Who is the Dalai Lama?
The Dalai Lama is frequently called the “god-king” of the Tibetan people. Early scholars likened him to a Buddhist Pope. The government of the People’s Republic of China regularly describes the 14th Dalai Lama as a political “splittist,” leader of a failed rebellion and a reactionary Dalai clique. Tibetans revere him as a highly developed Buddhist master and a living incarnation of the compassionate bodhisattva Avalokite?vara. When asked, he describes himself as “a simple Buddhist monk.”
This series of five public lectures by leading scholars of Tibetan history, religion, and culture explores the unique Tibetan institution of the Dalai Lama, as well as some of the important individuals who filled that role.