WORLD
Who is the Dalai Lama, how is he chosen and how many have there been?
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and he is the head of Tibet in exile from Chinese Tibet.
A spiritual leader and the head of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition the Dalai Lama is not only a religious figure but also a political and cultural leader. The Dalai Lamas have played a significant role in shaping Tibetan history and culture, and has been a symbol of Tibetan identity and unity.
The title ‘Dalai Lama’'is a combination of the Mongolian word ‘dalai,’ which means ‘ocean,’ and the Tibetan word ‘lama,’ which means ‘guru’ or ‘teacher’.
The current and 14th Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso. He was born in 1935 in Tibet and was recognised as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two. He fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet and has been living in exile ever since.
How is the Dalai Lama chosen?
The process of selecting the Dalai Lama involves a search for the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama, known as the ‘Golden Urn’ process.
When a Dalai Lama passes away, a council of high lamas is formed to search for his reincarnation. They consult various signs and oracles, as well as the Dalai Lama’s own writings and teachings, to guide them in their search. They look for a child who was born around the time of the previous Dalai Lama’s death.
Once a potential reincarnation is identified, the child is tested to confirm that he is indeed the reincarnation. The child is presented with a set of objects that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama and is asked to identify which ones belonged to them. The final confirmation of the reincarnation is then made by the government of China, with whom the Dalai Lama’s lineage is closely entwined. Over history this has included Mongol empires and khans, as well as the Qing dynasty which governed Tibet until 1912.
However, the current Dalai Lama has suggested that he may not be reincarnated after he dies, or that he may choose to be reincarnated outside of Tibet to avoid Chinese interference in the selection process. The 13th Dalai Lama declared Tibet’s independence from China in 1913 which was never recognised by the Republic of China, nor the subsequent People’s Republic of China.