Jalue Dorje, a teenager from a Minneapolis suburb who was recognised as a reincarnated lama by the Dalai Lama, has moved to northern India to join a monastery in the Himalayan foothills. He graduated from high school last year and now resides thousands of miles from his childhood home, where he once enjoyed rap music, video games and football.
Dorje has spent much of his life training for monkhood, memorising sacred scriptures, practising calligraphy and studying Buddhist teachings. After completing the equivalent of a college semester, he flew to Nepal to reunite with his parents and attend sacred rituals at monasteries in the Kathmandu Valley.
Following 12 days of rituals and prayers, Dorje joined his parents on a pilgrimage to the ancient Maratika, or Halesi Mahadev, Caves in eastern Nepal. The caves, sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists, are often adorned with colourful powders and offerings of fruits and flowers by pilgrims.
After several years of contemplation and asceticism, Dorje hopes to return to the United States to teach in Minnesota’s Buddhist community. He aspires to become a leader of peace, following the examples of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama.
