14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Political Report of the Central Committee
Stalin depicted the Communist Party as growing in size and influence and united around its current leadership. He hailed the defeat of Leon Trotsky and his co-thinkers during the previous year and how "resolutely the party met these moves, which were really of a hostile character" but postponed for later a frontal attack on the Leningrad "New Opposition" organized around Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev.


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
Stalin's keynote address was followed by the report of his closest associate, V.M. Molotov, who delivered the report on organizational questions. Molotov seems to have delivered a measured and generalized speech in which he poked at factional rival Grigory Zinoviev by noting the ongoing need for "immense work in the struggle with deviations from Leninism."


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
On the second day, Zinoviev delivered a report of his own, taking a dig at chief theoretician of the Stalin faction Nikolai Bukharin and his controversial slogan advanced to motivate the peasantry to resume production under the NEP — "Enrich yourselves." Zinoviev was heard politely, with no serious heckling by adherents of the Stalin-Bukharin faction, although the applause which met the conclusion of his speech seems to have been largely limited to the Leningrad delegation, the nexus of his factional strength.


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
Bukharin responded to Zinoviev with a rejoinder, in which he thanked Zinoviev for foregoing "the shrill tone which we hear daily from the pages of Leningradskaya Pravda, but hitting him for having set himself against the Central Committee majority and for offering no concrete alternative proposals. Bukharin made note that the slogan "Enrich yourselves" had been long since retracted, and hinted that no similar self-criticism by Zinoviev over his direct appeal to Trotsky at the previous convention was forthcoming.


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
Lenin's widow, Nadezhda Krupskaya, a supporter of the Zinoviev-Kamenev faction, next took to the floor to answer Bukharin. She was sharply critical of the way open debate had been stifled in the pages of Pravda prior to the congress and defended Zinoviev's right to express contrarian opinions.


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
Standards of civil discourse deteriorated during the third day of the congress. Speaking for the New Opposition, M. Lashevich was met with a barrage of jeers and catcalls, which interrupted his presentation. Lashevich charged that Zinoviev and Kamenev were being "cut off" from decision-making authority. This was emphatically denied by Anastas Mikoyan of the majority faction, who was followed by Nikolai Uglanov, head of the Moscow party organization, who took a bite out of his predecessor in that role, Lev Kamenev. The rout of the Leningrad faction was on.


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
Lev Kamenev delivered a long and effective speech on December 21, first taking down hecklers with cutting comments from the lectern before launching into an attack on Stalin's earlier moderate tone towards the rich peasantry and characterization of the industrialisation-oriented Left Opposition as the greater threat to stability of the Soviet state.


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
Kamenev attacked Stalin and his growing leadership role directly during the course of his five-hour speech:


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
"We are against creating the theory of a 'leader'; we are against making a leader. We are against having the [Stalin-led] secretariat combine in practice both politics and organization and place itself above the political organ.... We cannot regard it as normal, and we think it harmful to the party, to prolong a situation in which the secretariat...in fact decides policy in advance.... I repeat...to the congress: I have reached the conviction that Comrade Stalin cannot perform the function of uniting the Bolshevik general staff."


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
British historian E. H. Carr emphasized the importance of Kamenev's powerful declaration:


14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), History, Faction fighting erupts
"Kamenev's bombshell changed the face of the congress. He had blurted out what some, perhaps many, had thought, but nobody hitherto had dared to say. But he had also exposed the opposition to a fresh charge, made by nearly every subsequent official speaker in the debate: Kamenev had unmasked the real motive of the opposition platform — personal jealousy and animosity against Stalin — and revealed the hollowness of the alleged arguments of principle on which it was supported."


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
The 14th (Extraordinary) Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbian Latin: Četrnaesti (vanredni) kongres Saveza komunista Jugoslavije, Cyrillic: Четрнаести (ванредни) конгрес Савеза комуниста Југославије) was held from 20 to 22 January 1990, in the Belgrade Sava Centar. The highest organ of both the government and the party, it was the last Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. It was attended by delegates from all the republics and provinces, as well as a party delegation from the Yugoslav People's Army. The meeting was chaired by President of the Presidency of the Central Committee Milan Pančevski from Macedonia.


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Background
During the 1980s, Yugoslavia has faced a growing political and economic crisis that threatened the very survival of the federation. Conflicting strategies of the future of the nation, based both in republic's capitals, Belgrade, the power of the League of Communists, and its debt crisis finally separated on the 14th extraordinary Congress in January 1990.


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Preparations for congress
The regular congress of SKJ should be held in 1990, but it was suggested earlier, at the 18th session of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, when this proposal was rejected. Then, on the 20th session, the delegation of Vojvodina again proposed the holding of an extraordinary congress, which was again rejected, while the same proposal at the 22nd session was not accepted. There was no single stance on whether this congress should be called extraordinary. Such a name was especially opposed by Slovenian delegation. On the issues to be addressed, especially those who referred to the future organization of Yugoslavia, the congress was indeed remarkable.


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Number of participants
The elected delegates of the congress were 1,457, as follows:


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Number of participants
Number of participants of the 1st plenary sessionAccording to the report of the Verification Commission, submitted after the 1st plenary session, 1,601 delegates with voting rights participated in the work of the congress.


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Number of participants
Number of participants of the 2nd plenary sessionAt the beginning of the 2nd plenary session, 1,612 delegates voted in the work of the congress.


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, The Congress
During the Congress, any illusions about a united SKJ front that could bring the country out of crisis were dispelled. Instead the Congress was dominated mostly by clashes between the Serbian and Slovenian delegations over the power and decision making process of the Constituent republics of Yugoslavia. The Serbian delegation advocated for the introduction of a policy of "one man - one vote", with a more centralized Yugoslavia. The Slovenes, however, suggested a confederation party and state, giving more power to the republics. All proposals of the Slovenian delegation, led by Milan Kučan, were rejected. At the same time, Serbian proposals were accepted on a majority vote, helped by Serbia's domination of the votes in Kosovo, Vojvodina and Montenegro.


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, The Congress
After two days with a sharp verbal conflict, the Slovene delegation walked out of the Sava Center 22 January. Immediately thereafter, the head of the delegation from Serbia, Slobodan Milošević, suggested that Congress continue to work and move on to decision-making. However, this was strongly opposed by the delegation from Croatia, who argued this was unconstitutional. At the prompting of Slobodan Lang, Ivica Račan, head of the Croatian delegation approached the speaker and declared that "we (the SKH delegation) can not accept the Yugoslav party without the Slovenes".


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, The Congress
When Milošević asked what it would take to recommence the meeting, the Croatian delegation remarked "the Slovene delegation", and that if the meeting was recommenced they too would leave the proceedings. When attempts were made, the Croatian delegation were true to their word, and they too left, joined by the delegations of Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. At 22.45 Milan Pančevski called the day's proceedings to a close, and an adjournment for the following day, however, this did not happen, and the congress was never recalled.


14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, The Congress
Yugoslavia faced an uncertain period after the Congress, without any significant cohesive force or individual that would lead to some kind of compromise or conciseness. Soon after, the SKJ became defunct after 81 years of existence, ending 45 years of uninterrupted rule and paving the way for free elections. This event was one of the key moments for the beginning of the breakup of Yugoslavia.


14th Congress of the Philippines
The Fourteenth Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Ikalabing-apat na Kongreso ng Pilipinas) was the national legislature of the Republic of the Philippines, composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives. The convening of the 14th Congress followed the 2007 general elections, which replaced half of the Senate membership, and the entire membership of the House of Representatives. It celebrated the centennial year of the Philippine legislature. The Congress' tenure ended with the 2010 general elections


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, Batasang Pambansa bombing
On the evening of November 17, 2007, an explosion at the South Wing of the Batasang Pambansa Complex killed six people, including Rep. Wahab Akbar (Lakas-CMD, Lone District Basilan). The other fatalities included an aide of Akbar, a driver of  Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan, and three aides of Rep. Pryde Henry Teves (Lakas-CMD, 3rd District Negros Oriental). Ten others were injured in the blast, including Reps. Ilagan and Teves.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, Arroyo impeachment
On October 5, 2007, Lawyer Robert Pulido filed a three-page impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. This complaint was considered as a ploy by Malacañang according to the opposition. It was only supported by Rep. Edgar S. San Luis (independent, 4th District Laguna). On November 4, the House Committee on Justice, dominated by pro-Arroyo lawmakers, declared as "sufficient in form" the three-page impeachment complaint against President Arroyo. On November 6, the committee then deliberated whether the complaint (due to the National Broadband Network controversy) is "sufficient in substance."


