Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was born on July 6, 1935, in the village of Taktser in the Amdo region of Tibet (now part of Qinghai province in China). Recognized at age two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, he was enthroned in Lhasa in 1940 and underwent rigorous monastic training. By 1950, at age 15, he assumed full temporal and spiritual leadership of Tibet amid the Chinese invasion. In 1959, following the Tibetan National Uprising, he fled to exile in India, where he established the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamsala. He served as its political leader until 2011, when he devolved those powers to elected representatives, retaining his role as spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate (awarded 1989), he advocates for Tibetan autonomy through non-violent means under the 'Middle Way' approach, promotes universal compassion, interfaith dialogue, environmental advocacy, and scientific discussions on consciousness and ethics. He resides primarily in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, and continues to travel internationally while the CTA works to preserve Tibetan culture in exile.