Lamaism

Buddhism of Tibet, Mongolia, and parts of Nepal and northern India; a form of Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhism was introduced into Tibet in AD 640, but the real founder of Tibetan Buddhism was the Indian missionary Padma Sambhava, who was active in about 750. Tibetan Buddhism developed several orders, based on lineages of teachings transmitted by reincarnated lamas (teachers). In the 14th–15th centuries Tsong-kha-pa founded the sect of Geluk-Pa (‘virtuous’), which became the most powerful order in the country. Its head is the Dalai Lama, who is considered an incarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

Persecution
The Dalai Lama, residing at the palace of Potala in Lhasa, exercised both spiritual and temporal authority as head of the Tibetan state, aided by the Panchen Lama. However, in 1959, following an unsuccessful uprising against the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lama fled the country.

Before Chinese communist rule, it was estimated that one in four of Tibet's male population was a Lamaist monk, but now their numbers are greatly reduced. Prayer wheels and prayer flags, on which were inscribed prayers, were formerly a common sight in the Tibetan countryside; when these were turned by hand or moved by the wind, great spiritual benefit was supposed to accrue.