Editing Tibetan Buddhism (section)

===21st century===
[[File:President Barack Obama greets His Holiness the Dalai Lama (27591124962).jpg|thumb|The [[14th Dalai Lama]] meeting with U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] in 2016. Due to his widespread popularity, the Dalai Lama has become the modern international face of Tibetan Buddhism.{{sfnp|Kapstein|2014|p=109}}]]

Today, Tibetan Buddhism is adhered to widely in the [[Tibetan Plateau]], [[Mongolia]], northern [[Nepal]], [[Kalmykia]] (on the north-west shore of the Caspian), [[Siberia]] ([[Tuva]] and [[Republic of Buryatia|Buryatia]]), the [[Russian Far East]] and northeast China. It is the [[state religion]] of [[Buddhism in Bhutan|Bhutan]].<ref>The 2007 U.S. State Department report on religious freedom in Bhutan notes that "Mahayana Buddhism is the state religion..." and that the Bhutanese government supports both the Kagyu and Nyingma sects. [https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90227.htm State.gov]</ref> The Indian regions of [[Sikkim]] and [[Ladakh]], both formerly independent kingdoms, are also home to significant Tibetan Buddhist populations, as are the Indian states of [[Himachal Pradesh]] (which includes [[Dharamshala]] and the district of Lahaul-Spiti), [[West Bengal]] (the hill stations of [[Darjeeling]] and [[Kalimpong]]) and [[Arunachal Pradesh]]. Religious communities, refugee centers and monasteries have also been established in [[South India]].{{sfnp|Samuel|2012|p=240}}

The 14th Dalai Lama is the leader of the [[Tibetan government-in-exile|Tibetan government in exile]] which was initially dominated by the Gelug school, however, according to Geoffrey Samuel:<blockquote>The Dharamsala administration under the Dalai Lama has nevertheless managed, over time, to create a relatively inclusive and democratic structure that has received broad support across the Tibetan communities in exile. Senior figures from the three non-Gelukpa Buddhist schools and from the Bonpo have been included in the religious administration, and relations between the different lamas and schools are now on the whole very positive. This is a considerable achievement, since the relations between these groups were often competitive and conflict-ridden in Tibet before 1959, and mutual distrust was initially widespread. The Dalai Lama's government at Dharamsala has also continued under difficult circumstances to argue for a negotiated settlement rather than armed struggle with China.{{sfnp|Samuel|2012|p=240}}</blockquote>
[[File:Kagyu Dzong.jpg|thumb|[[Kagyu-Dzong]] Buddhist center in [[Paris]].]]
In the wake of the [[Tibetan diaspora]], Tibetan Buddhism has also gained adherents in [[Western world|the West]] and throughout the world. Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and centers were first established in [[Europe]] and [[North America]] in the 1960s, and most are now supported by non-Tibetan followers of Tibetan lamas. Some of these westerners went on to learn Tibetan, undertake extensive training in the traditional practices and have been recognized as lamas.{{sfnp|Samuel|2012|pp=242–243}} Fully ordained Tibetan Buddhist Monks have also entered Western societies in other ways, such as working academia.<ref>[http://eview.anu.edu.au/one_world/index.php Bruce A (ed). One World – Many Paths to Peace ANU E-Press 2009 (launched by the 14th Dalai Lama)] (accessed 11 May 2013)</ref>

Samuel sees the character of Tibetan Buddhism in the West as

{{blockquote|...that of a national or international network, generally centred around the teachings of a single individual lama. Among the larger ones are the FPMT, which I have already mentioned, now headed by [[Lama Zopa]]  and the child-reincarnation of [[Lama Yeshe]]; the New Kadampa, in origin a break-away from the [[FPMT]]; the [[Shambhala Training|Shambhala Buddhist network]], deriving from [[Chögyam Trungpa]]'s organization and now headed by his son; and the networks associated with [[Namkhai Norbu]]  Rinpoche (the Dzogchen Community) and [[Sogyal Rinpoche]] (Rigpa).<ref>{{cite book |last=Samuel |first=Geoffrey |title=Tantric Revisionings: New Understandings of Tibetan Buddhism and Indian Religion |pages=303–304}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2024}}</ref>}}