Overview
- Thousands of devotees and supporters including Richard Gere gathered in McLeod Ganj to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday with ceremonial chants and offerings
- He urged the cultivation of a “good heart and compassion” as the foundation for inner peace and global harmony
- He asserted that the India-based Gaden Phodrang Foundation alone holds the right to identify the 15th Dalai Lama, rejecting Beijing’s Golden Urn tradition
- China’s government brands him a separatist and insists on state approval of his successor, turning the reincarnation into a geopolitical flashpoint
- U.S. officials and former presidents publicly backed Tibetan rights and the integrity of the reincarnation process, signaling broad international support