green minimalist Introduce Video

In Tibetan Buddhism , the 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 : Dálài Lǎmā) are the tulku lines of Gelugpa leaders which can be traced back to 1391 . Tibetan Buddhists believe that the Dalai Lama is the human embodiment of Avalokitesvara ("Chenrezig" [ spyan ras gzigs ] in Tibetan), the bodhisattva of compassion. Between the XVII century and 1959, the Dalai Lama is the head of the Tibetan government , controlling most of the country from the capital Lhasa . The Dalai Lama is the head of Tibetan Buddhism, and the leaders of all four schools believe that the Dalai Lama is the highest lama in the Tibetan tradition. He is often called "His Holiness" (or HH) before his title.

The Dalai Lama is often mistaken for the head of the Gelug sect, but this position is officially held by Ganden Tripa ( dga' ldan khri pa ).

The 5th Dalai Lama , with the support of Gushri Khan , a Mongolian ruler from Khökh Nuur, unified Tibet. The Dalai Lamas ruled in Tibet until the People's Republic of China invaded the area in 1949 and then took control in 1959 . The 14th Dalai Lama then fled to India and has renounced temporal power. The 14th Dalai Lama wants autonomy for Tibet, not independence. See Tibetan History for more details.

"Dalai" means "ocean" in Mongolian, and " lama " ( bla ma ) is Tibetan for " teacher ", and can also mean " monk ". This title was first bestowed by the Mongol ruler Altan Khan on Sonam Gyatso, an abbot of the Drepung monastery who was considered the most prominent lama of his time. Although Sonam Gyatso became the first lama to hold the title "Dalai Lama", because he was the third in his line, he became the "3rd Dalai Lama". The two previous titles were given to the two previous incarnations. The title "Dalai Lama" is now given to every incarnation of the religious leader.rgya bar rin po che ) means "Precious Victor," or Yeshe Norbu ( ye shes nor bu ) means "Wisdom Jewel". The 14th Dalai Lama, and his predecessors, are considered incarnations of the Buddha of Compassion