[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 38 (Thursday, March 6, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S1329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 WELCOMING HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is my pleasure to welcome to the Senate 
his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. I know I speak for the entire Senate 
family when I express our gratitude for the prayer to open the Senate 
and his words of encouragement and his blessing.
  His Holiness the Dalai Lama is well known throughout the world as the 
spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and for spreading the gospel of 
peace, compassion, and love to our fellow human beings. But it is the 
tradition when the Senate welcomes a guest Chaplain to say a few words 
about the honored guest.
  My friendship with His Holiness has roots from a good man from 
California by the name of Richard Blum who has done more, in my 
opinion, to help the Tibetan people and His Holiness than anyone else. 
His Holiness often says that he is only a simple monk born to a farming 
family in northeastern Tibet.
  To millions of people in Tibet and across the globe, he is much more. 
He is a source of hope and inspiration in a world that can sometimes 
seem very dark. When he was only 2 years old, His Holiness was 
recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. Four years 
later, when he was a little boy, he began his monastic education. He 
studied logic, art, Tibetan culture, and Buddhist philosophy, among 
many other things.
  At age 23 he passed his exam with honors and was awarded what would 
be an equivalent of a Ph.D., a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy. For 
more than half a century, the Dalai Lama has been traveling the world 
raising awareness about the concerns of 6 million fellow Tibetans--as 
he would say: Making new friends around the world.
  In Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, the Dalai Lamas, all of them, are 
enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana, or liberation 
from the cycle of reincarnation, in order to serve humanity. This 
particular enlightened being has chosen to serve humanity by spreading 
a message of peace.
  He motivates countless people around the world, people of every 
faith, to practice compassion toward one another. His Holiness urges us 
all: ``Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.'' The Dalai 
Lama's teachings contain lessons from people around the world and 
certainly within this Chamber. His Holiness also advises us: ``The best 
way to resolve any problem in the human world is for all sides to sit 
down and talk.'' Pretty simple, but very true. It is advice that those 
of us fortunate enough to serve our country and our constituents in the 
Senate should take to heart and follow.
  The presence of His Holiness in this Chamber today inspires me as I 
hope it does all of us to renew our commitment to speak and act with a 
pure mind and to help dispel the misery of the world.

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