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September 16, 2005 > News > Spiritual guide, peace activist, Hollywood icon

Spiritual guide, peace activist, Hollywood icon

By Jennifer Quereau | For the Thresher

The list of recent speakers at Rice is impressive: ex-presidents, heads of state, royalty and a United Nations Secretary General. But few have been as anticipated as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who will give two speeches at Autry Court Thursday.

Now 70 years old, the Dalai Lama has drawn devoted followers with his alluring persona, his half-century-long struggle for a free Tibet and his leadership of the now widespread faith of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Dalai Lama is respected and revered by millions from his homeland of Tibet, as well as by hundreds of thousands of Tibetans in exile. Tibetan Buddhists believe he is the 14th re-incarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. A bodhisattva is a person who has attained enlightenment but remains in the cycle of reincarnation in order to help others achieve enlightenment. Tibetan Buddhists often refer to the Dalai Lama as Yeshin Norbu, which means the wish fulfilling gem; or Kundun, the presence.

His presence has indeed become one of the most demanded in the world: The Dalai Lama’s 2003 speech in Central Park drew a crowd of more than 65,000 people. A German magazine’s 2002 poll reported 37 percent of Catholic Germans listed the Dalai Lama ahead of Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II as the wisest public figure. And in 2004, the Vancouver Sun reported a man started a fistfight when he was told tickets to see the Dalai Lama were sold out.

The effort to bring the Dalai Lama to Rice began with an invitation to be the 2004 Commencement speaker. Although he did not accept that invitation, the Dalai Lama did agree to come to Rice as part of a larger nationwide tour. His speeches will make up the final sessions of next week’s inaugural conference of the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance. Religious Studies Professor Anne Klein and Religious Studies graduate student Alejandro Chaoul helped bring the Dalai Lama to Rice.

Klein researches Buddhism in Tibet and India and is working on a University of Virginia-led project that aims to create an online center of information on Tibetan culture. Klein’s team is digitizing religious documents with the support of Fondren Library and the Ford Foundation. Chaoul, who twice helped bring the Dalai Lama to his own home country of Argentina, is one of five graduate students working on Klein’s project. He also researches the effects of Tibetan yoga and meditation on cancer patients at M.D. Anderson.

But the Dalai Lama’s connection to Houston dates back to his first visit to the United States in 1979. His main stop was at the University of Virginia, but he also came to Houston to visit the Rothko Chapel, a modernist non-denominational sanctuary in the Museum District. The Dalai Lama also spoke at Rice in April 1991. During that trip, he hosted an interfaith prayer service in the Rothko Chapel. In 1995, he spoke at Texas Southern University and visited the Menil Collection.

                                                                    Transcendent fame

The Dalai Lama has come a long way in the public eye since 1979. After decades of lobbying for Tibet’s freedom, the Dalai Lama has found allies around the world. While traveling worldwide, he has impressed powerful people in government, arts and the media. And in recent years, he has helped blur the boundary between religion and science by attending conferences on the neuroscience of meditation.

But in the 1990s, the Dalai Lama also crossed into the strange realm of American pop culture. Richard Gere’s speech at the 1993 Academy Awards — in which he criticized China’s oppression of Tibet — kicked off a Hollywood trend. Celebrities spoke often on behalf of Tibet to raise awareness and money. Some of the most famous supporters have been Harrison Ford, Sharon Stone and Adam Yuach of the Beastie Boys. Yuach organized several “Tibetan Freedom Concerts” with rock bands including U2 and REM.

The plight of Tibet and the popularity of Tibetan Buddhism also attracted the film industry. Released in 1993, The Little Buddha depicts the search for the reincarnated lama and tells the story of Siddhartha Gautama, the original Buddha. Both released in 1997, Seven Years in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt, and Kundun, directed by Martin Scorsese, recount the Dalai Lama’s childhood and escape from Chinese occupation. Several documentaries and made-for-TV movies added to the hype.

While the Hollywood focus made Tibet better known and gave the Dalai Lama further acclaim in the U.S., critics say the films overlook the real condition of the Tibetan people. Critics say the filmmakers shaped a “New Age Orientalism” that depicts Tibet as a land of Himalayan monasteries in which superhuman monks live in a utopian “Shangri-La.”

This portrayal isn’t new. The term “Shangri-La” comes from the 1930s book Lost Horizon, by James Hilton, about a hidden paradise on earth. The book is based on the myth of Shambhala — in which an enlightened, peaceful society in the Himalayas guards the wisdom of the world. The contrast with the actual condition of many Tibetans — who have faced violence and repression in China as well as in countries such as Nepal where they have sought asylum — is great.

But the human rights violations against Tibetans have drawn many outside Hollywood to the Free Tibet movement, which calls for China to grant Tibet independence. Although several non-governmental organizations already supported the cause, the founding in 1994 of Students for a Free Tibet in New York tapped student interest. The organization rapidly expanded to 150 chapters within two years and continues to grow internationally.

The Dalai Lama has even interested people who are usually cynical about the role of religion in politics or religion in general. Although he flashes less tooth than Houston’s Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen, the Dalai Lama exudes charisma with his optimistic, uplifting personality and photogenic smile. But his outspoken commitment to pacifism and compassion have been the defining points of his reputation as a “god among men” — perhaps making the myth of “Shangri-La” seem a little closer to reality. 

                Increasing Awareness

In 1959, about 100,000 Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, left Tibet after a failed rebellion against the Chinese. China had taken control of Tibet in 1949, claiming the area as part of China because it was under control of the Qing dynasty, which lasted until 1912. The millions of Tibetans who remained after the uprising faced religious repression, the destruction of cultural treasures and landmarks, and the rapid industrialization of traditionally rural communities.

Before Hollywood fame came to the Dalai Lama in the 1990s, the international community was less aware of the Tibetans’ struggle. After some sympathetic publicity in the 1960s, not much attention was paid to the Tibetan issue in the 1970s.

Some Tibetans in exile became frustrated by the lack of worldwide recognition. In the 1970s, Tibetans created activist organizations, which worked to alert the international community to their situation.

However, the Dalai Lama’s relationship with the U.S. was limited by the U.S. government’s unsteady relationship with China; the U.S. did not allow him to visit until 1979 because of fears the Chinese would object.

The 1980s finally ushered in a period of greater visibility for the Tibetan people and their plight. As Western academics had been increasingly studying with Tibetan scholars, academic interest and publications on Tibet and Buddhism increased, and more mainstream books were published.

Human rights lawyer John Ackerly had spent time in Tibet and grew passionate about the cause. In 1988, he founded the International Campaign for Tibet, which further spread awareness. Then, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in the summer of 1989 focused media coverage on the Chinese government’s human rights abuses.

The Dalai Lama, meanwhile, was awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for advocating what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called “peaceful solutions based upon tolerance and mutual respect in order to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of his people.”

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