A Teacher Defined by Transmission, Not by Rebirth

The most common Western error about the lama is to equate the title with recognised reincarnation; the office is defined by something else, the authority to transmit teaching.

Empowerment

A lama is a teacher qualified to give instruction and, crucially, to confer tantric empowerment. The Tibetan word translates the Sanskrit guru, and the office is defined by transmission: a lama holds a lineage of teachings received from his own teachers and is authorised to pass them on. The empowerment function is what separates a lama from a monk who is merely learned, and it is why the relationship with a lama in Vajrayana practice is treated as more binding than an ordinary teacher-student one.

Lama is not tulku

A lama need not be a monk; married lay lamas with full teaching authority are ordinary in the Nyingma and Sakya traditions, where certain lineages descend within families. Not every lama is a recognised reincarnation, and not every recognised reincarnation, or tulku, is a competent lama; conflating the two is the standard error. Women hold the title, with the honorific Jetsunma, though the number of women in senior teaching positions is small, for reasons that connect directly to the restricted state of full ordination for women in the tradition.