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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.
U.S.-born Buddhist lama Jalue Dorje pauses outside of his hotel room before he walks to nearby Shechen Monastery for a series of rituals and teachings in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Monday, April 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
U.S.-born Buddhist lama Jalue Dorje walks out of Shechen Monastery after a day of rituals and teachings in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
U.S.-born Buddhist lama Jalue Dorje smiles as he blesses people by tapping bowed heads with a ritual vase and a peacock feather at the end of 12 days of empowerments, or initiation rituals and teachings, bestowed by the abbot of Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Young monks smile during a break from rituals and teachings at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
U.S.-born Buddhist lama Jalue Dorje walks out of a prayer hall during a series of rituals and prayers bestowed by the spiritual leader of Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
U.S.-born Buddhist lama Jalue Dorje puts on his monastic robes at his hotel room to start his day before attending a series of rituals and prayers at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
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. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Buddhist lamas, Trulshik Yangsi Rinpoche, left, and Jalue Dorje, who is recognized as the eighth Terchen Taksham Rinpoche, laugh while posing for a portrait at the Yak and Yeti hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)