Try GOLD - Free

At his 90th birthday launch, Dalai Lama hints the institution will continue

The Island

|

July 01, 2025

The 600-year-old institution of the Dalai Lama will continue even after his death, the self-exiled Tibetan spiritual leader strongly indicated on Monday (June 30, 2025) at prayer celebrations for his 90th birthday in Dharamsala in India’s Himachal Pradesh State.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

At his 90th birthday launch, Dalai Lama hints the institution will continue

The Dalai Lama joined thousands of Buddhist followers on Monday in the prayer celebrations, a landmark event resonating far beyond the Himalayan town where he has lived since he fled his native Tibet over 65 years ago.

Speaking in Tibetan, he said: "As far as the institution of the Dalai Lama, there will be some kind of a framework within which we can talk about its continuation."

The leader, who turns 90 on July 6, is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, according to Tibetans.

He and thousands of other Tibetans have lived in exile in India since Chinese troops crushed an uprising in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 1959.

Draped in traditional maroon and yellow robes, the Dalai Lama sat and listened to speeches and chants of monks, nuns, pilgrims, as well as well-wishers from across the world on Monday.

MORE STORIES FROM The Island

The Island

AI is only as good as the people wielding it

Beyond the now familiar generative AI chatbots, the future of AI more broadly remains unknown.

time to read

1 min

October 10, 2025

The Island

The Island

Starmer meets Modi on his first visit to India

(BBC) British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his first visit to the country.

time to read

2 mins

October 10, 2025

The Island

29 mobile phones recovered from three wards of Boossa High Security prison

Twenty-nine mobile phones were taken into custody yesterday from wards A, C, and D of the Boossa High-Security Prison, which houses some of the country’s most dangerous criminals.

time to read

1 min

October 10, 2025

The Island

Minister Herath: SL refrained from calling for vote at UNHRC to save funds

Sri Lanka refrained from calling for a vote at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as it did not want to waste public funds on a vote it was bound to lose, Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament yesterday.

time to read

1 min

October 10, 2025

The Island

The “intelligence” of generative AI is seriously limited

There is little evidence that a superintelligent AI capable of wreaking global devastation is coming any time soon.

time to read

1 min

October 10, 2025

The Island

13 bank accounts of Backhoe Saman's wife and her close associates frozen

The CID informed the Colombo Magistrate's Court yesterday (9) that 13 bank accounts belonging to Shadhika Lakshani, the wife of Backhoe Saman, who is currently in remand custody, and her close associates had been frozen.

time to read

1 min

October 10, 2025

The Island

Two, including retired Colonel arrested over massive foreign employment scam

Two individuals linked to a large-scale foreign employment scam involving nearly Rs. 200 million have been arrested by the Special Investigations Unit of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE).

time to read

1 min

October 10, 2025

The Island

Ravi S. issues denial

The Police Media Division yesterday said that a false news report is circulating on social media claiming that retired SDIG Ravi Seneviratne, the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, told the Parliamentary High Posts Committee that the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks had been identified and that India was behind it.

time to read

1 min

October 10, 2025

The Island

Kariapper: "Main conspirator behind Easter Sunday carnage identified"

SLMC MP Nizam Kariapper yesterday said that Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, retired SDIG Ravi Seneviratne, had disclosed that the main conspirator behind the 2019 was identified.

time to read

1 min

October 10, 2025

The Island

Leading AI models are rapidly gaining general-purpose capabilities

I strongly believe that artificial intelligence poses an existential threat.

time to read

1 min

October 10, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size