Dalai Lama: Fun Facts, Quotes, and Resources
What is the Dalai Lama’s Role?
What religion is the Dalai Lama? The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist leader of religious officials of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” branch of Tibetan Buddhism. In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who are considered to be manifestations of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokitesvara. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others.
What is the Origin of the Name Dalai Lama?
The name is a combination of the Mongolian word “Dalai” meaning “Ocean” and the Tibetan word ་”Blama” meaning “chief” or “high priest.” “Lama” is a general term referring to Tibetan Buddhist teachers.
List of Dali Lamas
1. Gendun Drup
Gendun Drup, also known as Gendun Drub and Kundun Drup, is considered retrospectively to be the first of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet, who are believed to be reincarnations of Chenresig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
Reign: 1391–1474
Successor: Gendun Gyatso
Born: 1391 in Shabtod, Ü-Tsang, Tibet
Died: 1474 (aged 82–83) in Tibet
2. Gendun Gyatso
Gendun Gyatso Palzangpo, also Gendun Gyatso was the second Dalai Lama.He was born near Shigatse at Tanak, in the Tsang region of central Tibet. His father, Kunga Gyaltsen, was a ngakpa of the Nyingma lineage, a famous Nyingma tantric master. His mother was Machik Kunga Pemo, they were a farming family.
Reign: 1492–1542
Predecessor: Gendun Drup
Successor: Sonam Gyatso
Born: 1475 Tanag Segme, Ü-Tsang, Tibet
Died: 1542 (aged 67) in Tibet
3. Sonam Gyatso
Sonam Gyatso was the first officially recognized Dalai Lama, although the title was retrospectively given to his two predecessors.
Reign: 1578–1588
Predecessor: Gendun Gyatso
Successor: Yonten Gyatso
Born: 1543 in Tolung, Ü-Tsang, Tibet
Died: 1588 (aged 44–45) in Mongolia
4. Yonten Gyatso
Yonten Gyatso or Yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was the 4th Dalai Lama, born in Mongolia on the 30th day of the 12th month of the Earth-Ox year of the Tibetan calendar. As the son of the chieftain of the Chokur tribe, Tsultrim Choeje, and great-grandson of Altan Khan of the Tümed Mongols and his second wife PhaKhen Nula, Yonten Gyatso was a Mongolian, making him the only non-Tibetan to be recognized as Dalai Lama other than the 6th Dalai Lama, who was a Monpa—but Monpas can be seen either as a Tibetan subgroup or a closely related people.
Reign: 1601–1617
Predecessor: Sonam Gyatso
Successor: Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso
Born: 1589 in Mongolia
Died: 1617 in Tibet
5. Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso
Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, was a political and religious leader in seventeenth-century Tibet. Ngawang Lozang Gyatso was the ordination name he had received from Panchen Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen who was responsible for his ordination. He was the first Dalai Lama to wield effective political power over central Tibet, and is frequently referred to as the “Great Fifth Dalai Lama”.
Reign: 1642–1682
Predecessor: Yonten Gyatso
Successor: Tsangyang Gyatso
Born: 1617 in Chingwar Taktse, Ü-Tsang, Tibet
Died: 1682 (aged 64–65) inTibet
6. Tsangyang Gyatso
Tsangyang Gyatso was the sixth Dalai Lama. He was a Monpa by ethnicity and was born at Urgelling Monastery, 5 km from Tawang, and not far from the large Tawang Monastery in the northwestern part of present-day Arunachal Pradesh in India.
Reign: 1697–1706
Predecessor: Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso
Successor: Kelzang Gyatso
Born: 1 March 1683(1683-03-01) in Tawang, India
Died: 15 November 1706(1706-11-15) (aged 23) in Kokonor, China
7. Kelzang Gyatso
Kelzang Gyatso, also spelled Kelsang Gyatso and Kezang Gyatso, was the 7th Dalai Lama of Tibet. Kelzang Gyatso was born in Lithang of Eastern Tibet, in the present-day Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of present-day Sichuan province, and recognized as the new reincarnation thanks to a poem of the 6th Dalai Lama in which he said, “After going to Litang I would not be late in returning.”
Reign: 1720–1757
Predecessor: Tsangyang Gyatso
Successor: Jamphel Gyatso
Born: 1708 in Lithang, Kham, Tibet
Died: 1757 in Tibet
8. Jamphel Gyatso
Jamphel Gyatso was the 8th Dalai Lama of Tibet. Born in 1758 at Lhari Gang in the Upper U-Tsang region of southwestern Tibet his father, Sonam Dhargye, and mother, Phuntsok Wangmo, were originally from Kham. They were distant descendants of Dhrala Tsegyal, who was one of the major heroes of the Gesar epic.
