For teen Buddhist lama, it's faith, school and football

Jalue Dorje, 14, was identified as the eighth reincarnation of the lama Terchen Taksham Rinpoche. Photos: AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski

In most ways, Jalue Dorje is a typical American teen – he grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis, loving football, Pokémon and rap music.

Yet a few years from now, he’s expecting to say goodbye to his family and homeland and join a monastery in the foothills of the Himalayas – from an early age, he was recognised by the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist leaders as a reincarnated lama.