PLURALISM

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and has travelled extensively around the world offering the message of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama was born in the small Tibetan village of Takster in Northern Tibet. His original name being Tenzin Gyatso. At the age of 2 Tenzin was recognized as the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama. Thus from an early age the Dalai Lama spent many years studying Tibetan scriptures and he completed a doctorate in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy by the age of 25. The Dalai Lama means Ocean of Wisdom. Lama also means "Guru" or teacher. The Dalai Lama's are believed to be reincarnations of the Bodhisattva of compassion. These are beings who choose to reincarnate to serve humanity. As the Dalai Lama says himself. "The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes....

The bestowal of one of the world's top accolades on a president less than nine months in office, who has yet to score a major foreign policy success, was greeted with gasps of astonishment from journalists at the announcement in Oslo. The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama for 'his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.' Critics - some in parts of the Arab and Muslim world - called the committee decision premature. Obama's press secretary woke him with the news before dawn and the president felt 'humbled' by the award, a senior administration official said. When told in an email from Reuters that many people around the world were stunned by the announcement, Obama's senior adviser, David Axelrod, responded: 'As are we'. The first African-American to hold his country's highest office, Obama, 48, has called for disarmament and worked to restart stalled Middle East peace mov...