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, Arroyo impeachment
If the complaint was declared "sufficient in form", it would be considered as an impeachment proceeding; only one impeachment proceeding is allowed by the constitution, if the committee declares the complaint "insufficient in substance", it would give Arroyo an immunity from impeachment for a year. The committee ultimately voted to trash the complaint, with minority members boycotting the hearing.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, Bribery scandal investigation
On November 13, 2007, there was also the Senate's hearing on the bribery scandal that occurred in the presidential palace.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, The Manila Peninsula Rebellion
The Manila Peninsula rebellion occurred in the Philippines on November 29, 2007. Detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, General Lim and other Magdalo (mutineers) officials walked out of their trial and marched through the streets of Makati, calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and seizing the second floor of The Peninsula Manila Hotel along Ayala Avenue. Former Vice-President Teofisto Guingona also joined the march to the hotel.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, The Manila Peninsula Rebellion
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brigadier Gen. Danilo Lim surrendered to authorities after an armored personnel carrier rammed into the lobby of the hotel. Director Geary Barias declared that the standoff at the Manila Peninsula Hotel is over as Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim along with other junior officers agreed to leave the hotel and surrender to Barias after the 6 hour siege. There was difficulty getting out for a while due to the tear gas that was covering the area where they were hiding.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, The Manila Peninsula Rebellion
Days after the mutiny, the Makati Regional Trial Court dismissed the rebellion charges against all 14 civilians involved in the siege, and ordered their release.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, National Broadband Network Scandal
The Philippine National Broadband Network controversy is a political affair that centers upon allegations of corruption primarily involving Former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman Benjamin Abalos, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo regarding the proposed government-managed National Broadband Network (NBN) for the Philippines and the awarding of its construction to the Chinese firm Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company Limited (ZTE), a telecommunications and networking equipment provider.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, National Broadband Network Scandal
The issue has captivated Filipino politics since it erupted in Philippine media around August 2007, largely through the articles of newspaper columnist Jarius Bondoc of the Philippine Star. It has also taken an interesting turn of events, including the resignation of Abalos as COMELEC chairman, the alleged bribery of congressmen and provincial governors (dubbed as "Bribery in the Palace"), the unseating of Jose de Venecia, Jr. as House Speaker, and the alleged "kidnapping" of designated National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) consultant-turned-NBN/ZTE witness Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada, Jr.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, The Spratly Islands Joint Exploration Agreement
In connection to the Philippine National Broadband Network controversy, The Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) is a tripartite agreement between the Philippines, China and Vietnam to conduct seismic exploration in an area spanning 142,886 square kilometers west of Palawan. More specifically, it is an agreement between Philippine National Oil Company -Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam), that was signed in September 2004 and took effect in July 2005.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, The Spratly Islands Joint Exploration Agreement
JMSU has already finished the first phase of the seismic exploration which lasted from September 1 to November 16, 2006, covering 11,000 line kilometers. A Chinese vessel conducted the survey, Vietnam processed the data gathered and this was interpreted by PNOC-EC in Manila. The second phase started in October 2007, covering 11,800 line kilometers. It was supposed to end January 2008.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Events, Charter Change
Early in 2008, a proposal towards federalism was raised from both members of the Senate and the House of Representatives led by Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr.. This however was later not pushed through due to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo personally backing the proposal. Later on, allies of President Arroyo successfully passed House Resolution 1109 on June 2, 2009, by viva voce in a move to shift the government from the current presidential to parliamentary. All amendments would have needed the approval of three-fourths approval of Congress. The resolution was later shelved by the Senate as it has objected it being passed and due to public outcry towards it.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Members, Senate
House of Representatives                                                                                The term of office of the House of Representatives is from June 30, 2007, to June 30, 2010.


14th Congress of the Philippines, Members, District representative
The term of office of the current members of the House of Representatives will be from June 30, 2007, to June 30, 2010


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
The 14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, also known as the Nutmeg Regiment, was an infantry regiment that participated in the American Civil War. It participated in the Battle of Gettysburg, helping to repulse the Confederate attack on the third day known as Pickett's Charge.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
The 14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment was organized at Hartford, Connecticut, on August 23, 1862, and mustered into the volunteer army.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
The organization of the Fourteenth Regiment began under the order promulgated May 22, 1862, to furnish Connecticut's contingent of the fifty thousand men called for by the War Department at Washington to go into "Camp of Instruction" at Annapolis, Md. Recruiting for the regiment began at once, but progressed slowly until, in July, after the Union reverses on the peninsula, the President called for three hundred thousand volunteers for three years or the war, when it received a tremendous impulse and the regiment filled up rapidly, being the first one to complete its organization under that call. It was recruited from the state at large, having its rendezvous, named "Camp Foote," at Hartford.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
Initially, 1,015 men were mustered under the command of Colonel Dwight Morris. As an example, over the course of the war, 181 men served in Company G, including replacements, and, of these, 61 were from the Clinton/Guilford/Madison area.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
Major battles of the 14th Connecticut included: Antietam Md., Fredericksburg Va., Chancellorsville Va., Gettysburg Pa., Falling Waters Va., Auburn Va., Bristoe Station Va., Blackburn's Ford Va., Mine Run Va., Morton's Ford, Va., Wilderness Va., Laurel Hill Va., Spotsylvania Va., North Anna River, Va., Tolopotomy Va., Cold Harbor Va., Cold Harbor Va. (three days later), Petersburg Va., Deep Bottom Va., Ream's Station Va., Boydton Plank Road Va., Hatchers Run Va. Feb 5. 1865, Hatchers Run Va. March 25, 1865, Highbridge, Farmville Va. and Surrender of Lee's Army March 30 to April 10, 1865.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
Initially, the regiment did not augment its ranks by replacing the dead or wounded with fresh troops. When it arrived at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, the regiment was reduced to 165 officers and men. After the Battle of Gettysburg, they were down to 100. Common practice in other units also was not to replace personnel; the 14th became one of the first exceptions to this rule in late July 1863 following Gettysburg, when scores of men were recruited in New Haven County to bolster the heavily depleted ranks.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Formation of the Regiment
In 1861, in response to Abraham Lincoln's call for five hundred thousand men, Connecticut was filled its quota of 13,037 men with 13 regiments. On May 21, the War Department would accept an additional regiment for a "Camp of Instruction" and announced the formation the following day. It had the same requirements as the other regiments, with members to serve three years or until the war's end. It would rally at Camp Foote in Hartford, Connecticut, under the command of Colonel Dwight Morris.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Formation of the Regiment
Volunteers were slow to enlist; with the prospect of an indefinite "Camp of Instruction" and the quota having been initially met. As the war continued, three hundred thousand more men were requested, with Connecticut's quota was listed as 7,145 being divided into six regiments. On July 1, 1862, Governor Buckingham announced the need for more men and by August 22 the quota was filled. It was mustered by Colonel Webb the following day.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Companies
Numbering 1,015 men, Company A and B were assigned Sharp's rifle and the rest of regiment was assigned the Springfield rifle.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Moving out
On August 25, 1862, the 14th Regiment broke camp and headed towards Washington. The first non-fatal casualty of was not during action, but of accident when Frederick Shalk lost his footing and fell 30 feet in Easton Pennsylvania. The regiment was assigned to the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Division, Second Army Corps under Dwight Morris; with Lieutenant Colonel S.H. Perkins in charge of the regiment. On September 7, it was ordered to move out with the army, passing through Rockville, Maryland to the Rockville Camp.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Moving out
The first casualty, James McVay, died of exhaustion from the march as the regiment approached the camp. On September 11, the regiment marched to Clarksburg, Maryland and reached Frederick City, Maryland on September 13. It marched to South Mountain and arrived just after Battle of South Mountain's end on September 14.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Battle of Antietam
On September 17, 1862, the regiment's first action was at the Battle of Antietam. The regiment traveled along the flank and entered the East Woods, passing through Mumma's orchard and cornfield toward the confederate line. The green troops performed well, but casualties came from confederate fire and accident; including a case of an exploding shell of Company D which killed 3 and wounded 4. In total, 21 men were killed and 88 wounded and 28 missing. The death of Company F's captain Blinn was filled by Samuel Moore.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Battle of Fredericksburg
On September 22, the regiment started to march towards Harper's Ferry. Crossing the Shenandoah on October 30, the regiment marched on to Warrenton, Virginia, arriving on November 7. On November 15, the regiment moved out again, making camp at Belle Plain before marching to Fredericksburg on December 10. In the course of battle, 10 men were killed, 92 were wounded and 20 were listed as missing, among the dead was Lieutenant Canfield and Captain Gibbons of Company B and the Lieutenant-Colonel Perkins was wounded.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Battle of Gettysburg
The regiment arrived at Gettysburg late on July 2, after the second day's fighting had died down. The regiment, with about 160 men, was positioned in the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. The next day, the regiment saw combat repelling what would be known as "Pickett's Charge," when they fought elements of the 13th Alabama, 14th Tennessee, and 26th North Carolina Infantry Regiments. During the entire battle, the regiment lost about 60 men.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Battle of Gettysburg, Medal of Honor
Name:  William B. HincksRank: Sergeant MajorService: ArmyDivision: 14th Connecticut InfantryDate of Action: July 3, 1863Date of Issue: December 1, 1864


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Battle of Gettysburg, Medal of Honor
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Major William B. Hincks, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 3 July 1863, while serving with 14th Connecticut Infantry, in action at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. During the high-water mark of Pickett's charge on 3 July 1863 the colors of the 14th Tennessee Infantry C.S.A. were planted 50 yards in front of the center of Sergeant Major Hincks' regiment. There were no Confederates standing near it but several were lying down around it.


