Dalai lama biography facts recorded

Tulku lineage of Gelug Tibetan Buddhism

For other uses, see Dalailama.

For the current 14th Dalai Lama, see 14th Dalai Lama.

Dalai Lama (, ;^[1][2]Tibetan: ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ་, Wylie: Tā la'i bla ma[táːlɛːláma]) is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everying Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣 识一切 瓦齐尔达喇 达赖 喇嘛)^[3] given by Altan Khan, the first Shunyi King of Ming China.

He offered it in appreciation to the leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, Sonam Gyatso, who received it in 1578 at Yanghua Monastery.^[4] At that time, Sonam Gyatso had just given teachings to the Khan, and so the title of Dalai Lama was also given to the entire tulku lineage.

Sonam Gyatso became the 3rd Dalai Lama, while the first two tulkus in the lineage, the 1st Dalai Lama and the 2nd Dalai Lama, were posthumously awarded the title.

All tulkus in the lineage of the Dalai Lamas are considered manifestations of the Buddha Avalokiteshvara,^[2&