Seeking the Dalai Lama’s Blessing, a Tibetan Monk Sets Out to Flee China

DHARAMSHALA, India—For Jamyang Monlam , a 24-year-old Buddhist monk in Tibet, time was running out.

He longed to meet the Dalai Lama , the 89-year-old religious leader revered by Tibetans but viewed by China’s Communist leaders as a dangerous separatist. Now, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since China seized control of Tibet in the 1950s, was growing frailer.

Monlam’s yearning to see the Buddhist leader grew as he chafed at Chinese oppression of monks in Tibet—it was an offense to even possess the Dalai Lama’s photo. Monlam hid his photo between the pages of a book.

Some of Monlam’s fellow monks had been caught when authorities raided monasteries looking for hidden photos. Offenders could be expelled from the monastery or detained.

“Once they left the monastery, we would take the photos out again to pray,” said the monk.

Last year, Monlam decided to make a journey that was as likely to end in capture as in freedom.

“I felt there was no hope in remaining in Tibet and fulfilling the requirements of being a good Buddhist monk,” said Monlam. “The Tibetans in exile in India, they are free to sing and dance and sing an ode to His Holiness.”

Tibet’s underground railroad

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was 15 when Chinese soldiers arrived in 1950 to assert Communist Party control over the Himalayan plateau, a move most Tibetans saw as an occupation by a foreign power. China’s Communist rulers say Tibet was part of China for centuries.

In 1959, after shedding his glasses and monk’s robes, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet as Chinese troops were poised to attack his residence in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

In the decades that followed, China sought to bring the region, with its distinct religion, culture and languages, to heel. Thousands of monasteries were destroyed and one million Tibetans are estimated to have perished in famines, fighting with Chinese forces and starvation in mass detention.

Many Tibetan monks are living in exile in India. Photographs by Sumit Dayal for WSJ

Tens of thousands of Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama, crossing the Himalayas to reach the Indian town of Dharamshala, where Tibetans established a government-in-exile.

Following 2008 protests and self-immolations in Tibet, Beijing blanketed the region with security cameras and police checkpoints. In 2012, China tightened restrictions on Tibetans traveling to India. Those caught returning underwent re-education aimed at stamping out reverence for the Dalai Lama, rights groups said.

In 2020, four Tibetan monks received sentences of up to 20 years on undisclosed charges after authorities found their phone messages to Tibetans in Nepal, according to Human Rights Watch. The Tibet-Nepal border is heavily policed, according to papers published by Chinese border-security officials.

This has reduced to a trickle the flow of Tibetans fleeing to India, closing a window into the lives of Tibetans living under Chinese rule and diminishing the ranks of Tibetan monks in India.

The change “is concerning because this affects the continuity of authentic Tibetan Buddhism,” said Norzin Dolma , the information minister of the Tibet exile administration.

Tibetans are anxious over what will happen after the Dalai Lama’s death. Beijing has said that it must approve the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Monks in Tibet will be required, at least publicly, to accept the new leader. The current Dalai Lama has called on Tibetans to reject any successor promoted by China.

Leaving forever

Monlam was about 11 when he became a monk. It was common for young boys to enter monasteries to receive a Tibetan-language education.

But several years ago, China barred boys under 18 from joining monasteries, with many sent to Chinese-language boarding schools in what observers say is the latest effort to assimilate Tibetans. During a 2024 visit to a Tibetan area, a top deputy of Chinese leader Xi Jinping said China should “actively guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society.”

The change upset Monlam. Children at the boarding schools “started drinking alcohol and smoking,” he said. “That’s how the policy is intended to spoil the child, and after 18, it’s really difficult for a child to be a monk.”

Buddhist monks gather to eat in Karnataka, India.
Photographs by Sumit Dayal for WSJ

Monlam followed an online group with the Dalai Lama’s teachings—until authorities arrested the group’s founder. Monlam used VPN technology to find the Dalai Lama’s lectures on YouTube. But he dared not do it too often.

He began forming a plan to leave with Lobsang, a tall, gangly fellow monk. Saying they were going on a pilgrimage, they secured permission to travel to Lhasa in February 2024. A third monk, Gyatso, a bespectacled youth, joined them.

The day he left, Monlam’s mother awoke early to cook him a warm meal. She fussed over him, asking if he had enough warm clothes for the cold journey.