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Battle of Gettysburg, Medal of Honor
"Major Ellis called for volunteers to capture the flag and instantly Major Hincks, Major Broatch and Lieutenant Brigham leaped the wall. Brigham was shot down by a retreating rebel, but the other two sped on, Hincks finally outstripping Broatch ran straight and swift for the color, amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to the line."


14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Battle of Gettysburg, Medal of Honor
The 14th Tennessee's colors carried 12 battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty shown by Sergeant Major Hincks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle.


14th Continental Regiment
The 14th Continental Regiment, also known as the Marblehead Regiment and Glover's Regiment, was raised as a Massachusetts militia regiment in 1775, and taken into the Continental Army establishment during the summer of 1775. When the Continental Army was reestablished for 1776, the regiment was redesignated the 14th Continental. Composed of seafaring men from the area around Marblehead, Massachusetts, it manned the boats during the New York and New Jersey campaign of 1776 and the crossing of the Delaware River before and after the Battle of Trenton. The men of the regiment were only enlisted for one and a half years, and the regiment was disbanded on December 31, 1776, in eastern Pennsylvania.


14th Continental Regiment, Background
The Marblehead, Massachusetts, unit was originally formed in January 1775 after a town meeting voted to reorganize the militia, stripping the existing Tory commanders of their military powers and assigning Jeremiah Lee as the regimental commander. John Glover was elected second lieutenant colonel. The regiment armed itself in part using captured weapons and powder seized during a night time raid of HMS Lively led by Samuel Trevett in early February.


14th Continental Regiment, Background
On February 26, 1775, members of the Marblehead militia confronted 240 British troops under the command of Colonel Alexander Leslie after a standoff at the North Bridge in Salem, Massachusetts. Leslie landed his troops in Marblehead, under orders of General Thomas Gage to proceed to Salem and confiscate artillery that was hidden there. Word quickly spread through Marblehead and Salem, and the Salem militia was waiting at the bridge when Leslie arrived. After a tense standoff, Leslie ended up retreating back to Marblehead where he was met by the Marblehead militia, which had fallen in to reinforce the troops in Salem. The Marbleheaders followed Leslie's troops back to their boats, mocking them as they marched.


14th Continental Regiment, Background
Although the Marblehead militia was not present at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the event had a significant impact on its command. Lee and Glover met with Elbridge Gerry, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock at Weatherby's Black Horse Tavern in Menotomy on April 18. Lee and Glover planned on staying for the night, but in the early morning of April 19, they were forced to flee in their bed clothes as the oncoming British troops searched the tavern. Lee fell sick from exposure after hiding in a nearby field, and died days later. Glover then took over command of the militia.


14th Continental Regiment, Background
The Marblehead militia was formally adopted as a regiment of the Continental Army in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 22, 1775, with 10 companies totalling 505 officers and men. On July 1, Glover received a colonel's commission from the Continental Congress and the unit was designated the 23rd Massachusetts Regiment. In mid-December, Glover's regiment left Cambridge and returned to Marblehead and Beverly at the end of their terms of enlistment. The unit was reorganized as the 14th Continental Regiment on January 1, 1776.


14th Continental Regiment, Washington's fleet
In the summer of 1775 during the Siege of Boston, the British troops were able to maintain a steady stream of provisions through ships arriving from Nova Scotia, the West Indies, and England. In an effort to disrupt these supply lines, General George Washington turned to Glover for naval assistance. Glover made available the 78-ton schooner Hannah, the wharf he owned in Beverly, and a captain and crew selected from his regiment. Although the success of the Hannah was limited, Washington was convinced of the need of a greater naval presence.


14th Continental Regiment, Washington's fleet
He put Glover and his regiment in charge of outfitting and manning the Franklin, Hancock, Lee, and Warren in the fall of 1775. The Hancock and Franklin were sent to the St Lawrence and participated in the Raid on Charlottetown (1775). This small navy was able to disrupt the British supply lines, capturing much needed arms and other supplies for the Continental Army.


14th Continental Regiment, Washington's fleet
As the small naval force began to return to port with prize vessels, Washington became concerned that the Beverly base would gain the attention of the British. In December 1775, Washington dispatched the Marblehead Regiment from Cambridge to fortify and defend Beverly. By mid-1776 Beverly Harbor was protected by five separate forts, with the 14th Continental responsible for much of the task of defending them.


14th Continental Regiment, Combat, Battle of Long Island
On July 11, 1776, Glover was ordered to rejoin the main army in New York. The unit arrived in Manhattan on August 3, but was not ordered onto Long Island until August 28, after the Battle of Long Island. The unit took a position on the Brooklyn defense perimeter between Fort Putnam and Wallabout Bay where they immediately faced intense skirmishing into the night. On the following day, Washington made the decision to evacuate his troops, and that evening under stormy conditions, ordered Glover and the 14th Continental to ferry the entire army across the mile-wide East River. On the morning on the August 30 under cover of fog, Glover and his men completed the task of moving the troops, horses, artillery and supplies across to Manhattan without the loss of a single life and without detection by the enemy.


14th Continental Regiment, Combat, Kip's Bay
In early September 1776, Washington intended to use Glover's men in another amphibious operation to remove the sick, wounded and additional military supplies from Manhattan. A call went out to the New York legislature to send four Albany Sloops for the purpose, but these never arrived. Whether or not the 14th Continental ultimately participated in the removal of the casualties is disputed. On September 4, Washington put Glover in charge of a brigade that included the 14th Continental in a division commanded by General Israel Putnam. On September 14, Glover's brigade marched to Harlem to rejoin the main army.


14th Continental Regiment, Combat, Kip's Bay
On September 15, the British landed on Manhattan at Kip's Bay, which led to a panic-stricken retreat by the American troops defending the shore, including two brigades sent to reinforce them. Despite Washington's best efforts to stop the retreat, they fled towards Kingsbridge until they met six brigades including Glover's that had been marched down from Harlem. Glover brought the troops into a line on a hill to meet the British, but Washington later ordered the troops to fall back.


14th Continental Regiment, Combat, Pell's Point and White Plains
On October 14, 1776, Washington ordered the 14th and three other Massachusetts Regiments under Glover to Pell's Point to guard against a potential enemy landing. On October 18, while Washington was withdrawing the remainder of his troops to White Plains, General William Howe ordered an amphibious landing at Pell's Point. What ensued came to be known as the Battle of Pell's Point; it was a significant strategic victory under Glover, although it appears that he held the 14th in reserve and they did not participate directly in the battle.


14th Continental Regiment, Combat, Pell's Point and White Plains
As Washington's army fell back to White Plains, Glover's men continued to harass the enemy. On October 20, Glover's brigade launched a raid behind enemy lines to bring back 200 barrels of pork and flour that had been left in Eastchester. Several days later a scouting patrol from the 14th Regiment unexpectedly ran into a party of Hessians, killing twelve and taking three prisoner. Glover's men also participated in the Battle of White Plains, principally as part of the artillery engagement and later as the rear guard as Washington moved on to New Jersey. Glover's brigade left White Plains to rejoin the rest of the army on November 22.


14th Continental Regiment, Combat, Battle of Trenton
As the end of 1776 approached, Washington faced a desperate situation. Morale was low, and the enlistments for many of his regiments, including the 14th, were set to expire at the end of the year. Washington decided to get one more battle in before these troops left the service. Howe had pursued Washington through New Jersey, but as Washington crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, his troops had collected all the boats they could find, effectively preventing Howe's further advance.


14th Continental Regiment, Combat, Battle of Trenton
Howe halted his campaign for the winter, moving most of his army back to New York, but leaving a chain of garrisons behind to hold New Jersey. Washington devised a plan to attack the garrison at Trenton, and selected Glover and the 14th Regiment to ferry his troops across the Delaware. The 14th were provided a number of Durham boats for the task, averaging 60 feet (18 m) in length with an 8 feet (2.4 m) beam, each capable of holding an entire regiment.


14th Continental Regiment, Combat, Battle of Trenton
The boats were propelled by oars measuring 18 feet (5.5 m) on the downstream side and poles on the upstream side. Washington ordered the operation for the night of December 25–26, which turned out to be a howling snow storm. As the 14th ferried the heavily laden boats across, they had to contend with ice forming on the gear, and cakes of ice that needed to be wrestled out of the way. In addition to ferrying the troops, the 14th was responsible for ferrying the artillery that was under the command of Colonel Henry Knox. At 3am on the morning of December 26, three hours behind schedule, the 14th Regiment completed their task.


14th Continental Regiment, Combat, Battle of Trenton
After the crossing of the Delaware was completed, the 14th Regiment joined the other regiments in Glover's brigade in General John Sullivan's division and were part of the American victory at the Battle of Trenton that immediately followed. The 14th Regiment then assisted in they ferrying of Washington's force and approximately 900 Hessian prisoners back across the Delaware.


14th Continental Regiment, End of service
After the Battle of Trenton, Washington attempted to persuade the Marbleheaders to remain in the army for another six weeks by offering a bounty, but few took him up on the offer. William R. Lee, former brigade major of the 14th was commissioned as a colonel on January 1, 1777, and a new regiment was formed. Only nine of the 14th Regiment's thirty-two officers re-enlisted. On preparing to return home, members of the Marblehead Regiment learned that some Continental frigates were in the Delaware River. The men offered to sail the vessels to the relative safety of New England waters, but the offer was refused. After returning home to Marblehead, most of the men took up the more profitable trade of privateering for the remainder of the American Revolutionary War.


