The Dalai Lama - One Man's Quest To Bring Him To The U.S.

by Brian Wayne Gray

It was 1975, and I had read a book that would change my life forever. It was My Land and My People: The Original Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet.
Upon reading this remarkable book, I discovered a very enlightening and soul-shaking detailing of the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, and the horrific events that took place over the following years. These terrible events would continue, eventually forcing His Holiness the Dalai Lama to seek refuge in Dharmsala, India, in 1959. The tragic horrors described in this book shook my soul. I could not understand why nothing was being done about these atrocities that were being perpetrated on the innocent and defenseless Tibetan people by the merciless Chinese Communists. Where was the international moral outrage? Why weren't Western countries involved in stopping this genocide? Where was America? Where was the United Nations? I needed answers, and I needed to know what "they" were doing to end this unimaginable nightmare. I soon found that "they" is "me." If I was not doing anything about this terrible situation, then who was? For there to be a "they," I would have to get involved and create a "they." What began as a simple letter and a goal of bringing the Dalai Lama to America ended up becoming an organization and a campaign of two years to get the world's attention. Here is that story.