Handout One: Complete Worksheet on Dalai Lama

Tenzin Gyatso was born July 6 1935 and is the fourteenth and current Dalai Lama. The fifth of sixteen children of a farming family in the Tibetan province of Amdo, he was proclaimed the tulku (rebirth) of the thirteenth Dalai Lama at the age of five. On November 17, 1950, at the age of fifteen, he was enthroned as Tibet's Head of State and most important political ruler, while Tibet faced occupation by the forces of the People's Republic of China. When the Dalai Lama was about two years old, a search party was sent out to find the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama. After extensive searching, they found that Tenzin’s house resembled one from a vision. They thus presented him with various relics and toys — some had belonged to the previous Dalai Lama while others hadn't. He correctly identified all items owned by the previous Dalai Lama, stating "It's mine! It's mine!" In 1959, Tenzin Gyatso fled to India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan government in exile) and preserving Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him. A charismatic figure and noted public speaker, Tenzin Gyatso is the first Dalai Lama to travel to the West, where he has helped to spread Buddhism and to publicize the cause of Free Tibet. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

References

The Teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, NY Learns Question and Answers

1. What is the name of the 14th Dalai Lama?

______

2. How old was Tenzin Gyatso when he was enthroned as Tibet’s head of

state?

______

3. How did Tenzin identify the toys owned by the previous Dalai Lama?

______

4. What did Tenzin establish in India in the year 1959?

______

5. Tenzin Gyatso travelled to the west and helped spread ______

and spread awareness of the cause ______.

6. Tenzin Gyatso was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the year _____.

Notes: Handout Two: Draw your Vision of Dalai Lama

Draw your vision of the Dalai Lama and his environment. (Provide a few images of Dalai Lama in different settings as a model).

What is Buddhism? What do Buddhists believe?