Jalue Dorje, an 18-year-old Tibetan American, celebrated his coming of age in Minnesota with an enthronement ceremony. At just four months old, Dorje was identified as a reincarnate lama, the reincarnation of a venerated leader of a Tibetan Buddhist sect. After he graduates high school next year, the teenager who loves football and rap music will head to a monastery in the Himalayas for the next stage of his spiritual journey.
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00:00A group of traditional Tibetan dancers in the U.S. state of Minnesota are celebrating a unique moment.
00:06This is a special 18th birthday celebration for a Tibetan-American teenager
00:11who will soon head to the Himalayas as the reincarnated leader of a sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
00:17It's not just a party. It's an enthronement ceremony.
00:21Chalu Edorji loves collecting Pokemon cards, playing football, and listening to rap music.
00:27But he was picked to lead a different life from other children and with a big task ahead of him
00:33to ensure the continuity of Tibetan Buddhist religion and culture.
00:37The easiest way to put it is like, it's just school overseas.
00:40But the stuff being taught, the stuff, you know, the stuff that I have to learn, it's a lot more complicated than college.
00:48Edorji was just four months old when he was recognized by a Tibetan Buddhist master as the reincarnation of a Rinpoche,
00:55an honorary title given to the most venerated Tibetan Buddhist lamas.
01:00At age two, the Dalai Lama confirmed it.
01:04Edorji is held to be the eighth reincarnation of the prominent Nyingma monk Thaksin Rinpoche,
01:10a powerful spiritual role in Tibetan Buddhism.
01:14So while he grew up in suburban Minneapolis,
01:17Edorji balanced a life of playing American football with learning holy Buddhist scriptures in preparation for his future.
01:24Nestled in the Himalayas is the Mindroling Monastery in Indian state of Uttarakhand.
01:29After China took control of Tibet, many Tibetans fled to northern India,
01:34making a new home there and establishing a government in exile.
01:38The original Mindroling Monastery is in the part of Tibet ruled by China.
01:43But in 1965, leading lamas re-established a monastery near the Indian mountain town of Dehradun.
01:50Next year, Edorji will leave Minnesota and come here.
02:20It's probably something that's on his mind and it's certainly something that all of us are thinking about too.
02:25Edorji says he wants to follow in the footsteps of the Dalai Lama, Manson Mandela and Gandhi
02:31and become a leader of peace in a troubled world.
02:35He will complete his spiritual learning in India and says he hopes to return to Minnesota to serve his community
02:41and continue the centuries-old tradition of reincarnate lamas.
02:45Though his young shoulders carry this burden of tradition and history,
02:49until he graduates high school next year, he still has a few months left to play football
02:54and listen to rap like a regular American school kid.
02:58Adil Brar and Eason Chen for Taiwan Plus.