Explained: The Institution Of Dalai Lama And How The Spiritual Leader Is Chosen

Hyderabad: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, who as a child was named Lhama Thondup, turned 90 today (July 6). The 14th Dalai Lama, the man with the broad smile and spiritual persona, is among the most recognised faces anywhere in the world.

The Dalai Lama was born on this day in 1935 in a Tibet struggling to maintain its sovereignty against its neighbour China and eventually losing it in 1951. As thousands gather in Dharamshala, the hill town in Himachal Pradesh that is now the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile, to celebrate the Dalai Lama's birthday, the world continues to look at him not only for spiritual guidance but also as a means to end geopolitical tensions in the region.

The Dalai Lama, arguably the most popular in the 700 years of the institution, has kept the tenets of Buddhism alive and thriving and also kept up a constant ideological fight for the independence of his homeland.

Earlier this month, he had announced that the centuries-old Buddhist institution would continue after his death, putting to rest uncertainty over whether he would have a successor.

In a statement made on May 21, 2025, in Tibetan language and released by his office in Dharamshala on July 2, he said that the Gaden Phodrang Trust that was founded by him has the sole authority to recognise the future Dalai Lama.

"I have received messages through various channels from Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhists living in other parts of the world requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue. I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," the Dalai Lama said in the statement.

Institution of The Dalai Lama

The world 'Dalai Lama' is a combination of the Mongolian word 'dalai', which means ocean and the Tibetan word 'lama', which means guru. Dalai Lama, hence, can be interpreted as 'Ocean of Wisdom or Knowledge'.

In Tibetan Buddhism, a Dalai Lama is considered to be the manifestation of the Buddha of Compassion. Dalai Lamas are enlightened beings who have chosen to take the path of reincarnation to serve humanity. There have been 14 Dalai Lamas in the history of Buddhism, and the first and second Dalai Lamas were given the title posthumously.

Dalai Lamas have played a dominant role in Tibetan politics in addition to their spiritual leadership. They, or their regents, governed much of the Tibetan plateau with varying degrees of autonomy from the 17th century until China occupied Tibet in 1950.

Tibetan Buddhists believe all beings come to this present life from a previous one and that they will be reborn again after death. Several hundred special reincarnational lineages have been identified in Tibet, the most respected being that of the Dalai Lama, meaning 'Ocean of Wisdom'. He is the head monk of Tibetan Buddhism and traditionally has been responsible for the governing of Tibet until the Chinese government took control in 1959.

Monks attend a prayer ceremony by Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama (unseen) at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in memory of the victims of the earthquake in Tibet, in Bylakuppe on Jan 9 2025. (ANI)

The Dalai Lama: From Tibet To India

The current Dalai Lama was born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet, according to his official website. At the age of two, the child, then named Lhamo Dhondup, was recognised as the reincarnation of the previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.

"The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are realised beings inspired by a wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, who have vowed to be reborn in the world to help humanity," reads an excerpt from the biography of the Dalai Lama.

The spiritual leader began his monastic education at the age of six. The curriculum, derived from the Nalanda tradition, consisted of five major and five minor subjects. The major subjects included logic, fine arts, Sanskrit grammar, and medicine, but the greatest emphasis was given to Buddhist philosophy which was further divided into a further five categories: Prajnaparamita, the perfection of wisdom; Madhyamika, the philosophy of the middle Way; Vinaya, the canon of monastic discipline; Abidharma, metaphysics; and Pramana, logic and epistemology. The five minor subjects included poetry, drama, astrology, composition and synonyms.

The Dalai Lama on the throne during his official enthronement ceremony in Lhasa, Tibet on February 22, 1940. (Source: dalailama.com/OHHDL - The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama)

At 23, the Dalai Lama sat for his final examination in Lhasa’s Jokhang Temple, during the annual Great Prayer Festival (Monlam Chenmo) in 1959. He passed with honours and was awarded the Geshe Lharampa degree, equivalent to the highest doctorate in Buddhist philosophy.

The Dalai Lama in Dromo, Tibet in 1951. (Source: dalailama.com/OHHDL - The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama)

In 1950, after China's invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama was called upon to assume full political power. "In 1954, he went to Beijing and met with Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Chou Enlai. Finally, in 1959, following the brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, His Holiness was forced to escape into exile. Since then, he has been living in Dharamsala, northern India," the website reads.

The 14th Dalai Lama fleeing Tibet into exile with Khampa (men from the Eastern province of Kham) bodyguards in March, 1959. (Source: dalailama.com/OHHDL - The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama)

The Dalai Lama’s first press conference in India, in Mussorie in 1959, repudiating the 17 Point Agreement which was signed under duress in Beijing on May 23, 1951 (Source: dalailama.com/OHHDL - The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama)

Beliefs associated with choosing the Dalai Lama

Central to Tibetan Buddhist tradition is the belief that the soul of a senior monk is reincarnated after death. For 600 years, Tibetans have been using ancient rituals and mysticism to find the human form of the Dalai Lama. It’s believed the Dalai Lama is the human manifestation of a being who has attained nirvana — released from the cycle of life, death, and suffering — but is continuing to live on earth for the compassion of other beings.

