The Dalai Lamas and Tulkus: Tibet's Reincarnate Lamas

A tulku (Tibetan sprul sku, "emanation body") is a Buddhist teacher recognised as the rebirth of a deceased master, and the Dalai Lamas are the best-known line of such reincarnate lamas. The system, which began with the Karmapas in the thirteenth century, allowed Tibetan monasteries and lineages to pass authority from one life to the next; from the seventeenth century the Dalai Lamas, regarded as emanations of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, were also the rulers of Tibet.

What Is a Tulku? Emanation Bodies and Reincarnate Lamas§

In Mahayana thought a buddha is described as having three "bodies": the Dharma body, which is awakening itself; the enjoyment body, which appears to advanced bodhisattvas; and the emanation body (nirmanakaya), the form in which a buddha appears in the world, as Shakyamuni did. All Buddhists believe in rebirth driven by karma, as discussed in reincarnation and the afterlife, and Mahayana texts teach that advanced bodhisattvas are reborn not by compulsion but by choice, out of compassion.

Tibetan Buddhism combined these ideas into a distinctive institution. A tulku is a person recognised as the rebirth of a particular realised teacher, and in the case of the most important lines as an emanation of a buddha or bodhisattva. The Tibetan honorific Rinpoche, "precious one", is commonly used for tulkus, though not only for them. By the twentieth century there were many hundreds of recognised tulkus in Tibet, Mongolia and the Himalayas, in every school of Tibetan Buddhism and also in the Bon religion.

The system had practical as well as spiritual functions. Each important tulku was the head of a labrang, a household that held land, wealth and monastic office; recognising a successor kept the estate and the lineage's authority intact, and gave a celibate monastic order a means of succession that did not depend on family inheritance. Among the lines are a few female ones, the best known being the Samding Dorje Phagmo, an emanation of the tantric goddess Vajravarahi, whose line goes back to the fifteenth century.

The Karmapas and the Origins of the Tulku System§

Tibetan tradition regards the Karmapas, heads of the Karma Kagyu school, as the first formally recognised reincarnation line. Karma Pakshi (1204–1283) came to be identified as the rebirth of Dusum Khyenpa (1110–1193), founder of the school, and is counted as the Second Karmapa. Karma Pakshi was a celebrated teacher at the court of the Mongol ruler Möngke Khan, and his successors were honoured by the Ming emperors. The Karmapas' black crown, said to have been woven from the hair of dakinis and replicated as a gift from the Yongle Emperor, became the emblem of the line.

Other schools soon adopted the practice, and by the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries reincarnation had become the normal way of transmitting leadership in many monasteries. The Panchen Lamas, recognised from the seventeenth century as emanations of the Buddha Amitabha and seated at Tashilhunpo monastery, became the second most important line of the Gelug school.

The Dalai Lama Lineage from Gendun Drup to the Great Fifth§

The Dalai Lama line belongs to the Gelug ("Virtuous") school founded by Tsongkhapa (1357–1419). In 1578 the monk Sonam Gyatso (1543–1588) met the Mongol ruler Altan Khan, who gave him the title Dalai, Mongolian for "ocean", a translation of the "Gyatso" in his name. Sonam Gyatso was already regarded as the rebirth of two earlier teachers — Gendun Drup (1391–1474), a disciple of Tsongkhapa and founder of Tashilhunpo, and Gendun Gyatso (1475–1542) — who were counted retrospectively as the First and Second Dalai Lamas. The Fourth Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso (1589–1617), was found among Altan Khan's own descendants, sealing the alliance between the Gelug and the Mongols.

The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (1617–1682), known as "the Great Fifth", transformed the office. With the military support of the Khoshut Mongol leader Gushri Khan, he became ruler of a unified Tibet in 1642, establishing the government known as the Ganden Phodrang. He began the construction of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, wrote voluminously, and promoted the belief that the Dalai Lamas are emanations of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion and the patron of Tibet, a figure closely linked with Tara in Tibetan devotion. His death was kept secret by his regent for some fifteen years while the Potala was completed.

