On his 88th birthday, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama sent out a message to his followers and people all around the world, expressing his wish to dedicate his life to helping and benefiting others.
“From my side, I dedicate this very life that I have now to helping limitless sentient beings to the best of my ability...I am determined to bring others as much benefit as I can,” said Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama when delivering his birthday message on Thursday.
The Dalai Lama called upon his spiritual friends and urged them to take on courageous resolve like him and continue extending their support to him and his thoughts.
Birthday Wishes Pour In
In a social media message wishing the Dalai Lama a long and healthy life, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed that he spoke with and conveyed his greetings to the Tibetan spiritual leader on his 88th birthday.
Scores of his followers, politicians, celebrities, and Tibetan exiles, have flooded social media with their wishes and shared a picture of him.
A huge crowd converged on the Tibetan spiritual leader's abode in McLeodganj hill station in the state of Himachal Pradesh and headed to the hilltop Tsuglagkhang Buddhist Temple to offer prayers for the well-being and long life of the Dalai Lama.
The spiritual leader celebrated his birthday by cutting a cake and greeting his followers.
The Dalai Lama's Life Journey
Born on July 6, 1935, to a farming family in a small hamlet called Taktser in Amdo province in northeastern Tibet, the Dalai Lama was given the birth name Lhamo Dhondup.
He was recognized as the tulku, or the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, in 1937 when he was two years old.
In 1959, the occupying Chinese troops suppressed the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa and forced the Dalai Lama and over 80,000 Tibetans into exile in India and neighboring countries.
Upon reaching India, after a three-week-long hazardous journey, the Dalai Lama first took up residence for about a year in Mussoorie, in the state of Uttarakhand.
On March 10, 1960, just before moving to Dharamsala, which now serves as the headquarters of the exiled Tibetan establishment, the Dalai Lama said: “For those of us in exile, I said that our priority must be resettlement and the continuity of our cultural traditions. As to the future...we, Tibetans, would eventually prevail in regaining freedom for Tibet.”
Buddhist monasteries and cultural institutions destroyed in Tibet have been revived and rebuilt in exile.
Nearly 130,000 Tibetans-in-exile live in different countries around the world in both compact and scattered communities.
About 80,000 are settled in 54 different locations across India, Nepal, and Bhutan.