ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 21, 2014
The Politics of “Compassion” of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: Between “Religion” and “Secularism”
Masahide Tsujimura
Kobe University
Koyasan University
Since 1959, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has expressed the view that democratic reforms should be gradually carried out in the Tibetan political system. He did this by enlarging the connotation of the traditional Tibetan concept of chos srid zung ‘brel (union of dharma and polity). This paper will examine how the Dalai Lama succeeded in maintaining the traditional political concept of chos srid zung ‘brel in a modern Tibetan democracy by employing the idea of “compassion” to link “religion” and “secularism.”