Dalai Lama Buddhism Research Paper

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Otero, Maria T. (2010). "The Dalai Lama, Buddhism, and Tibet: Reflecting on a Half-Century of Change." Student Pulse, 2(04). Retrieved from:

The Dalai Lama, Buddhism, and Tibet: Reflecting on a Half-Century of Change
By Maria T. Otero
2010, Vol. 2 No. 04

Throughout history, there have been several ways in which people perceive Tibet. Since it has traditionally been isolated from the world, culturally and geographically, the mystery it provokes has shaped most people’s beliefs into viewing it as a Shangri-La, or sacred land. This popular view is supported by the fact that Tibet is a place where its people see Buddhism
It was a program created by Mao in order to shorten the time needed for full communization. “He believed that by destroying all symbols of the old culture – monasteries, temples, ancient monuments, religious leaders, authority figures, books, and so on – a cultural vacuum would be created, and Marxism would move in to fill the void with a new order.”10 All religious practices were banned, and human right violations increased considerably. This dark period lasted until Mao’s death in 1976. In the following period, there was a shift in Chinese policies that included freedom to practice religion. It was the start of Tibetan Buddhism’s revival. Even though the destruction of religion and monasticism was almost total, despite those twenty years of communist propaganda, Tibetans still believed strongly in their religion and in the Dalai Lama11. However, although this was a positive change and religion did have a revival, there was still the “Tibet Question”. China was still not willing to allow an autonomous, separate government in Tibet12. Beijing was interested in the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet because that would end their problems. It would “relegitimize Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, end the international dialogue over the Tibet Question, and persuade the masses of Tibetans genuinely to accept their position within the People’s Republic of China.”13 The difference of interests made it impossible to reach an agreement since
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. Bibliography 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