The Dalai Lama, Buddhism, and Tibet: Reflecting on a Half-Century of Change

The previous words, taken from a speech by the Dalai Lama, embody how he advocates peace in a beautiful way, and this explains why his policies attract so many people and are so appealing to the international community.

“When he is in exile, he is independent. Many of the free countries can thus support him in his struggle for the liberation of the Tibetan people.”23 If all those unfortunate things had not happened to Tibet, it probably would have been better for them, but also the beneficial changes that came in consequence to that would not have happened. Because of all the reasons stated above, we can say that Tibetan Buddhism not only survived a violent invasion by the Chinese people, it was also strengthened by it; and the Dalai Lama not only survived an exile, but was benefited by it.

Bishop, Peter. Dreams of Power: Tibetan Buddhism and the Western Imagination. London:  The Athlone Press. 1993.

Chhaya, Mayank. Dalai Lama: Man, Monk, Mystic. New York: Doubleday, 2007.

Dalai Lama. My Land and My People. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1962.

Farrer-Halls, Gill. The World of the Dalai Lama. Wheaton: Godsfield Press, 1998.

Goldstein, Melvin C. The Snow Lion and The Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997.

Goldstein, Melvyn C. and Kapstein, Matthew T. Kapstein. Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.

Hart Strober, Deborah and Strober, Gerald S. His Holiness the Dalai Lama: The Oral Biography. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.

Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2007.

Roy Burman, Bina. Religion and Politics in Tibet. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House PVT LTD, 1979.

Shen, Tsung-Lien and Liu, Shen-Chi. Tibet and the Tibetans. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1953.

1.) Farrer-Halls, Gill. The World of the Dalai Lama. Wheaton: Godsfield Press, 1998. (p.41)

2.) Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2007. (p.188)

3.) Dalai Lama. My Land and My People. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1962. (p.51)

4.) Ibid (p.21)

5.) Ibid (p.59)

6.) Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2007. (p.198)

7.) Farrer-Halls, Gill. The World of the Dalai Lama. Wheaton: Godsfield Press, 1998. (p.33)

8.) Roy Burman, Bina. Religion and Politics in Tibet. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House PVT LTD, 1979.

9.) Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2007. (p.205)

10.) Ibid. (p.207)

11.) Goldstein, Melvin C. The Snow Lion and The Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997. (p.63)

12.) Goldstein, Melvyn C. and Kapstein, Matthew T. Kapstein. Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.

13.) Goldstein, Melvin C. The Snow Lion and The Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997. (p.69)

14.) Hart Strober, Deborah and Strober, Gerald S. His Holiness the Dalai Lama: The Oral Biography. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005. (p.148)

15.) Chhaya, Mayank. Dalai Lama: Man, Monk, Mystic. New York: Doubleday, 2007.

16.) Goldstein, Melvyn C. and Kapstein, Matthew T. Kapstein. Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998. (p.14)

17.) Farrer-Halls, Gill. The World of the Dalai Lama. Wheaton: Godsfield Press, 1998. (p.92)

18.) Halls, Gill. The World of the Dalai Lama. Wheaton: Godsfield Press, 1998. (p.64)

19.) Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2007. (p.190)

20.) Bishop, Peter. Dreams of Power: Tibetan Buddhism and the Western Imagination. London:  The Athlone Press. 1993. (p.17)

21.) Goldstein, Melvyn C. and Kapstein, Matthew T. Kapstein. Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.

22.) Halls, Gill. The World of the Dalai Lama. Wheaton: Godsfield Press, 1998. (p.54)

23.) Hart Strober, Deborah and Strober, Gerald S. His Holiness the Dalai Lama: The Oral Biography. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005. (p.52)