Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama

Vajrayana, 'the diamond vehicle', is a form of Mahayana Buddhism that flourished in Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan and the Himalayas. It uses ritual, chanting of mantras, visualization and sacred diagrams called mandalas, and it stresses the role of a qualified teacher, or lama. Buddhism reached Tibet from India from the 7th and 8th centuries, and the Indian master Padmasambhava is revered for helping establish it.

Tibetan Buddhism developed several schools; the Gelug school's leader, the Dalai Lama, became the political and spiritual head of Tibet from the 17th century. Tibetans believe Dalai Lamas are reincarnations, so a successor is found as a child through signs and tests. After China took control of Tibet in 1950 and an uprising failed in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India, and Dharamsala became the center of the Tibetan exile community.

The question of who will choose his successor is politically sensitive between Tibetan exiles and the Chinese government.