Why is the Dalai Lama seeking Western Medical Help?

Buddhism focuses on personal spiritual development. Buddhists strive for a deep insight, through meditation and self-reflection, into the true nature of this life and aim to achieve a state of perfect peace and cessation of suffering through a mental and physical state known as ‘Enlightenment’ (or Nirvana). Enlightenment is the highest attainment level in the Buddhist practice and the end of all sufferings. Through self-reflection and meditation, Buddhists understand that all sentient beings suffer and all compounded phenomena are impermanent, and who ever is born is bound to die. Death falls within the larger categories of suffering that are experienced by all sentient beings, humans and nonhumans alike. academia.edu

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama returns to India, assures followers about his health

October 3, 2015

DHARAMSALA, India (AP) — The Dalai Lama has assured his followers that he is in excellent health upon his return Saturday to the Tibetan government-in-exile's headquarters in northern India.

Hundreds of Tibetans, holding incense sticks and scarves, lined the streets of Dharamsala town to celebrate the return of the Tibetan spiritual leader. Prayer flags fluttered and colorful banners with Tibetan symbols were strung across the streets of the mountain town in the Himalayan foothills.

The 80-year-old Dalai Lama said he had had a thorough medical checkup at the renowned Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, U.S.A., and was in "excellent condition."

"But they advised me. I should take precaution," he told reporters. He did not give any other details.

The Tibetan leader's assurances came days after doctors at the Mayo Clinic instructed him to rest. He later canceled his October appearances in the United States.

The Tibetan Buddhist leader is a matter of concern for his followers across the world, and especially for the hundreds of thousands of Tibetans who live in India.

The Dalai Lama fled across the Himalayas into India after a failed uprising in Tibet in 1959. He settled in Dharamsala and set up a Tibetan government-in-exile there. Beijing accuses him of seeking to separate Tibet from China.

But Tibetans and the Dalai Lama say they simply want a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule.


Dalai Lama Checks Into Mayo Clinic

October 2015

Tibetans from all over Minnesota traveled to Rochester to attend an event with the Dalai Lama Wednesday morning.


The 80-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader greeted dozens of people outside the Mayo Civic Center, and hundreds more attended the private event for Minnesotan’s Tibetan community, the Rochester Post Bulletin reports.


“He’s my spiritual leader and a living God,” Tenzin Lungtok of Minneapolis told the paper. “I’m here to receive his blessings.”


This was his only event during his trip to the United States, and it was closed to the media and general public. The Dalai Lama had been at the Mayo Clinic for a routine checkup. Doctors there told him to rest, which prompted him to cancel his U.S. appearances scheduled for October.


At Wednesday’s event, he told people he was at the Mayo Clinic to address his knee problems, saying doctors reminded him he is “not 18 anymore,” FOX 9 reports.



Dalai Lama remains in Mayo Clinic for evaluation

Reuters
Posted Sept. 27, 2015

Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, on Sunday remained at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for evaluation following a medical visit his office said was a routine annual checkup.

The 80-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate had canceled a planned October visit to the United States at the advice of doctors following a medical check-up this week, his office said in a statement Friday.


The statement from the Dalai Lama’s office said doctors had urged him to rest for several weeks, though it gave no indication he was ill nor details about his state of health.

On Sunday, Mayo spokeswoman Ginger Plumbo confirmed he remained at the clinic for evaluation but said she could offer no further details about his stay.


The Dalai Lama’s India-based secretary, Tenzin Taklha, said in an email last week the Dalai Lama was going to the Mayo for an annual medical checkup but was not ill.


The Dalai Lama’s checkup came as heads of state and diplomats were gathering for the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, but he had no plans to meet with any world leaders in conjunction with the session, Taklha said Thursday.


Chinese President Xi Jinping was due to make his U.N. debut as leader of China, which has ruled Tibet since Communist troops took over the Himalayan region in 1950 and regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist.


The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959, has denied claims he is seeking independence for Tibet, advocating instead for greater autonomy of the region through dialogue with Beijing.


His current presence in the United States also coincides with the visit of Pope Francis, who met with President Barack Obama and addressed the U.N. Friday.


Smith College issued a statement Friday saying the Dalai Lama had canceled scheduled appearances for October there and at two nearby Massachusetts schools, Amherst College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.


CNBC reported the Dalai Lama also had been due to appear next month in Boulder, Colorado, Salt Lake City and Philadelphia.


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