Many people embrace a faith that advocates non-violence. Yet few have been so tested in their beliefs as Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness, the 14^th Dalai Lama of Tibet. As the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama (meaning "Oce an of Wisdom") has consistently opposed the use of force against the Communist Chinese who invaded his homeland in 1949-50. Instead, for almost 50 years, he has steadfastly proposed peaceful solutions and compromises based on mutual tolerance and res pect for all people, including adversaries.

"At the heart of Buddhist philosophy is the notion of compassion for others," the Dalai Lama has said. "It should be noted that the compassion encouraged by Mahayana Buddhism is not the usual love one has for friends or family. The love being advocated here is the kind one can have even for another who has done one harm."

At issue is whether Tibet is an independent nation. Tibetans cite almost 2,000 years of self-governance as proof of their sovereignty. The Chinese cite two historic incidents–a marriage between a Tibetan king (who actually had five wives) and a Ch inese princess in 641 and a peace pledge signed by the two countries in 821–as proof that Tibet is part of China.

Few would disagree that the Chinese occupation of Tibet has been harmful. As early as 1960, the International Commission of Jurists reported that the People’s Republic of China had violated 16 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Tibet and that they were guilty of "the most pernicious crime that any individual or nation can be accused of, viz. a wilful attempt to annihilate an entire people."

Since the occupation began, the Chinese have directly or indirectly caused the deaths of more than 1.5 million Tibetans. They have transferred more than 7 million ethnic Chinese into Tibet, making Tibetans minorities in their own country and causing sh ortages in land and food. China has built nuclear missile sites on Tibetan soil and uses the country as its nuclear waste dumping ground. It is aggressively clear-cutting forests for lumber, which has led to serious erosion and flooding problems, especial ly in neighboring India and Nepal.

Even worse for the unique Tibetan culture, the Chinese have forcibly suppressed Buddhism–the backbone of this historically religious country. This suppression has resulted in the destruction of 6,000 Buddhist monasteries and shrines. Buddhist monk s and nuns have been arbitrarily executed, imprisoned, or detained. Rare Buddhist manuscripts and artifacts have either been destroyed or sold. Images of the Dalai Lama, whom Tibetan Buddhists believe to be a living god, have been banned.

The Dalai Lama has tried to negotiate a resolution since 1950, when at age 16 he assumed full political power of Tibet. His efforts included traveling to Peking in 1954, where he talked to Mao Tse-Tung, Chou En-Lai, Deng Xiaoping, and other Chinese lea ders, and to India in 1956, where he met with India’s Prime Minister Nehru.

In 1959 rumors of intended murder or kidnapping by the Chinese military forced the Dalai Lama to flee to India. There, in Dharamsala, he set up the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, through which he appealed to the United Nations for help. In response, the UN adopted three separate resolutions urging China to respect the human rights of Tibetans and their desire for self-determination. In 1963, the Dalai Lama promulgated a democratic constitution for Tibet.

In 1987 he proposed a Five-Point Peace Plan at a Congressional Human Rights Caucus in Washington, D.C. This plan called for making Tibet an international peace zone and environmental preserve–"a sanctuary of peace and nonviolence," he sa id, "where human beings and nature can live in peace and harmony." The plan also called for ending the transfer of ethnic Chinese into Tibet, restoring basic human rights and democratic freedoms to Tibetans, abandoning Chinese nuclear weapons pr oduction and waste dumping in Tibet, and beginning "earnest negotiations" to resolve the issue. A year later, he amended his Peace Plan before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, by stating that he would agree to the creation of a sel f-governing, democratic Tibet that functioned "in association with the People’s Republic of China."

These efforts, while as yet unsuccessful in achieving a resolution, earned the Dalai Lama the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. In presenting the award, Egil Aarvik, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said that the Dalai Lama’s "policy of non-vi olence is all the more remarkable when it is considered in relation to the sufferings inflicted on the Tibetan people during the occupation of their country.

"The Dalai Lama’s response has been to propose a peaceful solution which would go a long way to satisfying Chinese interests. It would be difficult to cite any historical example of a minority’s struggle to secure its rights, in which a more conciliatory attitude to the adversary has been adopted than in the case of the Dalai Lama."

Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the Dalai Lama has signed the 1991 Universal Declaration of Nonviolence and received other peace awards for his continuing advocacy in that area. A distinguished scholar of Buddhist philosophy, he has received sever al honorary doctorate degrees from western universities. He is the author of several books, including Kindness, Compassion, and Insight, published in 1984.

His decades-long labors on behalf of Tibet may yet bear fruit. In June 1998, following talks with U.S. President Bill Clinton, Chinese President Jiang Zemin has agreed to open up discussions with the Dalai Lama on Tibet’s status.

In the meantime, the Dalai Lama travels throughout the world seeking support for Tibet, as well as promoting global environmental causes and "universal responsibility."

"Today the world is smaller and more interdependent," he has said. "Thus, without a sense of universal responsibility, our very survival becomes threatened. Basically, universal responsibility is feeling for other people’s suffering just as we feel our own. It is the realization that even our enemy is entirely motivated by the quest for happiness. We must recognize that all beings want the same thing that we want. This is the way to achieve a true understanding, unfettered by artifi cial consideration."