Kalmar "Dalai Lama" tana nufin shugaban ruhaniya na makarantar Gelug na addinin Buddah na Tibet. Kalmar "Dalai" tana nufin "teku" ko "babban" a cikin Mongolian, yayin da "Lama" kalmar Tibet ce da ke nufin "malami" ko "guru." Saboda haka, ana iya fassara kalmar "Dalai Lama" a matsayin "Malam Teku" ko "Babban Malami." Dalai Lama ana daukarsa a matsayin mafi girman iko na ruhaniya a addinin Buddah na Tibet kuma an gane shi a matsayin reincarnation na Dalai Lama na baya. Dalai Lama na yanzu, Tenzin Gyatso, shi ne Dalai Lama na 14 kuma yana gudun hijira daga mahaifarsa ta Tibet tun 1959.