FRANK SESNO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, The Dalai Lama, today, gave a new year's blessing to the 14-year-old who came over from Tibet. CNN's Kasra Naji reports.</s>KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ushering in the Tibetan New Year on Sunday at the monastery of the headquarters of the Dalai Lama, the highest authority in the Tibetan Buddhist movement. The monks here this year have more to celebrate, as do many of the followers of Tibetan Buddism. The 14-year-old boy known as the Karmapa, the 17th reincarnation of the Buddha, seen here leaving The Dalai Lama's headquarters after a meeting with him on Sunday is here in India after fleeing from the Chinese-controlled Tibet. But from his hideout monastery some 30 miles away, he has also made an important gesture. On Friday, when he made this rare appearance on the balcony of his monastery, he also publicly, for the first time, praised The Dalai Lama. He told a group of his followers who went to see him under tight security that he wished all Tibetans would one day go home to the Tibet under the leadership of The Dalai Lama. This public acknowledgment of The Dalai Lama as the leader of the Tibetan Buddhist movement is seen as his clear and public break from China, which does not recognize The Dalai Lama. It is also bound to embarrass China further. The Dalai Lama has been in what is described as a retreat, an extended period of meditation, since the beginning of January. He has interrupted his meditation to meet with the Karmapa. From his headquarters, he has written to the government leaders in New Delhi, urging them to give the boy asylum. As festivities continue among Tibetan Buddhists so does pressure on the Indian government in New Delhi, which is concerned that asylum for the Karmapa may mean a blow to their relations with China. Kasra Naji, CNN, New Delhi.
In India, Karmapa Breaks with China, Acknowledging Dalai Lama as Leader of Tibetan Buddism