“The 14th Dalai Lama . . . was born Lhamo Thondup on July 6, 1935, in Taktser, a small village in far northeastern Tibet,” (“Dalai Lama” Encyclopedia of World Biography).
The Dalai Lama’s, “parents were small farmers who mostly grew barley, buckwheat and potatoes. his mother. . . had a total of sixteen children, of whom seven lived” (“Birth to Exile”).
“His Holiness . . . had three elder brothers: Thubten Jigme Norbu - the eldest, who was recognized as the reincarnation of a high lama, Taktser Rinpoche - Gyalo Thondup and Lobsang Samden. The youngest brother, Tenzin Choegyal was also recognized as the reincarnation of another high lama, Ngari Rinpoche,”(“Birth to Exile”).
His Holiness once wrote, “Of course, no one had any idea that I might be anything other than an ordinary baby. It was almost unthinkable that more than one tulku (reincarnation) could be born into the same family and certainly my parents had no idea that I would be proclaimed Dalai Lama”(“Freedom in Exile”).
Lhamo Thondup’s early life was very ordinary. He recounts: “One thing that I remember enjoying particularly as a very young boy was going into the chicken coop to collect the eggs with my mother and . . . to pack things in a bag as if I was about to go on a long journey. I'm going to Lhasa, I'm going to Lhasa, I would say"(“Freedom in Exile”).