14th Continental Regiment, Memorials
At the entrance to the Trenton Battle Monument in Trenton New Jersey are the bronze statues of two soldiers. One of the statues is of Private John Russell, a member of the 14th Regiment.


14th Cook Islands Parliament
The 14th Cook Islands Parliament is the previous term of the Parliament of the Cook Islands. Its composition was determined by the 2014 elections on 9 July 2014.


14th Cook Islands Parliament
Due to an election-night tie the seat of Mitiaro was initially left vacant. The tie was later resolved by a judicial recount, and Tangata Vavia was declared elected.


14th Cook Islands Parliament
The Parliament sat for the first time on 8 October 2014.


14th Cook Islands Parliament
The Speaker of the 14th Parliament is Niki Rattle. The Deputy Speaker is Rose Toki-Brown.


14th Cook Islands Parliament, Initial party standings
Note: one seat is tied, with a recount to be held.


14th Cortes Generales
The 14th Cortes Generales is the current meeting of the Cortes Generales, the national legislature of Spain, with the membership determined primarily by the results of the general election held on 10 November 2019. The cortes met for the first time on 3 December 2019. According to the Constitution of Spain the maximum legislative term of the cortes is 4 years from the preceding election.


14th Cortes Generales, Election
The 14th Spanish general election under the 1978 Constitution was held on 10 November 2019. It saw the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) remaining the largest party in the Senate, the upper house of the Cortes Generales, as well as the largest party in the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales, but falling short of a majority.


14th Cortes Generales, History
The new senate met for the first time on 3 December 2019 and after two rounds of voting Pilar Llop (PSOE) was  elected as President of the Senate of Spain.


14th Cortes Generales, History
The new congress also met for the first time on 3 December 2019 and after two rounds of voting Meritxell Batet (PSOE) was elected as President of the Congress of Deputies with the support of the Unidos Podemos–En Comú Podem (UP–ECP) and various nationalist and regionalist parties.


14th Critics' Choice Awards
The 14th Critics' Choice Awards were presented on January 8, 2009 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, honoring the finest achievements of 2008 filmmaking. The nominees were announced on December 9, 2008.


14th Critics' Choice Awards, Winners and nominees
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married as Kym Buchman (Tie)Meryl Streep – Doubt as Aloysius Beauvier (Tie)


14th César Awards
The 14th César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, honoured the best French films of 1988 and took place on 4 March 1989 at the Théâtre de l'Empire in Paris. The ceremony was chaired by Peter Ustinov and hosted by Pierre Tchernia. Camille Claudel won the award for Best Film.


14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso; born Lhamo Dhondup), known as Gyalwa Rinpoche to the Tibetan people, is the current Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader of Tibet, and a retired political leader of Tibet. Born on 6 July 1935, or in the Tibetan calendar, in the Wood-Pig Year, 5th month, 5th day, he is considered a living Bodhisattva; specifically, an emanation of Avalokiteśvara. He is also the leader of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism, formally headed by the Ganden Tripa.


14th Dalai Lama
The central government of Tibet, the Ganden Phodrang, invested the Dalai Lama with temporal duties until his exile in 1959. On April 29, 1959, the Dalai Lama established the independent Tibetan government in exile, the Central Tibetan Administration, in the north Indian hill station of Mussoorie, which then moved in May 1960 to Dharamshala, where he resides. He retired as political head in 2011 to make way for a democratic government.


14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama was born to a farming family, in Taktser (Hongya in Chinese), in Amdo province (Qinghai in Chinese), northeastern Tibet. He was selected as the tulku of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937 and formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in a public declaration near the town of Bumchen in 1939. As with the recognition process for the 13th Dalai Lama, a Golden Urn selection process was not used.


14th Dalai Lama
His enthronement ceremony as the Dalai Lama was held in Lhasa on 22 February 1940 and he eventually assumed full temporal (political) duties on 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, after the People's Republic of China's occupation of Tibet. The Tibetan government administered the historic Tibetan regions of Ü-Tsang, Kham and Amdo, and "In the course of Tibet's 2000-year history, the country came under a degree of foreign influence only for short periods of time in the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries."


14th Dalai Lama
During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama escaped to India, where he currently lives in exile while remaining the most important spiritual leader of Tibet. The Dalai Lama advocates for the welfare of Tibetans while continuing to call for the Middle Way Approach to negotiations with China for the autonomy of Tibet and the protection of Tibetan culture, including for the religious rights of Tibetans.


14th Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama also meets with other world leaders, religious leaders, philosophers and scientists, and travels worldwide giving Tibetan Buddhist teachings. His work includes focus on the environment, economics, women's rights, nonviolence, interfaith dialogue, physics, astronomy, Buddhism and science, cognitive neuroscience, reproductive health and sexuality.


14th Dalai Lama
Along with his teachings on Tibetan Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the Dalai Lama's Kalachakra teachings and initiations are international events.


14th Dalai Lama
He is the chief Patron of the Maha Bodhi Society of India, conferred upon him at the 2008 Annual General Meeting of the Maha Bodhi Society of India.


14th Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, and the US Congressional Gold Medal in 2006. Time magazine named the Dalai Lama one of the "Children of Mahatma Gandhi" and Gandhi's spiritual heir to nonviolence.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
Lhamo Thondup was born on 6 July 1935 to a farming and horse trading family in the small hamlet of Taktser, or Chija Tagtser (Chinese: 红崖村; pinyin: Hóngyá Cūn; lit. ' Redcliff Village'), at the edge of the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo in Qinghai Province. He was one of seven siblings to survive childhood. The eldest was his sister Tsering Dolma, eighteen years his senior. His eldest brother, Thupten Jigme Norbu, had been recognised at the age of eight as the reincarnation of the high Lama Taktser Rinpoche.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
His sister, Jetsun Pema, spent most of her adult life on the Tibetan Children's Villages project. The Dalai Lama has said that his first language was "a broken Xining language which was (a dialect of) the Chinese language", a form of Central Plains Mandarin, and his family speak neither Amdo Tibetan nor Lhasa Tibetan.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
Following reported signs and visions, three search teams were sent out to the north-east, the east, and the south-east to locate the new incarnation when the boy who was to become the 14th Dalai Lama was about two years old. Sir Basil Gould, British delegate to Lhasa in 1936, related his account of the north-eastern team to Sir Charles Alfred Bell, former British resident in Lhasa and friend of the 13th Dalai Lama.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
Amongst other omens, the head of the embalmed body of the thirteenth Dalai Lama, at first facing south-east, had turned to face the north-east, indicating, it was interpreted, the direction in which his successor would be found. The Regent, Reting Rinpoche, shortly afterwards had a vision at the sacred lake of Lhamo La-tso which he interpreted as Amdo being the region to search.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
This vision was also interpreted to refer to a large monastery with a gilded roof and turquoise tiles, and a twisting path from it to a hill to the east, opposite which stood a small house with distinctive eaves. The team, led by Kewtsang Rinpoche, went first to meet the Panchen Lama, who had been stuck in Jyekundo, in northern Kham. The Panchen Lama had been investigating births of unusual children in the area ever since the death of the 13th Dalai Lama. He gave Kewtsang the names of three boys whom he had discovered and identified as candidates.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
Within a year the Panchen Lama had died. Two of his three candidates were crossed off the list but the third, a "fearless" child, the most promising, was from Taktser village, which, as in the vision, was on a hill, at the end of a trail leading to Taktser from the great Kumbum Monastery with its gilded, turquoise roof. There they found a house, as interpreted from the vision—the house where Lhamo Thondup lived.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
The 14th Dalai Lama claims that at the time, the village of Taktser stood right on the "real border" between the region of Amdo and China. When the team visited, posing as pilgrims, its leader, a Sera Lama, pretended to be the servant and sat separately in the kitchen. He held an old mala that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama, and the boy Lhamo Dhondup, aged two, approached and asked for it. The monk said "if you know who I am, you can have it."


