Teenage Buddhist Lama

Crocs decorated with Jibbitz charms of The Simpsons, belonging to U.S.-born Buddhist lama Jalue Dorje, sit outside a prayer hall at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sunday, April 12, 2026.

Tags

As featured on

Journey of a lifetime: A US teen Buddhist lama is now a monk studying in the Himalayan foothills

Journey of a lifetime: A US teen Buddhist lama is now a monk studying in the Himalayan foothills

A teenage Buddhist lama recently blessed thousands at a monastery in the Himalayan foothills. Just six months earlier and thousands of miles away, he was pulling all-nighters to play Madden NFL on his Xbox at his home in a Minneapolis suburb. Both world's are Jalue Dorje's. He grew up a typical American teen, loving rap music, video games and football. But he's also an aspiring spiritual leader — recognized from an early age by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnated lama. He graduated from high school last year and is now studying at monasteries in India and Nepal. His goal: become “a leader of peace,” like Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and the Dalai Lama.