Information on Tibetan Buddhism (for the curious)

Since we had a short story in which the Dalai Lama and Buddhism featured prominently, and we discussed our general lack of knowledge about this extremely important facet, here are some  facts about Buddhism.

• Buddhism began with the teachings of  Siddhartha Gautama in the 6th century BC 
• There are many subdivisions with Buddhism that influence various individual beliefs and rituals among the sects
• Tibetan Buddhism is part of the Mahayana school, which emphasizes the individual path to enlightenment, but combines it with a variety of other teachings as well (which is what makes it so distinctive)
• Buddhism came from India to Tibet around 700 AD 
• While Buddhism theoretically does not have gods, Tibetan Buddhism incorporates a number of spirits, traditional gods, and bodhisattvas (people on the path to enlightenment)
• Lamas (which translates to something like wisdom) come from all ages, genders, and walks of life, although it's unsurprising to find that most are monks or nuns; they are skilled in rituals and well learned
• Dalai Lama (dalai= ocean, showing enormity of his wisdom)- current Dalai Lama is the 14th
• There is also something called the Karmapa Lama who is the head of a subdivision within Tibetan Buddhism
• Bardo is the period after death and before rebirth and lasts 49 days
• More on the Dalai Lama- head of Tibetan Buddhism's largest sect; considered a "tulku" (someone who chooses to be reborn rather than end the cycle of rebirth)
• The next Dalai Lama: the government and the major lamas within the Gelugpa tradition look for someone (generally a boy) born shortly after the Dalai Lama's death
• The search for the Dalai Lama is aided by observing the direction of the smoke from the last Dalai Lama's cremation fire, visions or dreams, and observing a particular holy lake 
• The search can take years, so the child is not necessarily a baby (the current dalai lama was 4 when he was located)
• Like in the story, the Dalai Lama's incarnation is verified by having the candidate choose which items belonged to the previous Dalai Lama

So, other than the fact that Greta Bryn was not born around the time of her predecessor's death, the depiction of the search for the next Dalai Lama seems fairly accurate.


(Note: information came from the BBC's Religions section; www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism [just follow the various links within the article])