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Tibet/ China: A 1905 photograph of a tulku, or “Living Buddha”, with two aides at a lamasery near Yerkalo in the Tibetan border area.

Tibet/ China: A 1905 photograph of a tulku, or “Living Buddha”, with two aides at a lamasery near Yerkalo in the Tibetan border area.

In Tibetan Buddhism, a tulku is a high-ranking lama, of which the Dalai Lama is one. A tulku is recognized as having the ability to choose the manner of his (or her) rebirth, although in normal circumstances a tulku would be reincarnated as a human of the same sex as before. A modern Chinese word for tulku is 'huofo', which literally means 'Living Buddha', although this term is rare outside Chinese sources.

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