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
The child said "Sera Lama, Sera Lama" and spoke with him in a Lhasa accent, in a dialect the boy's mother could not understand. The next time the party returned to the house, they revealed their real purpose and asked permission to subject the boy to certain tests. One test consisted of showing him various pairs of objects, one of which had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama and one which had not. In every case, he chose the Dalai Lama's own objects and rejected the others.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
From 1936 the Hui 'Ma Clique' Muslim warlord Ma Bufang ruled Qinghai as its governor under the nominal authority of the Republic of China central government. According to an interview with the 14th Dalai Lama, in the 1930s, Ma Bufang had seized this north-east corner of Amdo in the name of Chiang Kai-shek's weak government and incorporated it into the Chinese province of Qinghai. Before going to Taktser, Kewtsang had gone to Ma Bufang to pay his respects. When Ma Bufang heard a candidate had been found in Taktser, he had the family brought to him in Xining.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
He first demanded proof that the boy was the Dalai Lama, but the Lhasa government, though informed by Kewtsang that this was the one, told Kewtsang to say he had to go to Lhasa for further tests with other candidates. They knew that if he was declared to be the Dalai Lama, the Chinese government would insist on sending a large army escort with him, which would then stay in Lhasa and refuse to budge.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
Ma Bufang, together with Kumbum Monastery, then refused to allow him to depart unless he was declared to be the Dalai Lama, but withdrew this demand in return for 100,000 Chinese dollars ransom in silver to be shared amongst them, to let them go to Lhasa.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
Kewtsang managed to raise this, but the family was only allowed to move from Xining to Kumbum when a further demand was made for another 330,000 dollars ransom: one hundred thousand each for government officials, the commander-in-chief, and the Kumbum Monastery; twenty thousand for the escort; and only ten thousand for Ma Bufang himself, he said.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
Two years of diplomatic wrangling followed before it was accepted by Lhasa that the ransom had to be paid to avoid the Chinese getting involved and escorting him to Lhasa with a large army. Meanwhile, the boy was kept at Kumbum where two of his brothers were already studying as monks and recognised incarnate lamas. The payment of 300,000 silver dollars was then advanced by Muslim traders en route to Mecca in a large caravan via Lhasa. They paid Ma Bufang on behalf of the Tibetan government against promissory notes to be redeemed, with interest, in Lhasa.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
The 20,000-dollar fee for an escort was dropped, since the Muslim merchants invited them to join their caravan for protection; Ma Bufang sent 20 of his soldiers with them and was paid from both sides since the Chinese government granted him another 50,000 dollars for the expenses of the journey. Furthermore, the Indian government helped the Tibetans raise the ransom funds by affording them import concessions.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
Released from Kumbum, on 21 July 1939 the party travelled across Tibet on a journey to Lhasa in the large Muslim caravan with Lhamo Thondup, now 4 years old, riding with his brother Lobsang in a special palanquin carried by two mules, two years after being discovered. As soon as they were out of Ma Bufang's area, he was officially declared to be the 14th Dalai Lama by the Central Government of Tibet, and after ten weeks of travel he arrived in Lhasa on 8 October 1939. The ordination (pabbajja) and giving of the monastic name of Tenzin Gyatso were handled by Reting Rinpoche. There was very limited Chinese involvement at this time.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
Tibetan Buddhists normally refer to him as Yishin Norbu (Wish-Fulfilling Gem), Kyabgon (Saviour), or just Kundun (Presence). His devotees, as well as much of the Western world, often call him His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the style employed on the Dalai Lama's website. According to the Dalai Lama, he had a succession of tutors in Tibet including Reting Rinpoche, Tathag Rinpoche, Ling Rinpoche and lastly Trijang Rinpoche, who became junior tutor when he was nineteen. At the age of 11 he met the Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer, who became his videographer and tutor about the world outside Lhasa. The two remained friends until Harrer's death in 2006.


14th Dalai Lama, Early life and background
In 1959, at the age of 23, he took his final examination at Lhasa's Jokhang Temple during the annual Monlam or Prayer Festival. He passed with honours and was awarded the Lharampa degree, the highest-level geshe degree, roughly equivalent to a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
Historically the Dalai Lamas or their regents held political and religious leadership over Tibet from Lhasa with varying degrees of influence depending on the regions of Tibet and periods of history. This began with the 5th Dalai Lama's rule in 1642 and lasted until the 1950s (except for 1705–1750), during which period the Dalai Lamas headed the Tibetan government or Ganden Phodrang. Until 1912 however, when the 13th Dalai Lama declared the complete independence of Tibet, their rule was generally subject to patronage and protection of firstly Mongol kings (1642–1720) and then the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1720–1912).


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
During the Dalai Lama's recognition process, the cultural Anthropologist Goldstein writes:


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
everything the Tibetans did during the selection process was designed to prevent China from playing any role.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
Afterwards in 1939, at the age of four, the Dalai Lama was taken in a procession of lamas to Lhasa. The traditional ceremony enthroning the 14th Dalai Lama was attended by observing foreign dignitaries after a traditional Tibetan recognition processes. Sir Basil Gould, the British representative of the Government of India, has left a highly detailed account of the ceremonies surrounding the enthronement of the 14th Dalai Lama in Chapter 16 of his memoir, The Jewel in the Lotus. Despite historical records of eyewitness accounts, China's Kuomintang government later presented false claims to have ratified the Dalai Lama, and that a Kuomintang representative, General Wu Zhongxin, presided over the ceremony.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
The British representative Sir Basil Gould, who was also at the enthronement ceremony, disputes the Chinese claim to have presided over it. He criticised the Chinese account as follows:


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
The report was issued in the Chinese Press that Mr Wu had escorted the Dalai Lama to his throne and announced his installation, that the Dalai Lama had returned thanks, and prostrated himself in token of his gratitude. Every one of these Chinese claims was false. Mr Wu was merely a passive spectator. He did no more than present a ceremonial scarf, as was done by the others, including the British Representative. But the Chinese have the ear of the world, and can later refer to their press records and present an account of historical events that is wholly untrue. Tibet has no newspapers, either in English or Tibetan, and has therefore no means of exposing these falsehoods.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
Tibetan scholar Nyima Gyaincain wrote that based on Tibetan tradition, there was no such thing as presiding over an event, and wrote that the word "主持 (preside or organize)" was used in many places in communication documents. The meaning of the word was different than what we understand today. He added that Wu Zhongxin spent a lot of time and energy on the event, his effect of presiding over or organizing the event was very obvious.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
After his enthronement, the Dalai Lama's childhood was then spent between the Potala Palace and Norbulingka, his summer residence, both of which are now UNESCO World Heritage sites.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
Chiang Kai Shek ordered Ma Bufang to put his Muslim soldiers on alert for an invasion of Tibet in 1942. Ma Bufang complied, and moved several thousand troops to the border with Tibet. Chiang also threatened the Tibetans with aerial bombardment if they worked with the Japanese. Ma Bufang attacked the Tibetan Buddhist Tsang monastery in 1941. He also constantly attacked the Labrang monastery.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama
In October 1950 the army of the People's Republic of China marched to the edge of the Dalai Lama's territory and sent a delegation after defeating a legion of the Tibetan army in warlord-controlled Kham. On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, the 14th Dalai Lama assumed full temporal (political) power as ruler of Tibet.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Cooperation and conflicts with the People's Republic of China
The Panchen Lama and Dalai Lama had many conflicts throughout Tibetan history. Dalai Lama's formal rule was brief. He sent a delegation to Beijing, which ratified the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. He would later claim that the delegation did so without his authorization. He worked with the Chinese government: in September 1954, together with the 10th Panchen Lama he went to the Chinese capital to meet Mao Zedong and attend the first session of the National People's Congress as a delegate, primarily discussing China's constitution. On 27 September 1954, the Dalai Lama was selected as a Vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a post he officially held until 1964.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Cooperation and conflicts with the People's Republic of China
In 1956, on a trip to India to celebrate the Buddha's Birthday, the Dalai Lama asked the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, if he would allow him political asylum should he choose to stay. Nehru discouraged this as a provocation against peace, and reminded him of the Indian Government's non-interventionist stance agreed upon with its 1954 treaty with China.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Cooperation and conflicts with the People's Republic of China
Long called a "splitist" and "traitor" by China, the Dalai Lama has attempted formal talks over Tibet's status in China. In 2019, after the United States passed a law requiring the US to deny visas to Chinese officials in charge of implementing policies that restrict foreign access to Tibet, the US Ambassador to China "encouraged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, without preconditions, to seek a settlement that resolves differences".


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Cooperation and conflicts with the People's Republic of China
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned the US and other countries to "shun" the Dalai Lama during visits and often uses trade negotiations and human rights talks as an incentive to do so. China sporadically bans images of the Dalai Lama and arrests citizens for owning photos of him in Tibet.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Cooperation and conflicts with the People's Republic of China
Tibet Autonomous Region government job candidates must strongly denounce the Dalai Lama, as announced on the Tibet Autonomous Region government's online education platform, "Support the (Communist) Party’s leadership, resolutely implement the [Chinese Communist] Party’s line, line of approach, policies, and the guiding ideology of Tibet work in the new era; align ideologically, politically, and in action with the Party Central Committee; oppose any splittist tendencies; expose and criticize the Dalai Lama; safeguard the unity of the motherland and ethnic unity and take a firm stand on political issues, taking a clear and distinct stand".


