His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) was born on July 6, 1935. At fifteen, he became Tibet's Head of State during the occupation by the People's Republic of China. After the Tibetan resistance collapsed in 1959, he fled to India and helped establish the Central Tibetan Administration, working to preserve Tibetan culture and education. He has promoted Buddhism, universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony. In 1989, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his writings and leadership on international conflicts, human rights, and environmental issues.

Rajiv Mehrotra has been a personal student of the Dalai Lama for more than 20 years. He is Trustee and Secretary of The Foundation of Universal Responsibility of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. He has been a judge for the Templeton Prize for Religion, and has thrice addressed plenary sessions of the World Economic Forum, which elected him a Global Leader for tomorrow. His books include The Mind of the Guru, Understanding the Dalai Lama and Thakur, a biography of the mystic Sri Ramakrishna. He hosts India's longest talk show on public television.