Pre-reading questions:
- Do you know the Dalai Lama?
- Have you ever been to India?
Vocabulary:
- title [noun] – a name that tells a person’s position or job
The title given to our highest leader is president. - political leader [noun] – someone who is active in politics
We should all respect our political leaders. - spiriatual leader [noun] – a leader in religious or sacred affairs
It is not easy to become a spiritual leader. - flee [verb] – run away from a place that is dangerous; to escape
We fled the country because of too much fighting. - exile [noun] – a person who left his/her country to live in another country for political reasons
I am an exile in Thailand. I cannot go back to my country because it is dangerous there.
In Tibetan Buddhism, “Dalai Lama” is the title given to its highest leader. He serves as Tibet’s political and spiritual leader. This year, the 14th Dalai Lama visited Tawang, a Buddhist town in the northeastern part of India. Because of political reasons, the Dalai Lama fled to India in March 31, 1959. He has been a permanent exile since then. Tawang is a very important town for the Dalai Lama. When the Dalai Lama left Tibet for India, he first arrived in Tawang. On his visit to Tawang, the Dalai Lama shared some of his thoughts with the people.
True or False:
- The Dalai Lama went to India in 1959.
- Tawang is a town in Tibet.
- The 14th Dalai Lama lives in Tibet.
- The Dalai Lama visited a small town in the northeastern part of India.
- The Dalai Lama shared his thoughts with the people of Tawang.