Childhood
Picture of Tenzin Gyatso at 3 years old
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Tenzin Gyatso was enthroned on February 22, 1940 in Lhasa. He was only 16 and found himself leading a nation of six million Tibeans faced with an imminent war. In 1950 Gyatso was called to assume full political power being head of state and government after China's invasion of Tibet in 1949 The monks at the Potala palace gave the Dalai Lama private instruction. His only classmate was one of his brothers. According to a long-standing tradition, when the young Dalai Lama misbehaved in class, it was his brother who was punished. Over the years the Dalai Lama learned penmanship, history, religion, philosophy, Tibetan medicine, art, music, and literature, among many other subjects. Throughout all of his study he attended meetings of the government. The Dalai Lama loved working with mechanical things. He spent a great deal of time with his telescope. He enjoyed taking watches and small machines apart and putting them back together. |