Palden Gyatso

Pelden Gyatsho (also: Palden Gyatso, Tibetan: ldan rgya mtsho dpal; born 1933 in Panam, Tibet) is a Buddhist monk. During the Chinese invasion of Tibet he was arrested and spent 33 years in Chinese prison. After his release in 1992 he went to Dharamsala (North India ) in exile. Since then he has practiced his Buddhist faith as a freelance monk.

Life

Pelden Gyatsho was born in 1933 in the Tibetan village of Panam. This place is situated on the river between Gyantse and Shigatse Nyangchu. In 1943 he entered as a novice monk in Gadong monastery. Even during the Chinese invasion, he was in 1952 appointed fully ordained monk of the Gelug school. Later he studied at Drepung Monastery near Lhasa.

After the Tibetan uprising in 1959 Pelden Gyatsho was arrested by the Chinese authorities. He spent the following 33 years in various Chinese prisons and labor camps. He was forced to attend re-education classes and was tortured there, what had irreversible physical damage. However, he continued to follow the Dharma.

1992 Pelden Gyatsho was released. He fled to Dharamsala, India, the site of the Tibetan government in exile. There he wrote his autobiography Fire Under The Snow ( German: "I, Palden Gyatso, a monk from Tibet "), which was translated into many languages.

During his subsequent travels through America and Europe, he has been engaged as an opponent of the Chinese occupation of Tibet and as a witness of a long-standing Chinese political prisoner. In 1995 he was consulted by the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

Pelden Gyatsho lives in Dharamsala and is dedicated to his Buddhist studies.