The Later Dalai Lamas and the Modern Era§

The Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso (1683–1706), refused to take full monastic vows and is remembered for his love songs, still popular in Tibet; he was deposed amid Mongol and Qing rivalries and died in captivity on the way to China. The Seventh and Eighth enjoyed long lives, but the Ninth to Twelfth all died young in the nineteenth century, leaving power to regents.

The Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso (1876–1933), fled to Mongolia when a British expedition reached Lhasa in 1904 and to India when Qing troops entered in 1910. After the fall of the Qing dynasty he returned and in 1913 declared Tibet's independence, attempting military and administrative reforms. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born in 1935 in the north-eastern province of Amdo and enthroned in 1940. After the Chinese People's Liberation Army entered Tibet in 1950 and an uprising in Lhasa in 1959, he went into exile in India, where he established a government-in-exile at Dharamsala. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and in 2011 transferred his political role to an elected Tibetan leadership.

How Reincarnations Are Found and Recognised§

The search for a reincarnation follows a combination of traditional methods, varying from case to case. A dying lama may leave predictions or letters about his rebirth. Senior lamas consult oracles, such as the State Oracle of Nechung, perform divinations and watch for dreams and signs: the direction in which a body turns during cremation, unusual phenomena at a birth, or visions. For the Dalai Lamas, regents have traditionally visited the sacred lake of Lhamo Latso, whose surface is believed to reveal images; in 1935 the regent reported seeing letters and a monastery with a distinctive roof, which guided the search party to the Fourteenth Dalai Lama's village.

Candidates are then examined. A well-known test asks the child to pick out belongings of the predecessor, such as a rosary or a hand drum, from among similar objects. The identification is confirmed by senior teachers, after which the child is enthroned and given a rigorous monastic education under tutors. These methods sit within the wider Vajrayana emphasis on the guru and on ritual and divinatory expertise.

Politics and Debates: The Golden Urn and the Future of the Line§

Recognition has long been entangled with politics. In 1793 the Qing emperor Qianlong introduced a lottery in which the names of candidates were drawn from a golden urn, partly to curb the influence of aristocratic families; Tibetan sources indicate that it was used in some nineteenth-century cases and bypassed in others. The People's Republic of China, which regards Tibet as part of China, issued regulations in 2007 requiring state approval for the recognition of reincarnate lamas.

The issue became acute in 1995, when the Dalai Lama recognised a six-year-old boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the Eleventh Panchen Lama. The boy was taken into state custody and has not appeared in public since; the Chinese authorities selected another candidate by the golden urn. Because the Panchen Lama traditionally plays a role in recognising the Dalai Lama, the dispute is widely seen as bearing on the next succession. The present Dalai Lama has said that his reincarnation, if it occurs, will be born in a free country, and in 2025 he stated that the institution will continue and that the authority to recognise his successor rests with his own office. Tibetan communities, the Chinese state and outside observers continue to disagree sharply on the question.

Frequently asked questions§

How is the Dalai Lama chosen?§

After a Dalai Lama dies, senior lamas look for his rebirth among children born around that time, guided by predictions, oracles, dreams and visions such as those at the lake of Lhamo Latso. Candidates are tested, for example by being asked to recognise the predecessor's belongings, and the chosen child is confirmed by senior teachers and enthroned.

What does "tulku" mean?§

Tulku translates the Sanskrit nirmanakaya, "emanation body", the form in which a buddha appears in the world. In Tibetan Buddhism it refers to a person recognised as the rebirth of a particular realised teacher, who inherits that teacher's position and lineage.

Who was the first Dalai Lama?§

Gendun Drup (1391–1474), a disciple of Tsongkhapa and founder of Tashilhunpo monastery, is counted as the First Dalai Lama. The title itself was first given in 1578 to Sonam Gyatso, who was then counted as the Third, with his two predecessors recognised retrospectively.

Sources and further reading§

• The Dalai Lamas: A Visual History — Martin Brauen (ed.), 2005
• The Fourteen Dalai Lamas: A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation — Glenn H. Mullin, 2001
• The Tibetans — Matthew T. Kapstein, 2006
• Tibet: A History — Sam van Schaik, 2011
• The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama — Melvyn C. Goldstein, 1997
• Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama — Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, 1990