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Cooperation and conflicts with the People's Republic of China
The Dalai Lama is a target of Chinese state sponsored hacking. Security experts claim "targeting Tibetan activists is a strong indicator of official Chinese government involvement" since economic information is the primary goal of private Chinese hackers. In 2009 the personal office of the Dalai Lama asked researchers at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto to check its computers for malicious software.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Cooperation and conflicts with the People's Republic of China
This led to uncovering GhostNet, a large-scale cyber spying operation which infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries, including embassies, foreign ministries, other government offices, and organizations affiliated with the Dalai Lama in India, Brussels, London and New York, and believed to be focusing on the governments of South and Southeast Asia. A second cyberspy network, Shadow Network, was discovered by the same researchers in 2010. Stolen documents included a years worth of the Dalai Lama's personal email, and classified government material relating to Indian, West Africa, the Russian Federation, the Middle East, and NATO. "Sophisticated" hackers were linked to universities in China, Beijing again denied involvement. Chinese hackers posing as The New York Times, Amnesty International and other organization's reporters targeted the private office of the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Parliament members, and Tibetan nongovernmental organizations, among others, in 2019.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Exile to India
At the outset of the 1959 Tibetan uprising, fearing for his life, the Dalai Lama and his retinue fled Tibet with the help of the CIA's Special Activities Division, crossing into India on 30 March 1959, reaching Tezpur in Assam on 18 April. Some time later he set up the Government of Tibet in Exile in Dharamshala, India, which is often referred to as "Little Lhasa". After the founding of the government in exile he re-established the approximately 80,000 Tibetan refugees who followed him into exile in agricultural settlements.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Exile to India
He created a Tibetan educational system in order to teach the Tibetan children the language, history, religion, and culture. The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts was established in 1959 and the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies became the primary university for Tibetans in India in 1967. He supported the refounding of 200 monasteries and nunneries in an attempt to preserve Tibetan Buddhist teachings and the Tibetan way of life.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Exile to India
The Dalai Lama appealed to the United Nations on the rights of Tibetans. This appeal resulted in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959, 1961, and 1965, all before the People's Republic was allowed representation at the United Nations. The resolutions called on China to respect the human rights of Tibetans. In 1963, he promulgated a democratic constitution which is based upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, creating an elected parliament and an administration to champion his cause. In 1970, he opened the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamshala which houses over 80,000 manuscripts and important knowledge resources related to Tibetan history, politics and culture. It is considered one of the most important institutions for Tibetology in the world.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Exile to India
In 2016, there were demands from Indian citizens and politicians of different political parties to confer the Dalai Lama the prestigious Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour of India, which has only been awarded to a non-Indian citizen twice in its history.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, International advocacy
At the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1987 in Washington, D.C., the Dalai Lama gave a speech outlining his ideas for the future status of Tibet. The plan called for Tibet to become a democratic "zone of peace" without nuclear weapons, and with support for human rights. The plan would come to be known as the "Strasbourg proposal", because the Dalai Lama expanded on the plan at Strasbourg on 15 June 1988. There, he proposed the creation of a self-governing Tibet "in association with the People's Republic of China."


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, International advocacy
This would have been pursued by negotiations with the PRC government, but the plan was rejected by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in 1991. The Dalai Lama has indicated that he wishes to return to Tibet only if the People's Republic of China agrees not to make any precondition for his return. In the 1970s, the Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping set China's sole return requirement to the Dalai Lama as that he "must [come back] as a Chinese citizen  ... that is, patriotism".


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, International advocacy
The Dalai Lama celebrated his seventieth birthday on 6 July 2005. About 10,000 Tibetan refugees, monks and foreign tourists gathered outside his home. Patriarch Alexius II of the Russian Orthodox Church alleged positive relations with Buddhists. However, later that year, the Russian state prevented the Dalai Lama from fulfilling an invitation to the traditionally Buddhist republic of Kalmykia. The President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Chen Shui-bian, attended an evening celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, International advocacy
In October 2008 in Japan, the Dalai Lama addressed the 2008 Tibetan violence that had erupted and that the Chinese government accused him of fomenting. He responded that he had "lost faith" in efforts to negotiate with the Chinese government, and that it was "up to the Tibetan people" to decide what to do.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, International advocacy
Thirty Taiwanese indigenous peoples protested against the Dalai Lama during his visit to Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot and denounced it as politically motivated.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, International advocacy
The Dalai Lama is an advocate for a world free of nuclear weapons, and currently serves on the Advisory Council of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, International advocacy
The Dalai Lama has voiced his support for the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
Despite becoming 80 years old in 2015, he maintains a busy international lecture and teaching schedule. His public talks and teachings are usually webcast live in multiple languages, via an inviting organisation's website, or on the Dalai Lama's own website. Scores of his past teaching videos can be viewed there, as well as public talks, conferences, interviews, dialogues and panel discussions.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
The Dalai Lama's best known teaching subject is the Kalachakra tantra which, as of 2014, he had conferred a total of 33 times, most often in India's upper Himalayan regions but also in the Western world. The Kalachakra (Wheel of Time) is one of the most complex teachings of Buddhism, sometimes taking two weeks to confer, and he often confers it on very large audiences, up to 200,000 students and disciples at a time.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
The Dalai Lama is the author of numerous books on Buddhism, many of them on general Buddhist subjects but also including books on particular topics like Dzogchen, a Nyingma practice.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
In his essay "The Ethic of Compassion" (1999), the Dalai Lama expresses his belief that if we only reserve compassion for those that we love, we are ignoring the responsibility of sharing these characteristics of respect and empathy with those we do not have relationships with, which cannot allow us to "cultivate love." He elaborates upon this idea by writing that although it takes time to develop a higher level of compassion, eventually we will recognize that the quality of empathy will become a part of life and promote our quality as humans and inner strength.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
He frequently accepts requests from students to visit various countries worldwide in order to give teachings to large Buddhist audiences, teachings that are usually based on classical Buddhist texts and commentaries, and most often those written by the 17 pandits or great masters of the Nalanda tradition, such as Nagarjuna, Kamalashila, Shantideva, Atisha, Ayradeva and so on.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
The Dalai Lama refers to himself as a follower of these Nalanda masters, in fact he often asserts that 'Tibetan Buddhism' is based on the Buddhist tradition of Nalanda monastery in ancient India, since the texts written by those 17 Nalanda pandits or masters, to whom he has composed a poem of invocation, were brought to Tibet and translated into Tibetan when Buddhism was first established there and have remained central to the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism ever since.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
As examples of other teachings, in London in 1984 he was invited to give teachings on the Twelve Links of Dependent Arising, and on Dzogchen, which he gave at Camden Town Hall; in 1988 he was in London once more to give a series of lectures on Tibetan Buddhism in general, called 'A Survey of the Paths of Tibetan Buddhism'. Again in London in 1996 he taught the Four Noble Truths, the basis and foundation of Buddhism accepted by all Buddhists, at the combined invitation of 27 different Buddhist organisations of all schools and traditions belonging to the Network of Buddhist Organisations UK.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
In India, the Dalai Lama gives religious teachings and talks in Dharamsala and numerous other locations including the monasteries in the Tibetan refugee settlements, in response to specific requests from Tibetan monastic institutions, Indian academic, religious and business associations, groups of students and individual/private/lay devotees. In India, no fees are charged to attend these teachings since costs are covered by requesting sponsors. When he travels abroad to give teachings there is usually a ticket fee calculated by the inviting organization to cover the costs involved and any surplus is normally to be donated to recognised charities.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
He has frequently visited and lectured at colleges and universities, some of which have conferred honorary degrees upon him.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Teaching activities, public talks
Dozens of videos of recorded webcasts of the Dalai Lama's public talks on general subjects for non-Buddhists like peace, happiness and compassion, modern ethics, the environment, economic and social issues, gender, the empowerment of women and so forth can be viewed in his office's archive.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interfaith dialogue
The Dalai Lama met Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1973. He met Pope John Paul II in 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, and 2003. In 1990, he met a delegation of Jewish teachers in Dharamshala for an extensive interfaith dialogue. He has since visited Israel three times, and in 2006 met the Chief Rabbi of Israel. In 2006, he met Pope Benedict XVI privately.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interfaith dialogue
He has met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie, and other leaders of the Anglican Church in London, Gordon B. Hinckley, who at the time was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), as well as senior Eastern Orthodox Church, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Sikh officials. The Dalai Lama is also currently a member of the Board of World Religious Leaders as part of The Elijah Interfaith Institute and participated in the Third Meeting of the Board of World Religious Leaders in Amritsar, India, on 26 November 2007 to discuss the topic of Love and Forgiveness.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interfaith dialogue
In 2009, the Dalai Lama inaugurated an interfaith "World Religions-Dialogue and Symphony" conference at Gujarat's Mahuva religions, according to Morari Bapu.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interfaith dialogue
In 2010, the Dalai Lama, joined by a panel of scholars, launched the Common Ground Project, in Bloomington, Indiana (USA), which was planned by himself and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan during several years of personal conversations. The project is based on the book Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interfaith dialogue
In 2019, the Dalai Lama fully-sponsored the first-ever 'Celebrating Diversity in the Muslim World' conference in New Delhi on behalf of the Muslims of Ladakh.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
The Dalai Lama's lifelong interest in science and technology dates from his childhood in Lhasa, Tibet, when he was fascinated by mechanical objects like clocks, watches, telescopes, film projectors, clockwork soldiers and motor cars, and loved to repair, disassemble and reassemble them. Once, observing the Moon through a telescope as a child, he realised it was a crater-pocked lump of rock and not a heavenly body emitting its own light as Tibetan cosmologists had taught him. He has also said that had he not been brought up as a monk he would probably have been an engineer. On his first trip to the west in 1973 he asked to visit Cambridge University's astrophysics department in the UK and he sought out renowned scientists such as Sir Karl Popper, David Bohm and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, who taught him the basics of science.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
The Dalai Lama sees important common ground between science and Buddhism in having the same approach to challenge dogma on the basis of empirical evidence that comes from observation and analysis of phenomena.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
His growing wish to develop meaningful scientific dialogue to explore the Buddhism and science interface led to invitations for him to attend relevant conferences on his visits to the west, including the Alpbach Symposia on Consciousness in 1983 where he met and had discussions with the late Chilean neuroscientist Francisco J. Varela. Also in 1983, the American social entrepreneur and innovator R. Adam Engle, who had become aware of the Dalai Lama's deep interest in science, was already considering the idea of facilitating for him a serious dialogue with a selection of appropriate scientists.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
In 1984 Engle formally offered to the Dalai Lama's office to organise a week-long, formal dialogue for him with a suitable team of scientists, provided that the Dalai Lama would wish to fully participate in such a dialogue. Within 48 hours the Dalai Lama confirmed to Engle that he was "truly interested in participating in something substantial about science" so Engle proceeded with launching the project. Francisco Varela, having heard about Engle's proposal, then called him to tell him of his earlier discussions with the Dalai Lama and to offer his scientific collaboration to the project.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
Engle accepted, and Varela assisted him to assemble his team of six specialist scientists for the first 'Mind and Life' dialogue on the cognitive sciences, which was eventually held with the Dalai Lama at his residence in Dharamsala in 1987. This five-day event was so successful that at the end the Dalai Lama told Engle he would very much like to repeat it again in the future. Engle then started work on arranging a second dialogue, this time with neuroscientists in California, and the discussions from the first event were edited and published as Mind and Life's first book, "Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind".


