Dorje’s path from a Minneapolis-area childhood to monastic life in the Himalayan foothills is being traced in an Associated Press report that portrays a long, cross-continental training journey shaped from early recognition in Tibetan Buddhism to later study in northern India. The profile follows Jalue Dorje as he moves between worlds—American youth culture as a boy and teenager, and the routine of prayers and study as a monk.
AP said the story centers on Dorje’s early identification as a reincarnated lama. The report said he was recognized at age 2 by Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche and later confirmed by several lamas as the eighth Terchen Taksham Rinpoche.
AP also reported on a key moment for Dorje’s family when the Dalai Lama visited Wisconsin in 2010. According to the report, the Dalai Lama cut a lock of Dorje’s hair in a ceremony and advised Dorje’s parents to let him remain in the U.S. to perfect his English before eventually sending him to a monastery.
The Associated Press profile described Dorje’s upbringing in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, as one marked by mainstream American interests alongside his training for monastic life. AP said he grew up listening to rap music and playing video games and football, and it described a home where he kept a photo of the Dalai Lama above collections that included “The Simpsons,” “South Park” and “Family Guy,” alongside a graphic novel series about Buddha.
As Dorje approached adulthood, AP reported that his education and training continued alongside the changes expected of his role. The report said he graduated from high school in 2025 and moved to join Mindrolling Monastery in northern India, about 7,200 miles from his home, and that he had been enthroned as a lama in a 2019 ceremony in India while his parents allowed him to stay in the U.S. until graduation.
AP said Dorje’s transition to life in the Himalayan foothills included daily habits structured around prayer and study. The report described him arriving with items such as headphones, a laptop, a Fantasy Football magazine and a book on an Indian Buddhist master who introduced Tantric Buddhism to Tibet, and it described his early time in India as a period of adjustment that included continuing contact with friends at home through texts and WhatsApp.
The Associated Press report also described Dorje’s time in Nepal. It said he came to meet his parents—who traveled from Minneapolis—and to attend sacred rituals and teachings led by the abbot of Shechen Monastery near the Boudhanath stupa, an area AP described as among Tibetan Buddhism’s most sacred sites.
AP’s account said Dorje, who now wears maroon and golden monastic robes, still carries visible touches of his earlier life when he is not in formal settings. It reported that even during early mornings in Kathmandu near Boudhanath—walking through streets with prayer flags and the painted eyes of the Buddha—he had a personal detail from his secular past, including Crocs decorated with “The Simpsons” charms.
In describing goals for what comes next, AP reported that Dorje hopes to return to America to teach in Minnesota’s Buddhist community. The report said he wants to become “a leader of peace,” and it tied that aspiration to the examples of Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, describing it as a long path that began after his identification as a child and continued through his move to monastic study.