This is from Wikipedia: the 14 Dalai Lamas
Date born ... Date Died ... Age at Death
1391.............1474..............83
1475.............1541..............66
1543.............1588..............45
1589.............1616..............27
1617.............1682..............65
1683.............1706..............23
1708.............1757..............49
1758.............1804..............46
1806.............1815..............9
1816.............1837..............21
1838.............1856..............18
1857.............1875..............18
1876.............1933..............57
1935 still living
The manner of their deaths is not given, but most of them did survive childhood.
As far as the feudalism of Tibet, I must assume that this is true because that was also the culture of China before the revolution. The communists modernized the east by force, as the party did in Russia. The fury with which this was done has to be judged, I think, against the backdrop of the culture they were modernizing. All these regimes went forward with a great deal of brutality, but the KMT that escaped to Taiwan also established itself by means of brutality and it's only been in the past ten years that the Taiwanese 'natives' have been able to reclaim political territory.
As for the Dalai Lama himself, he was only 24 years old when he went into exile, and his childhood and young adulthood were apparently spent in a very rarified environment. It would be more surprising if his views had
not changed over the past 48 years in exile.
And I am wondering what he would have made of Nazism. What context could he have had for understanding it in the 1930s? Perhaps it was enough for him, as it has been enough for our friendly government officials here in the US since WWII, to know that the fascists were the enemies of his enemy? Hard to imagine what he would have made of anti-Semitism, since he'd most certainly never met a Jew in all his life.
From what I have heard, the current lama does have a 'presence' that is described as holy. Is there a reason why I should disbelieve his pacism? Or his good will? I've never heard a word spoken again his person ... though I wouldn't take Richard Gere's word for anything.
It would be better if Tibet were independent, I think, to make its own way toward modernization. That's my rule of thumb for all countries, in fact. I don't believe in the long-term efficacy of occupation or hegemony. But China has something like 19 autonomous regions, several which are as ill-suited to Chinese rule as Tibet is, and they simply don't make the news here.
One other thing regarding the article Brian posted at the top, this also from Wikipedia:
The current Dalai Lama has repeatedly stated that he will never be reborn inside territory controlled by the People's Republic of China[4], and has occasionally suggested that he might choose to be the last Dalai Lama by not being reborn at all.
The PRC has apparently appointed the Panchen Lama who is not recognized by the Tibetan followers of the Dalai Lama. And they intend to continue appointing the lamas that will rule Tibet, so the 'approval' required for reincarnation makes more sense in that context, I guess.
Jn