A Short History Of His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama

FROM THE SAKYA CALENDAR
6 July 2026

​His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born to a farming family on 6 July 1935, in Taktser village, Amdo province of northeast Tibet. At the age of two, then named Lhamo Thondup, he was recognised as the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. The enthronement ceremony took place on 22 February 1940, in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. His Holiness began monastic education at the age of five. The curriculum, derived from the Nalanda Tradition, consisted of five major and five minor subjects.

In 1950, at the age of fifteen, His Holiness assumed full power as Tibet’s political leader. At twenty-three, He sat for His final examination in Lhasa’s Jokhang Temple, during the annual great prayer festival (Monlam Chenno) in 1959. He passed with honours and was awarded the Geshe Lharampa Degree, equivalent to the highest doctorate in Buddhist Philosophy. 

Since His first visit to the West in the early 1970s, His Holiness has become renowned as a scholar and a man of peace. Numerous universities and institutions, in both the East and West, have conferred peace awards and honorary doctorate degrees upon His Holiness, in recognition of His distinguished writings in Buddhist philosophy and His distinguished leadership in the service of freedom and peace. 

In 1989, He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. During His travels, His Holiness has spoken strongly for better understanding and respect among different world faiths. Towards the end, He has made numerous appearances at interfaith services, imparting His message of universal responsibility. 

He has visited more than sixty-seven countries on six continents, spreading His message of love and compassion and oneness for over eight billion human beings. Throughout His life, His Holiness has been committed to the promotion of universal responsibility, secular ethics, religious harmony, and awareness of climate change and global environmental issues.