The Dalai Lama is considered a tulku, a reincarnated lineage of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, and the tradition of selecting his successor has remained a deeply spiritual process for centuries. The search for a new Dalai Lama involves Tibetan Buddhist monks interpreting visions, signs and dreams. Buddhists believe that the first tulku in this reincarnation was Gedun Drub, who lived from 1391-1474, and the second was Gendun Gyatso. The name Dalai Lama was not conferred until the third reincarnation in the form of Sonam Gyatso in 1578.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama | File (ANI)

Process of choosing a new Dalai Lama

• When a Dalai Lama dies, or even before his death, a successor is found rather than chosen. Traditionally, senior Tibetan monks conduct an elaborate quest to find a child who is the Dalai Lama’s next incarnation. The search involves consulting oracles, interpreting visions and reading spiritual signs. The senior monks may find clues from the deceased body of the Dalai Lama, such as the direction it faces or its posture. If the body is cremated, the direction of the smoke is monitored as a potential indicator for the direction of rebirth.
• Dreams are an important guide. Those involved in the search for the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation often meditate at Lhamo La-Tso, an oracle lake in central Tibet, and wait for a vision or insight into the whereabouts of the Dalai Lama’s rebirth.
• Once these visions and signs have been followed up on and a potential child has been found, there is a series of tests to verify the rebirth. The child is presented with artefacts, some of which belonged to the previous Dalai Lama. If the child identifies which objects belonged to the Dalai Lama, it is taken as a sign.
• This procedure, however, as the present Dalai Lama has said himself, is not set in stone; if two-thirds of the Tibetan people wish to change the method of identifying the next reincarnation, this would be just as valid.
• The Tibetan parliament-in-exile, based in Dharamshala, like the Dalai Lama, says a system has been established for the exiled government to continue its work, while officers of the Gaden Phodrang Foundation will be charged with finding and recognising his successor.
• The current Dalai Lama set up the foundation in 2015 to "maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama" with regard to his religious and spiritual duties, it says on its website. Its senior officers include several of his aides.

How was the 14th Dalai Lama chosen?

The current Dalai Lama was found at the age of two after a senior monk saw his village and house in a vision at the oracle lake. The boy was able to pinpoint artefacts that had belonged to the previous Dalai Lama, including a drum used for rituals and a walking stick.

The Dalai Lama at the age of four at Kumbum Monastery in Amdo, Eastern Tibet. (Source: dalailama.com/OHHDL - The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama)

“It’s mine, it’s mine,” he is reported to have said. The boy was then educated by monks and prepared for his lifelong monastic role. In 1940, when he was five, he was officially installed as the spiritual leader of Tibet at the Potala Palace in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and was renamed Tenzin Gyatso.

Dalai Lama's Past Statements On His Successor

In a 2004 interview with TIME magazine, he stated, “My life is outside Tibet; therefore my reincarnation will logically be found outside.” In a 2011 speech about reincarnation, the Dalai Lama said that at “about 90” years of age, he will consult religious leaders and the Tibetan public to make a final decision about the selection of his successor. In his book "Voice for the Voiceless", released in March 2025, the Dalai Lama said his successor would be born outside China.

Dalai Lamas from outside Tibet

The majority of the Dalai Lamas are from Tibet, but a few have been selected from outside. The 4th Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso, was born in 1589 in Mongolia, and the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, was born in 1682 in the region of Mon Tawang in present-day Arunachal Pradesh.

Chinese intervention in Dalai Lama's selection

• China says its leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor, as a legacy from imperial times. A selection ritual, in which the names of possible reincarnations are drawn from a golden urn, dating to 1793 during the Qing dynasty.
• According to Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Golden Urn method of selecting the Dalai Lamas, stipulated by the 1793 imperial ordinance, was only selectively applied in the cases of the 11th and 12th Dalai Lamas but was dispensed with for the 9th, 13th, and 14th Dalai Lamas.
• In 2007, the State Religious Affairs Bureau issued Order No. 5 titled “Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism,” which made it clear that the central government intended to control the entire process of selection and appointment of Living Buddhas.
• Chinese officials have repeatedly said the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should be decided by following national laws that decree the use of the golden urn and the birth of reincarnations within China's borders.
• Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in 2019: “Reincarnation of living Buddhas, including the Dalai Lam, must comply with Chinese laws and regulations and follow religious rituals and historical conventions.”
• But many Tibetans suspect any Chinese role in the selection as being a ploy to exert influence on the community. In his book, the present Dalai Lama asked Tibetans not to accept "a candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, including those in the People's Republic of China," referring to the country by its official name.
• China intervened in a big way during the last transition to a new Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibetan religion, culture and politics.
• In May 1995, the Dalai Lama himself recognised a six-year-old living in Tibet named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the new incarnation of the Panchen Lama. But the boy disappeared soon after, and human rights groups say the Chinese government has kept him and his family in a secret location ever since. The Chinese government announced that the son of two Communist Party cadres, named Gyaincain Norbu, was the next reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.

India and Dalai Lama

Apart from the Dalai Lama, India is estimated to be home to more than 100,000 Tibetan Buddhists who are free to study and work there. Many Indians revere him, and international relations experts say his presence in India gives New Delhi some kind of leverage with rival China.

According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Tibetan Buddhism has a significant Indian following in the Himalayan states, and controversy over the selection of the next Dalai Lama could have domestic reverberations. Thus, India has an interest in an orderly transition taking place for Tibet’s highest-ranking spiritual leader.

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