Tulku

A tulku is a Tibetan Buddhist teacher recognized as the rebirth of a deceased religious master. The institution links spiritual authority across successive lives through recognition, training, and lineage.

Tulku recognition: The process of identifying a child as the rebirth of a deceased Tibetan Buddhist master. Tests such as clues, visions, and consultations establish a candidate's identity.
Karma Kagyu: A major Tibetan Buddhist school whose leaders include the Karmapas. The Karmapa succession is the earliest prominent tulku lineage.
Dalai Lama: The title of the successive spiritual leaders of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama lineage is the best-known tulku succession internationally.
Reincarnation: The belief that a being is born again after death in another form of existence. Tulku recognition applies rebirth beliefs to specific teachers and institutional succession.
Search for the 14th Dalai Lama: The 1937–1940 process that identified Lhamo Thondup as the 14th Dalai Lama. Its tests and consultations offer a documented example of recognition.
Karmapa: The title of the successive heads of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The first recognized Karmapa established a precedent for reincarnate succession.
14th Dalai Lama: Tenzin Gyatso, the Tibetan Buddhist leader recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama. His life illustrates how a tulku's religious role can also become political.
Tibetan Buddhism: The Buddhist traditions that developed in Tibet and its cultural sphere. The tulku institution belongs specifically to Tibetan Buddhist religious life.
Golden Urn: A Qing-era vessel used in some Tibetan Buddhist reincarnation selections by drawing lots. It became one state-supervised method for selecting certain high lamas.
Düsum Khyenpa: A Tibetan Buddhist master who founded the Karma Kagyu school and is regarded as the first Karmapa. His successor's recognition helped establish the tulku institution.

Linked from 13 pages