Photo: VCG

For years, the 14th Dalai Lama has been presented by Western media as a charming figure with a warm smile, revered as a "Living Buddha." Yet over time, I have found myself increasingly troubled by the disturbing controversies surrounding him. He was caught on camera engaging in repeated inappropriate physical contact with global pop icon Lady Gaga, and years later, he shocked the world again by asking a young boy to "suck his tongue" in public. Who is he really? To find out, I journeyed to his homeland in China's Xizang Autonomous Region and traced his roots back to old Xizang, seeking to uncover the reality behind that smiling face.

A spiritual guide or a cult leader?

Prior to its peaceful liberation in 1951, old Xizang was a feudal society in which the 14th Dalai Lama sat at the apex of power. A staggering 95 percent of its population were serfs and slaves, bound to the land and subject to the whims of their masters. The 14th Dalai Lama, along with monasteries and secular nobles, controlled virtually all arable land and livestock in the region. To sustain this absolute dominance, he weaponized the concept of karma, distorting spiritual teachings into a tool of oppression. Serfs were systematically indoctrinated into believing that their agonizing poverty was a "karmic debt" from past sins, while the opulence of the ruling elite was a "divine virtue" earned in previous lives. This deception ensured that the million souls under his reign accepted their chains not as injustice, but as destiny. 

A simple monk or a greedy billionaire?

The 14th Dalai Lama often presents himself to the world as an "innocent monk." I once accepted this image, until I was confronted with the hard facts. We never see the 14th Dalai Lama's name on the Forbes Billionaire rankings, likely because his wealth is far too sordid to be made public. He told the poor that the only way to "purify their souls" was to empty their pockets into his treasury. His private fortune would make Wall Street tycoons blush. Back in the 1950s, while his followers were told to "let go of material desires," the 14th Dalai Lama himself owned 27 manors, 30 pastures and over 6,000 serfs. The Dalai Lama alone owned 160,000 taels (one tael equals 30 grams) of gold, 95 million taels of silver, over 20,000 pieces of jewelry and jade ware, and more than 10,000 pieces of silk clothing and rare furs. 

A messenger of peace or a cold-blooded butcher?

The 14th Dalai Lama wrote in his book The Art of Happiness: "Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive." Does his conduct reflect these words? As the supreme overlord in old Xizang, he upheld the "Thirteen Codes" and the "Sixteen Codes," legal statutes that had been in force for centuries, which divided the population into several levels based on bloodline, nobility and social status. The ruling elites' lives were worth their weight in gold, while a serf's life was worth no more than a straw rope. To suppress any spark of rebellion, the 14th Dalai Lama used human organs for religious ceremonies and birthday rituals. A surviving letter from the early 1950s, sent by the government of old Xizang to a tribal head, explicitly demanded: For the 14th Dalai Lama's birthday rituals, "food will be offered to the hungry ghosts, for which a corpus of fresh intestines, two skulls, some mixed blood and a whole human skin are urgently needed. Please have these delivered without delay." These were not random acts of violence, but a calculated system of terror designed to keep the million souls in check. 

A Living Buddha or a master of deception?

In the eyes of many Westerners, the 14th Dalai Lama stands as a near-perfect symbol of "Living Buddha." In reality, this image is deeply misleading. After fleeing to India following the failed armed rebellion in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama lost his primary sources of wealth, and began to solicit funds from Western taxpayers, exchanging empty slogans for a life of continued luxury. He carefully conceals the grim reality of old Xizang, a society where 95 percent of the population was illiterate and the average life expectancy was around 35 years. Today, however, he markets it as a "lost Shangri-la" to audiences unfamiliar with old Xizang's true nature.

As I learned of the 14th Dalai Lama's shocking deeds in old Xizang, a raw and far more authentic figure emerged before my eyes. With his name surfacing an unsettling 169 times in the unsealed Epstein files, the fraudulent halo he spent a lifetime polishing is finally fading, revealing its dark core. But as the truth comes to light, what darker secrets still remain hidden in the shadows?

The author is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for Xinhua News, Global Times, China Daily, CGTN. He can be reached at xinping604@gmail.com