Dalai Lama, Tibet's political leader, has strived to make Tibet an independent and democratic state from China. Following the Chinese Invasion of Tibet in 1959 he and his followers have been exiled to India. The Dalai Lamas are believed by Tibetan Buddhist followers to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are believed to be enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity. The Dalai Lama is considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteœvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama in a line of Buddhist spiritual and political leaders of Tibet. Buddhists are followers of Gautama Buddha (c. 563–c. 483 b.c.e.), who believed the troubles of this life can be overcome through moral and mental discipline.