How Is the Dalai Lama Chosen?

This is the 14th Dalai Lama, also known by his monastic name, Tenzin Gyatso. He’s a Tibetan spiritual leader, political activist, humanitarian, and Nobel Peace Prize winner. He’s also the first Dalai Lama on Instagram. So how was this lama—and most before him—chosen? Add the Mongolian word ta-le or dalai meaning ocean—and the Tibetan word lama—meaning teacher or guru—and you get, with some remixing, Ocean of Wisdom. The Dalai Lama is considered an embodied form of Avalokiteshvara, an enlightened being who has postponed final enlightenment to provide compassion to the world. He also heads the Gelugpa school, currently the predominant tradition within Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhists believe that the Dalai Lama can control his consciousness to choose his successor after he dies. He, like all sentient beings, is stuck in an endless cycle of death and rebirth until he reaches nirvana. No, not that Nirvana. More like the “blowing out” of all suffering, which is the ultimate goal of Buddhism. The Dalai Lama reincarnates to finish the predecessor’s work of promoting compassion, harmony, and Tibetan autonomy (that last part will come back later). Before he dies, the Dalai Lama will make predictions and leave some instructions on how to identify him once he is reborn. After he dies, it's up to senior monks and other officers of the Gaden Phodrang Trust to identify the successor: a child who the spirit of the lama has reincarnated into. These leaders use the Dalai Lama’s predictions to start their search, but may seek further signs through dreams, omens, and visions that manifest in a sacred lake. They might ask other spiritual masters and oracles for assistance through divination. After narrowing down the location, a search party will then go out and observe toddlers in the area. They will test the child by asking them to identify the possessions of the previous Dalai Lama from a lineup of objects. This process is how senior monks identified the 14th Dalai Lama in 1937, when he was only two years old. When the 13th Dalai Lama died, his head had been turned to face northeastern Tibet, where the boy lived. A monk also saw an image of Gyatso’s family house in the waters of the sacred lake. After seeing auspicious juniper branches on the roof of his childhood home, the search party asked his parents if they could stay the night. Even though they acted as ordinary visitors, the toddler called out to the leader of the group by his title, Sera Lama. The party then left and brought back a number of objects – some belonging to the 13th Dalai Lama, and some not. The boy chose the correct items each time, saying “it’s mine, it’s mine.” According to Tenzin Gyatso, no one from his family had expected him to be anything but the ordinary baby of farmers. But after he was identified as the reborn Dalai Lama, he was whisked away from home to undergo years of education and monastic training before officially ascending to the role at age 15. Because of tensions with Chinese authorities, Tenzin Gyatso fled Tibet in March 1959. He rode in the dark on horseback over the Himalayas to Dharamshala, India, where he has been operating in exile since. Though the Dalai Lama has historically only been male, the position is not technically limited by gender or nationality. In fact, the 14th Dalai Lama has said his successor might not be born in Tibet and could even be a “mischievous blonde woman.” The tradition of selecting a new lama has continued for over 500 years. As the 14th Dalai Lama has aged, many have wondered if he would choose to reincarnate. In 2025, around the time of his 90th birthday, he affirmed he would. But the process of choosing a lama’s reincarnation is fraught with political ramifications. Communist Chinese leaders, officially atheists who do not believe in reincarnation, insist on confirming the next Dalai Lama themselves. They’ll use the controversial golden urn system, which involves drawing out of the candidate pool, a method that was instituted by the Chinese in the Qing era and used for choosing a few Dalai Lamas. Tibetans believe China’s potential involvement in the selection of the 15th Dalai Lama would be an intervention in uniquely Tibetan affairs, and a possible ploy for religious and political control. The 14th Dalai Lama assured the public in 2025 that a successor will be identified only using Tibetan methods. No one can say for sure how many more reincarnations of the Dalai Lama are to come, or where exactly the next one might come from. Might be a good idea to invest in some juniper wood decor, just in case.