Dalai Lama is an honorific title bestowed on members of a prominent reincarnate lineage within the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Dalai Lamas are traditionally regarded as a manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (b. 1935), is the fourteenth holder of this title and has played a major role in shaping global understandings of Tibetan Buddhism and Buddhist ethics.