Dalai Lama

In Tibetan Buddhism, the successive Dalai Lamas (Tibetan: ཏ་ཱལའི་བླ་མ་ taa-la'i bla-ma; Simplified Chinese: 达赖喇嘛; Traditional Chinese: 達賴喇嘛; pinyin: DÐ"ÐŽlÐ" i Lǎmā) form a tulku lineage of Gelugpa leaders which trace back to 1391. Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama to be the present incarnation of Avalokitesvara ("Chenrezig" [spyan ras gzigs] in Tibetan), the bodhisattva of compassion. Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lama was the head of the Tibetan government, controlling a large portion of the country from the capital Lhasa. The Dalai Lama is the supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism, and the leaders of all four schools consider the Dalai Lama to be the highest lama of the Tibetan traditions. He is often granted the style "His Holiness" (or HH) before his title.

The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the head of the Gelug school, but this position officially belongs to the Ganden Tripa (dga' ldan khri pa).

The 5th Dalai Lama, with the support of Gushri Khan, a Mongol ruler of KhÐ"¶kh Nuur, united Tibet. The Dalai Lamas continued to rule in Tibet until the People's Republic of China invaded the region in 1949 and then took full control in 1959. The 14th Dalai Lama then fled to India and has since renounced temporal power. The 14th Dalai Lama seeks autonomy for Tibet, rather than independence.

"Dalai" means "ocean" in Mongolian, and "Lama" (bla ma) is the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru", and so may mean "teacher" or "monk." The actual title was first bestowed by the Mongolian ruler Altan Khan upon Sonam Gyatso, an abbot at the Drepung monastery who was widely considered the most eminent lama of his time. Although Sonam Gyatso became the first lama to hold the title "Dalai Lama", due to the fact that he was the third member of his lineage, he became known as the "3rd Dalai Lama". The previous two titles were conferred posthumously upon his earlier incarnations. The title "Dalai Lama" is presently granted to each of the spiritual leader's successive incarnations (for example, The 14th Dalai Lama's next incarnation will hold the title "the 15th Dalai Lama"). Tibetans call the Dalai Lama Gyawa Rinpoche (rgya ba rin po che) meaning "Precious Victor," or Yeshe Norbu (ye shes nor bu) meaning "Wisdom Jewel". The 14th Dalai Lama, as well as each of his predecessors, are considered to be the incarnations of the Buddha of Compassion.

Upon the death of the Dalai Lama, his monks institute a search for the Lama's reincarnation, or tulku (sprul sku), a small child. Familiarity with the possessions of the previous Dalai Lama is considered the main sign of the reincarnation. The search for the reincarnation typically requires a few years, which results in a gap in the list of the Dalai Lamas. The reincarnation is then brought to Lhasa to be trained by the other Lamas.

Despite its officially secular stance, the government of the People's Republic of China has claimed the power to approve the naming of high reincarnations in Tibet. This decision cites a precedent set by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, who instituted a system of selecting the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama by means of a lottery which utilised a golden urn with names wrapped in barley balls. Recently, this precedent was called upon to name the Panchen Lama, who is empowered to recognize the new Dalai Lama. There is some speculation that with the death of the current Dalai Lama, the PRC will direct the selection of a successor.

The current Dalai Lama has repeatedly stated that he will never be reborn inside territory controlled by the People's Republic of China [1], and has occasionally suggested that he might choose to be the last Dalai Lama by not being reborn at all. However, he has also stated that the purpose of his repeated incarnations is to continue unfinished work and, as such, if the situation in Tibet remains unchanged, it is very likely that he will be reborn to finish his work [2]. Additionally, in the draft constitution of future Tibet, the institution of the Dalai Lama can be revoked at any time by a democratic majority vote of two-thirds of the Assembly. It is also worth mentioning that the 14th Dalai Lama has stated "Personally, I feel the institution of the Dalai Lama has served its purpose."[3].

Starting with the 5th Dalai Lama, until the 14th Dalai Lama's exile in 1959, the Dalai Lamas resided in Lhasa in the Potala Palace during winter and in the Norbulingka residence during summer. Since 1959, the Dalai Lama has resided in Dharamsala in Northern India, and the Tibetan Government in Exile has its headquarters there.

List of Dalai Lamas

name life span regency Tibetan/Wylie official transcription other spelling(s)

1. Gedun Drub 1391-1474 Ð"-- དྒེ་འདུན་འགྲུབ་

dge Ð''dun Ð''grub GÐ"ЄdÐ"јn Chub GedÐ"јn Drup, Gendun Drup

2. Gendun Gyatso 1475-1541 Ð"-- དགེ་འདུན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་

dge Ð''dun rgya mtsho GÐ"ЄdÐ"јn Gyaco GedÐ"јn Gyatso, GendÐ"јn Gyatso

3. Sonam Gyatso 1543-1588 1578Ð'-1588 བསོད་ནམས་རྒྱ་མཚོ་

bsod nams rgya mtsho Soinam Gyaco SÐ"¶nam