IN OUR PRAYERS
Fears for Dalai Lama, 83, as Tibetan spiritual leader is hospitalised with chest pains
Doctors have diagnosed the Tibetan spiritual leader, 83, with a chest infection and he is now believed to be in a stable condition
THE Dalai Lama has been hospitalised after suffering from chest pains, reports claim.
Doctors have diagnosed the Tibetan spiritual leader, 83, with a chest infection and he is now believed to be in a stable condition.
2
His representative, Ngodup Tsering, said the famous Buddhist monk flew to New Delhi early on Tuesday for a doctor's visit after he experienced a "light cough".
He will be treated at Max hospital over the next two to three days.
"The doctor said there's nothing to worry about. It's not that serious," Tsering said.
Tenzin Taklha, the Dalai Lama’s personal secretary, added: "Doctors have diagnosed him with chest infection and he is being treated for that.
“His condition is stable now. He will be treated for two three days here."
The Dalai Lama, who is based in Dharamshala, has been in permanent Indian exile for some 60 years.
Many of the up to 100,000 Tibetans living in India are worried that their fight for a genuinely autonomous homeland would end with the Dalai Lama.
The respected monk told Reuters last month that it was possible that once he dies his incarnation could be found in India, and warned that any other successor named by China would not be respected.
RESPECTED LEADER
He was born in 1935, one of seven kids.
As a child he was chosen to become the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama but was forced to flee Tibet when fighting broke out as Tibetans rejected Chinese rule.
He made a 15-day journey crossing the freezing Himalayas dressed in day-to-day clothes and wrapped in blankets.
In India, his 20-strong group were joined within days by 80,000 Tibetans fleeing the Chinese.
China, which took control of Tibet in 1950, brands the Nobel peace laureate a dangerous separatist and has said its leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor, as a legacy inherited from China's emperors.
MOST READ IN NEWS
But many Tibetans - whose tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death - suspect any Chinese role as a ploy to exert influence on the community.
Although the exiled leader remains a hugely popular speaker, he has cut back on his global engagements and has not met a world leader since 2016.
Governments have been wary of extending invitations to him for fear of angering Beijing.
Dalai Lama explains how to train your mind to tackle destructive emotions in India
2