Even if you know little else about Buddhism, you've heard of the Dalai Lama. The current Dalai Lama is His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. Even if you know little else about Buddhism, you've heard of the Dalai Lama. The current Dalai Lama is His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. But who was first Dalai Lama? How did the line of Dalai Lamas get started?