The Dalai Lama(s) are worshipped as reincarnations Avalokiteśvara, the Buddha of Compassion.
If “god” means “something you can pray to, to directly make changes to reality”, then they are definitely a god. The issue here is the conceptual trappings of Christianity’s deity as a creator and omnipotent being.
The section on Tibetan Buddhism in the Wikipedia Avalokiteśvara article leads quite happily with calling them a deity and follows by noting the link to the Dalai Lama(s)
Tibetan Buddhist beliefs
Avalokiteśvara is an important deity in Tibetan Buddhism. He is regarded in the Vajrayana teachings as a Buddha.[56]
…(Paragraph on Tara)…
Certain living tulku lineages, including the Dalai Lamas and the Karmapas, are considered by many Tibetan Buddhists to also be manifestations of Avalokiteśvara.[60][61][62]
Bodhisattva, not a Buddha. A Buddha has escaped samsara, a bodhisattva is usually holding off on finishing enlightenment in the hopes of helping others attain it, though others are just on the verge of it.
Siddhartha Gautama was born a bodhisattva, but became a Buddha when he achieved enlightenment, at which point he wasn’t reborn.
This means that what the Dalai Lama is saying is ultimately that he’s either continuing to forgo enlightenment or that he has accepted that it hasn’t come in this lifetime. If he had it would’ve been a big deal in his school of Buddhism and all that recognize him as the bodhisattva he claims to be. Like, an astronomically big deal.
Not a God-King.
The Dalai Lama(s) are worshipped as reincarnations Avalokiteśvara, the Buddha of Compassion.
If “god” means “something you can pray to, to directly make changes to reality”, then they are definitely a god. The issue here is the conceptual trappings of Christianity’s deity as a creator and omnipotent being.
The section on Tibetan Buddhism in the Wikipedia Avalokiteśvara article leads quite happily with calling them a deity and follows by noting the link to the Dalai Lama(s)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokiteśvara?wprov=sfla1
Bodhisattva, not a Buddha. A Buddha has escaped samsara, a bodhisattva is usually holding off on finishing enlightenment in the hopes of helping others attain it, though others are just on the verge of it.
Siddhartha Gautama was born a bodhisattva, but became a Buddha when he achieved enlightenment, at which point he wasn’t reborn.
This means that what the Dalai Lama is saying is ultimately that he’s either continuing to forgo enlightenment or that he has accepted that it hasn’t come in this lifetime. If he had it would’ve been a big deal in his school of Buddhism and all that recognize him as the bodhisattva he claims to be. Like, an astronomically big deal.
More of a state of being than God-King. I agree with the issue you stated. So in that spirit not a God-King.