The current 14th Dalai Lama reached the age of 90 this 6 July 2025.
He is also known as Kundun.
In the Tibetan language, “Kundun” means “The Presence”. It is a respectful term used to address the Dalai Lama.
There are two good movies about the current 14th Dalai Lama. Kundun is the life of the 14th Dalai Lama. Seven Years in Tibet is about an Austrian who escaped from a British WW2 POW camp in India and sought refuge in Tibet, where he befriended a young 14th Dalai Lama.
Both movies are based on real events, though some parts have been altered for cinematic reasons.
Here are 2 books on the Dalai Lama. One is on the 14th Dalai Lama ( 2020). The other is on all fourteen Dalai Lamas (2008).
Both are by Alexander Norman. He is a scholar who has close access to the 14th Dalai Lama. He is, in fact, a friend. And that is where we find the strengths and weaknesses of his book on the 14th Dalai Lama.
The biography is not a critical examination of a well-lived life. He uses only Tibetan sources. Chinese sources are not cited. One will need to go to other books to get a more balanced view.
In the Afterword, Norman tried to explain his challenge in writing the biography in having to confront the gap between the Tibet of historical record and the Facebook image of Tibet.
Sadly, he never rose to the challenge. In a mere 2 pages, he alluded to the real Tibet and the Tibet in the Western image. He avoided going deeper.
LWH, 20 August 2025, 11.45 pm