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
As Mind and Life Institute's remit expanded, Engle formalised the organisation as a non-profit foundation after the third dialogue, held in 1990, which initiated the undertaking of neurobiological research programmes in the United States under scientific conditions. Over the following decades, as of 2014 at least 28 dialogues between the Dalai Lama and panels of various world-renowned scientists have followed, held in various countries and covering diverse themes, from the nature of consciousness to cosmology and from quantum mechanics to the neuroplasticity of the brain. Sponsors and partners in these dialogues have included the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, the Mayo Clinic, and Zurich University.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
Apart from time spent teaching Buddhism and fulfilling responsibilities to his Tibetan followers, the Dalai Lama has probably spent, and continues to spend, more of his time and resources investigating the interface between Buddhism and science through the ongoing series of Mind and Life dialogues and its spin-offs than on any other single activity. As the institute's Cofounder and the Honorary chairman he has personally presided over and participated in all its dialogues, which continue to expand worldwide.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
These activities have given rise to dozens of DVD sets of the dialogues and books he has authored on them such as Ethics for the New Millennium and The Universe in a Single Atom, as well as scientific papers and university research programmes. On the Tibetan and Buddhist side, science subjects have been added to the curriculum for Tibetan monastic educational institutions and scholarship.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
On the Western side, university and research programmes initiated by these dialogues and funded with millions of dollars in grants from the Dalai Lama Trust include the Emory-Tibet Partnership, Stanford School of Medicine's Centre for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARES) and the Centre for Investigating Healthy Minds, amongst others.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
In 2019, Emory University's Center for Contemplative Sciences and Compassion-Based Ethics, in partnership with The Dalai Lama Trust and the Vana Foundation of India, launched an international SEE Learning (Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning) program in New Delhi, India, a school curriculum for all classes from kindergarten to Std XII that builds on psychologist Daniel Goleman's work on emotional intelligence in the early 1990s. SEE learning focuses on developing critical thinking, ethical reasoning and compassion and stresses on commonalities rather than on the differences.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
In particular, the Mind and Life Education Humanities & Social Sciences initiatives have been instrumental in developing the emerging field of Contemplative Science, by researching, for example, the effects of contemplative practice on the human brain, behaviour and biology.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
In his 2005 book The Universe in a Single Atom and elsewhere, and to mark his commitment to scientific truth and its ultimate ascendancy over religious belief, unusually for a major religious leader the Dalai Lama advises his Buddhist followers: "If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims." He has also cited examples of archaic Buddhist ideas he has abandoned himself on this basis.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Interest in science, and Mind and Life Institute
These activities have even had an impact in the Chinese capital. In 2013 an 'academic dialogue' with a Chinese scientist, a Tibetan 'living Buddha' and a Professor of Religion took place in Beijing. Entitled "High-end dialogue: ancient Buddhism and modern science" it addressed the same considerations that interest the Dalai Lama, described as 'discussing about the similarities between Buddhism and modern science'.


14th Dalai Lama, Life as the Dalai Lama, Personal meditation practice
The Dalai Lama uses various meditation techniques, including analytic meditation. He has said that the aim of meditation is "to maintain a very full state of alertness and mindfulness, and then try to see the natural state of your consciousness."


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Abortion
The Dalai Lama has said that, from the perspective of the Buddhist precepts, abortion is an act of killing. He has also clarified that in certain cases abortion could be considered ethically acceptable "if the unborn child will be retarded or if the birth will create serious problems for the parent", which could only be determined on a case-by-case basis.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Democracy, nonviolence, religious harmony, and Tibet's relationship with India
The Dalai Lama says that he is active in spreading India's message of nonviolence and religious harmony throughout the world. "I am the messenger of India's ancient thoughts the world over." He has said that democracy has deep roots in India. He says he considers India the master and Tibet its disciple, as great scholars went from India to Tibet to teach Buddhism. He has noted that millions of people lost their lives in violence and the economies of many countries were ruined due to conflicts in the 20th century. "Let the 21st century be a century of tolerance and dialogue."


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Democracy, nonviolence, religious harmony, and Tibet's relationship with India
The Dalai Lama has also critiqued proselytization and certain types of conversion, believing the practices to be contrary to the fundamental ideas of religious harmony and spiritual practice. He has stated that "It’s very important that our religious traditions live in harmony with one another and I don’t think proselytizing contributes to this. Just as fighting and killing in the name of religion are very sad, it’s not appropriate to use religion as a ground or a means for defeating others."


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Democracy, nonviolence, religious harmony, and Tibet's relationship with India
In particular, he has critiqued Christian approaches to conversion in Asia, stating that he has "come across situations where serving the people is a cover for proselytization." The Dalai Lama has labeled such practices counter to the "message of Christ" and has emphasized that such individuals "practice conversion like a kind of war against peoples and cultures." In a statement with Hindu religious leaders, he expressed that he opposes "conversions by any religious tradition using various methods of enticement."


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Democracy, nonviolence, religious harmony, and Tibet's relationship with India
In 1993, the Dalai Lama attended the World Conference on Human Rights and made a speech titled "Human Rights and Universal Responsibility".


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Democracy, nonviolence, religious harmony, and Tibet's relationship with India
In 2001, in response to a question from a Seattle schoolgirl, the Dalai Lama said that it is permissible to shoot someone in self-defense (if the person was "trying to kill you") and he emphasized that the shot should not be fatal.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Democracy, nonviolence, religious harmony, and Tibet's relationship with India
In 2013, the Dalai Lama criticised Buddhist monks' attacks on Muslims in Myanmar and rejected violence by Buddhists, saying: "Buddha always teaches us about forgiveness, tolerance, compassion. If from one corner of your mind, some emotion makes you want to hit, or want to kill, then please remember Buddha's faith. ... All problems must be solved through dialogue, through talk. The use of violence is outdated, and never solves problems." In May 2013, he said "Really, killing people in the name of religion is unthinkable, very sad." In May 2015, the Dalai Lama called on Myanmar's Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to do more to help the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, said that he had urged Suu Kyi to address the Rohingyas' plight in two previous private meetings and had been rebuffed.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Democracy, nonviolence, religious harmony, and Tibet's relationship with India
In 2017, after Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo died of organ failure while in Chinese government custody, the Dalai Lama said he was "deeply saddened" and that he believed that Liu's "unceasing efforts in the cause of freedom will bear fruit before long."


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Democracy, nonviolence, religious harmony, and Tibet's relationship with India
In October 2020, the Dalai Lama stated that he did not support Tibetan independence and hoped to visit China as a Nobel Prize winner. He said "I prefer the concept of a 'republic' in the People's Republic of China. In the concept of republic, ethnic minorities are like Tibetans, The Mongols, Manchus, and Xinjiang Uyghurs, we can live in harmony".


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Diet and animal welfare
People think of animals as if they were vegetables, and that is not right. We have to change the way people think about animals. I encourage the Tibetan people and all people to move toward a vegetarian diet that doesn't cause suffering.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Diet and animal welfare
The Dalai Lama advocates compassion for animals and frequently urges people to try vegetarianism or at least reduce their consumption of meat. In Tibet, where historically meat was the most common food, most monks historically have been omnivores, including the Dalai Lamas. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama was raised in a meat-eating family but converted to vegetarianism after arriving in India, where vegetables are much more easily available and vegetarianism is widespread.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Diet and animal welfare
He spent many years as a vegetarian, but after contracting hepatitis in India and suffering from weakness, his doctors told him to return to eating meat which he now does twice a week. This attracted public attention when, during a visit to the White House, he was offered a vegetarian menu but declined by replying, as he is known to do on occasion when dining in the company of non-vegetarians, "I'm a Tibetan monk, not a vegetarian". His own home kitchen, however, is completely vegetarian.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Diet and animal welfare
In 2009, the English singer Paul McCartney wrote a letter to the Dalai Lama inquiring why he was not a vegetarian. As McCartney later told The Guardian, "He wrote back very kindly, saying, 'my doctors tell me that I must eat meat'. And I wrote back again, saying, you know, I don't think that's right. [ ...] I think now he's vegetarian most of the time. I think he's now being told, the more he meets doctors from the west, that he can get his protein somewhere else. [ ...] It just doesn't seem right – the Dalai Lama, on the one hand, saying, 'Hey guys, don't harm sentient beings... Oh, and by the way, I'm having a steak.'"


