The New Buddhist ‘Lama’ Is a Minnesotan Teen Who Seems Chill AF

From high school football direct to the monastery.

This high school football player is in for quite the rude (spiritual) awakening. That’s because, despite living most of his life as a normal Minnesotan teen, he’s about to be whisked away to the Himalayan foothills.

Why? Because, when he was a baby, it was deemed that he was a new lama.

“It all began with the process of identifying a lama, which is based on spiritual signs and visions. Dorje was about four months old when he was identified by Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, a venerated master of Tibetan Buddhism and leader of the Nyingma lineage,” explains PBS. “He was later confirmed by several lamas as the eighth Terchen Taksham Rinpoche — the first one was born in 1655.”

To be clear, he’s not going to be the Dalai Lama, which is a whole different thing. But everyone around him seems to like him, and while he’s definitely committed to his spiritual practices, it’s going to be pretty strange when he goes from listening to rap and playing football to quietly contemplating existence in the mountains.