How does one become Dalai Lama?

The Dalai Lama is the Tibetan people’s title for the spiritual leader of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism.

When a Dalai Lama dies, or even before, a successor is discovered rather than chosen. Senior Tibetan monks have traditionally conducted an elaborate search for a child who will be the Dalai Lama’s next incarnation.

Dreams are a valuable source of information. Those interested in the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation frequently meditate at Lhamo La-Tso, an oracle lake in central Tibet, and wait for a vision or insight into the Dalai Lama’s whereabouts.

Once these visions and signs have been followed up on and a potential child has been identified, a series of tests will be performed to confirm the rebirth. The child is shown artefacts, some of which once belonged to the previous Dalai Lama.

At the age of two, the current Dalai Lama was discovered after a senior monk saw his village and house in a vision at the Oracle Lake. The boy, then known as Lhamo Thondup, was able to identify artefacts belonging to the previous Dalai Lama, such as a ritual drum and a walking stick. “It’s mine, it’s mine,” he allegedly said.

Monks then educated and prepared the boy for his lifelong monastic role. Tenzin Gyatso was formally installed as Tibet’s spiritual leader at the Potala Palace in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in 1940 when he was five years old.