Dalai Lama wins first Grammy, cites shared universal responsibility

The Dalai Lama — one of the world’s most revered spiritual voices — has added an unexpected new honour to his life of accolades, winning his first Grammy Award at the age of 90.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was recognised in the category of Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording, a distinction he received not as personal triumph, but as a reflection of shared human duty.

The award was presented for Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a contemplative recording that weaves his gentle voice with innovative musical textures, drawing on Hindustani classical traditions. The album features collages of his reflections on mindfulness, harmony, compassion, health, and the interdependence of all life — thoughts gathered and recorded over recent years.

Rufus Wainwright accepted the Grammy on the Dalai Lama’s behalf during the ceremony, streamed globally on YouTube. The spiritual leader’s work stood alongside entries from a diverse field that included Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli, US Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, television host Trevor Noah, and actor Kathy Garver.

Responding to the recognition, His Holiness struck a characteristically humble note. “I receive this recognition with gratitude and humility,” he said. “I don’t see it as something personal, but as a recognition of our shared universal responsibility.” He added that peace, compassion, care for the environment, and an understanding of the oneness of humanity are essential for the well-being of all eight billion people on Earth. “I am grateful that this Grammy recognition can help spread these messages more widely.”

The honour arrives decades after a life defined not by comfort or acclaim, but by exile and endurance. Sixty-six years ago, disguised as a soldier, the 14th Dalai Lama slipped out of Tibet’s Norbulingka Palace and undertook a perilous 14-day journey into India, fleeing after China crushed the 1959 Tibetan uprising. Since then, he has lived in exile — often describing himself as a grateful guest of India — while dedicating his life to promoting human values, religious harmony, and the preservation of Tibetan language and culture, a legacy he traces to the ancient wisdom of India’s Nalanda University.

Tenzin Gyatso was just 16 when Communist China entered Tibet in 1950, 19 when he met chairman Mao in Beijing, and 25 when he crossed into India to begin life as a leader without a homeland. After briefly settling in Mussoorie, he eventually made Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

In his latest book, In Voice for the Voiceless, the globetrotting spiritual leader — often regarded by followers as a living embodiment of compassion — reflects on decades of engagement with China and the unresolved struggle of Tibet and its people. The memoir traces the pain of losing one’s homeland, the challenge of preserving identity in exile, and the hope of charting a path forward for a nation without borders.

Before leaving Mussoorie in 1960, he articulated a vision that still resonates today: that Tibetans in exile must focus on resettlement and cultural continuity, trusting that freedom would one day return to their land.

Today, nearly 100,000 Tibetans live in India, home to the Tibetan government-in-exile. And now, through a Grammy-winning recording, the Dalai Lama’s quiet insistence on compassion, responsibility, and human unity has found a new global audience — proof that even in exile, a voice rooted in peace can travel far.

--With IANS inputs