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Economics and political stance
The Dalai Lama has referred to himself as a Marxist and has articulated criticisms of capitalism.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Economics and political stance
I am not only a socialist but also a bit leftist, a communist. In terms of social economy theory, I am a Marxist. I think I am farther to the left than the Chinese leaders. [ Bursts out laughing.] They are capitalists.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Economics and political stance
He reports hearing of communism when he was very young, but only in the context of the destruction of Communist Mongolia. It was only when he went on his trip to Beijing that he learned about Marxist theory from his interpreter Baba Phuntsog Wangyal. At that time, he reports, "I was so attracted to Marxism, I even expressed my wish to become a Communist Party member", citing his favorite concepts of self-sufficiency and equal distribution of wealth.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Economics and political stance
He does not believe that China implemented "true Marxist policy", and thinks the historical communist states such as the Soviet Union "were far more concerned with their narrow national interests than with the Workers' International". Moreover, he believes one flaw of historically "Marxist regimes" is that they place too much emphasis on destroying the ruling class, and not enough on compassion. He finds Marxism superior to capitalism, believing the latter is only concerned with "how to make profits", whereas the former has "moral ethics". Stating in 1993:


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Economics and political stance
Of all the modern economic theories, the economic system of Marxism is founded on moral principles, while capitalism is concerned only with gain and profitability. Marxism is concerned with the distribution of wealth on an equal basis and the equitable utilisation of the means of production. It is also concerned with the fate of the working classes—that is, the majority—as well as with the fate of those who are underprivileged and in need, and Marxism cares about the victims of minority-imposed exploitation. For those reasons the system appeals to me, and it seems fair. I just recently read an article in a paper where His Holiness the Pope also pointed out some positive aspects of Marxism.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Environment
The Dalai Lama is outspoken in his concerns about environmental problems, frequently giving public talks on themes related to the environment. He has pointed out that many rivers in Asia originate in Tibet, and that the melting of Himalayan glaciers could affect the countries in which the rivers flow. He acknowledged official Chinese laws against deforestation in Tibet, but lamented they can be ignored due to possible corruption. He was quoted as saying "ecology should be part of our daily life"; personally, he takes showers instead of baths, and turns lights off when he leaves a room.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Environment
Around 2005, he started campaigning for wildlife conservation, including by issuing a religious ruling against wearing tiger and leopard skins as garments. The Dalai Lama supports the anti-whaling position in the whaling controversy, but has criticized the activities of groups such as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (which carries out acts of what it calls aggressive nonviolence against property). Before the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, he urged national leaders to put aside domestic concerns and take collective action against climate change.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Sexuality
A monk since childhood, the Dalai Lama has said that sex offers fleeting satisfaction and leads to trouble later, while chastity offers a better life and "more independence, more freedom". He has said that problems arising from conjugal life sometimes even lead to suicide or murder. He has asserted that all religions have the same view about adultery.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Sexuality
In his discussions of the traditional Buddhist view on appropriate sexual behavior, he explains the concept of "right organ in the right object at the right time", which historically has been interpreted as indicating that oral, manual and anal sex (both homosexual and heterosexual) are not appropriate in Buddhism or for Buddhists. However, he also says that in modern times all common, consensual sexual practices that do not cause harm to others are ethically acceptable and that society should accept and respect people who are gay or transgender from a secular point of view.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Sexuality
In a 1994 interview with OUT Magazine, the Dalai Lama clarified his personal opinion on the matter by saying, "If someone comes to me and asks whether homosexuality is okay or not, I will ask 'What is your companion's opinion?'


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Sexuality
If you both agree, then I think I would say, 'If two males or two females voluntarily agree to have mutual satisfaction without further implication of harming others, then it is okay.'" However, when interviewed by Canadian TV news anchor Evan Solomon on CBC News: Sunday about whether homosexuality is acceptable in Buddhism, the Dalai Lama responded that "it is sexual misconduct".


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Sexuality
In his 1996 book Beyond Dogma, he described a traditional Buddhist definition of an appropriate sexual act as follows: "A sexual act is deemed proper when the couples use the organs intended for sexual intercourse and nothing else ... Homosexuality, whether it is between men or between women, is not improper in itself. What is improper is the use of organs already defined as inappropriate for sexual contact." He elaborated in 1997, explaining that the basis of that teaching was unknown to him. He also conveyed his own "willingness to consider the possibility that some of the teachings may be specific to a particular cultural and historic context".


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Sexuality
In 2006, the Dalai Lama has expressed concern at "reports of violence and discrimination against" LGBT people and urged "respect, tolerance and the full recognition of human rights for all".


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Women's rights
In 2007, he said that the next Dalai Lama could possibly be a woman: "If a woman reveals herself as more useful the lama could very well be reincarnated in this form."


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Women's rights
In 2009, on gender equality and sexism, the Dalai Lama proclaimed at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee: "I call myself a feminist. Isn't that what you call someone who fights for women's rights?" He also said that by nature, women are more compassionate "based on their biology and ability to nurture and birth children". He called on women to "lead and create a more compassionate world", citing the good works of nurses and mothers.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Women's rights
At a 2014 appearance at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, the Dalai Lama said, "Since women have been shown to be more sensitive to others' suffering, their leadership may be more effective."


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Women's rights
In 2015, he said in a BBC interview that if a female succeeded him, "that female must be attractive, otherwise it is not much use," and when asked if he was joking, replied, "No. True!" He followed with a joke about his current success being due to his own appearance.


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Health
In 2013, at the Culture of Compassion event in Derry, Northern Ireland, the Dalai Lama said that "Warm-heartedness is a key factor for healthy individuals, healthy families and healthy communities."


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Health, Response to COVID-19
In a 2020 statement in Time magazine on the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dalai Lama said that the pandemic must be combated with compassion, empirical science, prayer, and the courage of healthcare workers. He emphasized "emotional disarmament" (seeing things with a clear and realistic perspective, without fear or rage) and wrote: "The outbreak of this terrible coronavirus has shown that what happens to one person can soon affect every other being. But it also reminds us that a compassionate or constructive act – whether working in hospitals or just observing social distancing – has the potential to help many."


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Immigration
In September 2018, speaking at a conference in Malmö, Sweden home to a large immigrant population, the Dalai Lama said "I think Europe belongs to the Europeans", but also that Europe was "morally responsible" for helping "a refugee really facing danger against their life". He stated that Europe has a responsibility to refugees to "receive them, help them, educate them", but that they should aim to return to their places of origin and that "they ultimately should rebuild their own country".


14th Dalai Lama, Social stances, Immigration
Speaking to German reporters in 2016, the Dalai Lama said there are "too many" refugees in Europe, adding that "Europe, for example Germany, cannot become an Arab country." He also said that "Germany is Germany".


14th Dalai Lama, Retirement and succession plans
In May 2011, the Dalai Lama retired from the Central Tibetan Administration.


14th Dalai Lama, Retirement and succession plans
In September 2011, the Dalai Lama issued the following statement concerning his succession and reincarnation:


14th Dalai Lama, Retirement and succession plans
When I am about ninety I will consult the high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public, and other concerned people who follow Tibetan Buddhism, and re-evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not. On that basis we will take a decision. If it is decided that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should continue and there is a need for the Fifteenth Dalai Lama to be recognized, responsibility for doing so will primarily rest on the concerned officers of the Dalai Lama's Gaden Phodrang Trust.


14th Dalai Lama, Retirement and succession plans
They should consult the various heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas. They should seek advice and direction from these concerned beings and carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition. I shall leave clear written instructions about this. Bear in mind that, apart from the reincarnation recognized through such legitimate methods, no recognition or acceptance should be given to a candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, including those in the People's Republic of China.


14th Dalai Lama, Retirement and succession plans
In October 2011, the Dalai Lama repeated his statement in an interview with Canadian CTV News. He added that Chinese laws banning the selection of successors based on reincarnation will not impact his decisions. "Naturally my next life is entirely up to me. No one else. And also this is not a political matter", he said in the interview. The Dalai Lama also added that he has not decided on whether he would reincarnate or be the last Dalai Lama.


14th Dalai Lama, Retirement and succession plans
In an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag published on 7 September 2014 the Dalai Lama stated "the institution of the Dalai Lama has served its purpose", and that "We had a Dalai Lama for almost five centuries. The 14th Dalai Lama now is very popular. Let us then finish with a popular Dalai Lama."


14th Dalai Lama, Retirement and succession plans
Gyatso has also expressed fear that the Chinese government would manipulate any reincarnation selection in order to choose a successor that would go along with their political goals. In response the Chinese government implied that it would select another Dalai Lama regardless of his decision.