Reign: 1762–1804
Predecessor: Kelzang Gyatso
Successor: Lungtok Gyatso
Born: 1758 in Thobgyal, Ü-Tsang, Tibet
Died: 1804 in Tibet
9. Lungtok Gyatso
Lungtok Gyatso, also spelled Lungtog Gyatso and Luntok Gyatso, was the 9th Dalai Lama of Tibet. Lungtok Gyatso was born in 1805 near Choekor Monastery in Dan Chokhor, a small village in the historical region of Kham to Tenzin Choekyong and Dhondup Dolma.
Reign: 1810–1815
Predecessor: Jamphel Gyatso
Successor: Tsultrim Gyatso
Born: 1805 in Dan Chokhor, Kham, Tibet
Died: 1815 (aged 9–10) in Tibet
10. Tsultrim Gyatso
Tsultrim Gyatso was the 10th Dalai Lama of Tibet. Born to a modest family in Chamdo, he was recognised as the reincarnation of Lungtok Gyatso, the 9th Dalai Lama, in 1820. At the time his family did not even have an heir to their land, but he took the name Tsultrim Gyatso and was enthroned at the Potala Palace in 1822.
Reign: 1826–1837
Predecessor: Lungtok Gyatso
Successor: Khedrup Gyatso
Born: 29 March 1816 in Lithang, Kham, Tibet
Died: 1837 (aged 20–21) in Tibet
11. Khendrup Gyatso
Khedrup Gyatso was the 11th Dalai Lama of Tibet. He was recognized as the Eleventh Dalai Lama in 1840, having come from the same village as Kelzang Gyatso, the seventh Dalai Lama, had in 1708. In 1841 the seventh Panchen Lama, Palden Tenpai Nyima, gave him the pre-novice ordination, cut his hair and gave him the name Khedrup Gyatso.
Reign: 1842–1856
Predecessor: Tsultrim Gyatso
Successor: Trinley Gyatso
Born: 1 November 1838(1838-11-01) in Gathar, Kham, Tibet
Died: 31 January 1856(1856-01-31) (aged 17) in Lhasa, Tibet
12.Trinley Gyatso
Trinley Gyatso, also spelled Trinle Gyatso and Thinle Gyatso, was the 12th Dalai Lama of Tibet. His short life coincided with a time of major political unrest and wars among Tibet’s neighbors. Tibet particularly suffered from the weakening of the Qing Dynasty which formerly offered it some outside support against the British Empire which was aiming to influence Tibet as an expansion from its colonization of India.
Reign: 1860–1875
Predecessor: Khedrup Gyatso
Successor: Thubten Gyatso
Born: 26 January 1857(1857-01-26) in Lhoka, U-Tsang, Tibet
Died: 25 April 1875(1875-04-25) (aged 18) in Lhasa, Tibet
13.Thubten Gyatso
Thubten Gyatso was the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet. During 1878 he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. He was escorted to Lhasa and given his pre-novice vows by the Panchen Lama, Tenpai Wangchuk, and named “Ngawang Lobsang Thupten Gyatso Jigdral Chokley Namgyal”. During 1879 he was enthroned at the Potala Palace, but did not assume political power until 1895, after he had reached his majority.
Reign: 1879–1933
Predecessor: Trinley Gyatso
Successor: Tenzin Gyatso
Born: 12 February 1876(1876-02-12) in Thakpo Langdun, U-Tsang, Tibet
Died: 17 December 1933(1933-12-17) (aged 57) in Lhasa, Tibet, China
14. Tenzin Gyatso
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figure in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has controversially consolidated control over the other sects in recent years. He is also well known for his political activities relating to the Tibetan independence movement, although he has recently moderated his stance. Tibetans traditionally believe him to be the reincarnation of his predecessors and a manifestation of the Buddha of Compassion. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet. At the age of two the child, who was named Lhamo Dhondup at that time was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.
Reign: 17 November 1950 – present
Predecessor: Thubten Gyatso
Father: Choekyong Tsering
Mother: Diki Tsering
Born: 6 July 1935 (1935-07-06) (age 75) in Taktser, Qinghai, Republic of China
Dalai Lama Quotes
- “All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.”
- “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
- “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
- “I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.”
- “If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it.”
- “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
- “In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.”
- “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”
- “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
- “Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.”
- “Sleep is the best meditation.”
- “Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.”
- “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”
- “The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.”
- “The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason and critical analysis.”
- “There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.”
Dalai Lama Resources
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Images of the 14th Dalai Lama
His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama at the White House. Article by Jesse Lee on February 18, 2010
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