He couldn’t look at her, knowing he would see tears in her eyes. Those who flee Tibet often hide their intentions to protect loved ones. But Monlam had been unable to conceal his plans from his mother. When she asked when she would see him again, he said they would meet in a year or two.

“In my heart, I knew that if we escaped successfully, we wouldn’t be able to return unless Tibet gained independence,” he said.

From Lhasa to Nepal

In Lhasa, the monks had to check in with authorities daily. They applied to travel to pilgrimage sites near the border with Nepal.

They visited the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Shigatse, seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. After the previous Panchen Lama died, the monastery chose a successor the Dalai Lama recognized. But he disappeared in mysterious circumstances and Beijing chose its own, setting a template for what could follow when the Dalai Lama dies.

Near the border, the monks abandoned their vehicles and crossed into Nepal on foot, leaving their phones behind. It was the moment of no return: They couldn’t answer the authorities’ calls—or be tracked.

“When contact is lost, they know we have fled into hiding,” Monlam said.

They met a Nepali guide who heard Chinese security personnel were looking for Tibetans in the border areas. China has considerable political heft with its tiny neighbor: Nepal recognizes Tibet as a part of China and pledges not to allow its territory to be used for anti-China activities.

Their guide hid the men in a Nepali village, changing houses frequently. Most people in Nepali villages bordering Tibet are Buddhist, with homes sometimes displaying a picture of the Dalai Lama’s winter home, the Potala Palace.

Fearful of letting anyone know about their secret houseguests, a family member stepped out to make sure no one was passing whenever the men visited the outdoor bathroom. Nepali police often returned Tibetans intercepted in border villages to China.

After several days, the trio traveled to Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, arriving at a United Nations center for Tibetans waiting for documentation to enter India. They felt safe.

But a week later, Nepali police entered the center carrying photographs. A Nepali newspaper later reported that a minister had sent the police at the request of a Chinese diplomat. The Chinese Embassy in Nepal didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Monlam recognized the photo: It was from his Chinese national ID, likely provided by Chinese authorities, according to a Tibetan exile official familiar with the incident.

“Is this you?” asked a police officer.

“Yes,” answered Monlam. Then he realized the officer couldn’t identify him because the photo was from when he was much younger. He quickly backtracked. “No, that is not me,” he said.

The police took the trio to Nepal’s immigration department. People associated with the reception center alerted the U.S. Embassy and other diplomats, according to people familiar with the incident. Nepal allows safe passage of Tibetans to India but doesn’t recognize them as refugees.

Monlam and his friends waited on a bench as the police spoke by phone in rapid-fire Nepali. Hours passed.

If he were returned to China, “I would end my life,” he said he thought.

Hours later, without explanation, the monks were turned over to the U.N. refugee agency.

A spokesman for the Nepal police said the monks were held briefly over an unspecified security concern.

A former U.S. official said the Biden administration had urged the Nepalese to uphold the principle of not returning migrants to places where their freedom or safety is at risk.

A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. recognizes Nepal’s sovereignty to make determinations regarding refugees within its borders.

Ordained by the Dalai Lama

That evening, the trio left for India, arriving at dawn at the border, where they were processed. “We were in constant fear that we would encounter someone who is chasing us, who is here to arrest us,” said Monlam.

After an overnight train journey to New Delhi, they took a bus that climbed the Himalayan foothills, finally arriving in Dharamshala.

Monlam heard Chinese authorities told locals from their home villages the monks had been arrested in Nepal and hadn’t made it to India.

“It serves as a warning—‘You won’t make it out,’ ” said Monlam. Many in the village would have no way of knowing the truth.

In April 2024, the three monks received blessings from the Dalai Lama. It was a happy moment, though the Buddhist leader was frailer than the man in the hidden photographs.

“I tried very hard to hold back tears of joy, but I noticed many monks around me were crying,” said Lobsang.

In March, the three men, who now study at a Tibetan monastery in southern India, were ordained as full-fledged monks by the Dalai Lama.

Monlam’s thoughts turned to the people in Tibet. He dared not contact his family for their own safety. The monks’ monastery was the subject of investigation for months after their escape, according to a Tibet exile official. He wished he could share his happiness with the people he left behind.

“This is the result of my hard journey to India,” said Monlam. “I hoped and prayed His Holiness could return to Tibet and reunite with his people.”

Write to Tripti Lahiri at [email protected] , Krishna Pokharel at [email protected] and Austin Ramzy at [email protected]