan is one of the chief sources of black-budget funding for covert ops in the region, as well as the "flower revolutions" we have supported. In fact, we are supporting terrorist groups in Tajikistan to thwart a Chinese incursion through the strategic mountain pass there. We are also supporting the Jundallah rebels in southeastern Pakistan against Iran, as well as the MKE in Pakistan.

It is we who are exploiting the Dali Lama.

Namaste.

[Balzac]

01:58 PM on 03/12/2011

This only elevates his status, now that he's found someone to delegate his political responsibilities to.

[Angie Daniels]

04:05 AM on 03/12/2011

Strangely, the Dalai Lama is friends with my dad. A successful artist who did his portrait.What an amazing life to have lived. I haven't been able to meet him but it would be nice.

[mike72]

10:12 AM on 03/12/2011

Amazing life ... what has he actually done? Empty words, no action. He has never done one thing. literally, that requires him to make a stand. Not one thing.

He is a poster boy of well choreographic fabrication.

Action with unpredictable consequence is the true measure between genuine belief and false pretend.

[xMoonWalkerx]

02:11 PM on 03/12/2011

So you expect him him to support armed resistance against the chincom thugs?

[mike72]

04:25 PM on 03/12/2011

xMoonWalkerx,

Here is his amazing life:

1) Voted yes for Chicom when they arrived

2) Realizing the chicom are going to strip out his power (plus all those 5% noble men of his) so with help from c1a, they ran an armed resistance like what they did to the Nationalists prior to the chicomm

3) Big mistake ... chicom crushed them like bugs

4) He ran away with c1a assistance, whose saw him as potential to be the negotiation chip against chicom

5) Since then he has been systematically fabricated by his Western patrons to be the wise man spreading love and compassion, as a constrast to the chicom

6) But he is extremely careful not to make A SINGLE STAND on anything to alleniate his Western patron, NOT ONE THING. It is always empty words on love, but never ever ever ever make one single action that might bring unpredictable consequence to his tight control over his 300K subjects.

7) Amazing life? I will call it political survival. No more, and no less.


See through the noise and fabrication, and you might see the truth.

[Balzac]

01:59 PM on 03/12/2011

Don't give him a eulogy. He's only delegating the less significant part of his duties.

[American Air]

10:38 PM on 03/11/2011

I'd trust Tibet with n00clear arms over Pakistan having those arms that were supplied by China!

[American Air]

10:33 PM on 03/11/2011

We ought to arm Tibet with the N00clear arms!

[HanMeiRen]

09:14 AM on 03/12/2011

You are putting too much into your emotion. Thank goodness we have able and wise people in control the n00clear arms.

[Pod-gers]

04:42 PM on 03/11/2011

Whatever happened to the Maharaja of Sikkim? In fact, what ever happened to the country of Sikkim? Wait, wait, I know, it was invaded and taken over by India! Now isn't that an inconvienient fact!

[HanMeiRen]

08:52 AM on 03/11/2011

The 14th Dalai Lama has been a failed political leader. The sufferings of the Tibetan as a people have a lot to do with his failed politics.

[mike72]

10:14 PM on 03/10/2011

With Daila out of the political way, I hope the political leadership of the 300K Tibetans in exile will have more leeway to negotiate with the Chinese government, and resulting in their return back home to Tibet.

There is really no point of having young generation of Tibetans cooped up in a camp town forever.

Or it might go the other way, where the younger generation take up arm struggle. But I doubt that the Chinese army and political apparatus, who have seen it all through the decades, would care too much of that sort of lamed armed struggle.

I hope for the former solution. Granted they will no longer have their former serfs and slaves working for them and they will need to learn how to settle down back in the home land. But it is much better than living in uncertainty and serving as the negotiation chips for the Western patrons.

[Madhyamika]

07:54 PM on 03/10/2011

It is good for the Dalai Lama to get rid of the political title and duties at last. He had always insisted that he is a simple monk, first and foremost. Tibetan theocracy was invented in Tibet and has nothing to do with the Buddhism which ancient Tibetans imported from India. Under early Indian Buddhist monastic codes of conduct monks and nuns should not get involve with worldly duties, especially politics and businesses. Such involvement is a major obstacle to their spiritual practice. Unfortunately for the Dalai Lama he was burdened with the political role for so many years. Finally the lay people must run the government by themselves and not to trouble the monks. Free at last! Congratulations to the Dalai Lama.

[LMPE]

07:08 PM on 03/10/2011

Jesse Helms is the last person whom I would have expected to meet with the Dalai Lama, given what a devout white supremacist Helms was.

[mike72]

07:24 PM on 03/10/2011

But Daila Lama served a purpose for Jesse Helms. So there they are togeher, beaming smile.

[LMPE]

09:10 PM on 03/10/2011

Which purpose was that?

[mike72]

10:07 PM on 03/10/2011

As a chip against China.

[Tulka2]

01:25 PM on 03/11/2011

They came out of their meeting laughing,  When someone expressed surprise that he, the Dalai Lama, could find anything to like about Jessie Helms, HH smilingly  replied, "We are both boys who grew up in the country."

[mike72]

10:45 PM on 03/11/2011

Stop the pretend.

[theuniversalcollective]

04:44 PM on 03/10/2011

It's a shame we didn't get any art with Obama. I believe we are selling our souls in our relations with China and that it will turn out to be as bad for us as the Chinese are for the Chinese.

[mike72]

07:25 PM on 03/10/2011

We waged two wars, ki**ling close to one million Iraqis. And you are concerned about China getting our soul.

Sorry to say this, our sould is sold long time ago.

[kwyang]

01:18 PM on 03/11/2011

Well, how would you propose we deal with the most populous country on earth, with the second largest economy, and the highest holder of U.S. debt? Trade war? Actual war? Frankly the only pragmatic way to deal with China is cooperation based on mutual interests.

[theuniversalcollective]

08:55 PM on 03/11/2011

I believe them to be on par with Germany circa '31, they are the single largest abuser of human rights in the history of the world, and the crimes they perpetrate on their own populace on a daily basis, put even Saudi Arabia to shame. We use their power over their people to enslave them. End sentence. Full Stop. Or is that a little too real for you.