“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
The 14th Dalai Lama (religious name: Tenzin Gyatso, shortened from Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, born Lhamo Thondup, 6 July 1935) is the current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are important monks of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism which is nominally headed by the Ganden Tripas.
The 14th Dalai Lama was born in Taktser village (administratively in Qinghai province, Republic of China), Amdo, Tibet, and was selected as the tulku of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937 and formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama at a public declaration near the town of Bumchen in 1939. His enthronement ceremony as the Dalai Lama was held in Lhasa on February 22, 1940, and he eventually assumed full temporal (political) duties on 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, after China’s invasion of Tibet. The Gelug school’s government administered an area roughly corresponding to the Tibet Autonomous Region just as the nascent People’s Republic of China wished to assert central control over it.
During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India, where he currently lives as a refugee. The 14th Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He has traveled the world and has spoken about the welfare of Tibetans, environment, economics, women’s rights, non-violence, interfaith dialogue, physics, astronomy, Buddhism and science, cognitive neuroscience, reproductive health, and sexuality, along with various Mahayana and Vajrayana topics.
For many children living in poverty their birthdays are just another day. You can change that! Every child deserves a memorable birthday and you can help to make it happen. Be the change that you want to see in the world! Details and “how to” here
GiftsToGive Happy Birthday Program
With over 40,000 South Coast children living in poverty, the need is truly overwhelming. Over 4,000 local children are homeless!
Make a difference in a child’s life! Join us in celebrating your birthday or the birthday of a child you love; by giving birthday presents to local children in-need. One celebration can help dozens of children.
Be bold – host a huge birthday celebration party – ask your guests to bring gifts for a GiftsToGive child. Organize a celebration for your child or grandchild, niece or nephew. Through this process help the “Birthday Child” understand that their birthday can make a real difference and then arrange a visit to the mill to drop off their gifts, and for you to “show this special child” in the most tangible of ways, the power of giving!
The real gift for this child that you love? Learning the power of giving, to help others. The gift for you? – well actually it is priceless!
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