The Dalai Lama (Tibetan: ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ་; Wylie: taa la’i bla ma; simplified Chinese: 达赖喇嘛; traditional Chinese: 達賴喇嘛; pinyin: Dálài Lǎmā) is a Buddhist leader of religious officials of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word Далай "Dalai" meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ ་"Blama" (with a silent b) meaning "chief" or "high priest. "Lama" is a general term referring to Tibetan Buddhist teachers. In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who descend from the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Traditionally, he is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the director of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who, in practice, exerts much influence.
For certain periods of time between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas sometimes directed the Tibetan Government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa. From 1959 to 2001, the 14th Dalai Lama controlled the Central Tibetan Administration ("Tibetan government in exile"). He has indicated that the institution of the Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future, and also that the next Dalai Lama may be found outside Tibet and may be female.
The current Dalai Lama is often called "His Holiness" (HH) by Westerners (by analogy with the Pope), although this does not translate to a Tibetan title.
"Dalai" (Далай) means "Ocean" in Mongolian, and is a translation of the Tibetan name རྒྱ་མཚོ་ "Gyatso," while "Lama" is the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru". Together, the terms literally translate as "Ocean Teacher," although there are several theories regarding the meaning of the title. One idea is that the title means a teacher who is spiritually as great as the ocean.[citation needed] The name is also often translated as "Ocean of Wisdom," as in the following extract.
"The Institution of the Dalai Lama" by R. N. Rahul Sheel in The Tibet Journal, Vol. XIV No. 3. Autumn 1989, pp. 19-32 says on pp. 31-32, n. 1: "The word Dalai is Mongolian for "ocean", used mainly by the Chinese, the Mongols, and foreigners. Rgya mtsho, the corresponding Tibetan word, always has formed the last part of the religious name of the Dalai Lama since Dalai Lama II [sic – should read Dalai Lama III]. The expression Lama (བླ་མ; Bla ma) means the "superior one". Western usage has taken it to mean the "priest" of the Buddhism of Tibet. The term Dalai Lama, therefore, means "Ocean of Wisdom.
According to the current Dalai Lama, however, the title originated with the third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso; the Mongolian term "Dalai" was nothing more than a literal translation of the Tibetan name "Gyatso," implying that later interpretations used poetic license in applying oceanic qualities to the name.
Before the 20th century, European sources often referred to the Dalai Lama as the "Grand Lama". For example, in 1785 Benjamin Franklin Bache mocked George Washington by terming him the "Grand Lama of this Country". Some in the West believed the Dalai Lama to be worshipped by the Tibetans as the godhead.
