“Lobsang and 66 fellow monks were imprisoned in 1959. When released 21 years later, he was one of only three survivors. While in prison his best friend, a rinpoche, died in his arms. Tensin was later discovered to be the reincarnation of that friend. Lobsang said there are so many characteristics of his old friend in the young boy”. (Photo and caption by Phil Borges)

A Thai devotee in a state of trance screams while holy water is sprayed as thousands race towards the edifice of the founder monk during the annual Tattoo fesitval at Wat Bang Phra on March 7, 2009 in Nakhom Pathom, Thailand. Some men take on the characteristics of sacred animals that have been carved onto their skin. Thousands of believers from all over Thailand come to take part in one of the country's most bizarre festivals about 50 miles outside Bangkok to pay respect to the temple's monks who are master tattooist. In Thai culture the tattoo or Thai word sak yant is worn as a symbol of spiritual and physical protection, many believe that the tattoo have mystical powers. Many tattoo fanatics choose to have monkeys and tigers as well as the Khmer/Cambodia ancient script on their bodies. (Photo Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Revellers chase a bull into the sea during the “Bous a la Mar” festival on July 14, 2011 in Denia, Spain. The Spanish “Bous a la Mar” or “Bulls to the Sea” festival is held in honour of the Santisima Sangre and commemorate a monk named Pedro Esteve, who, as the legend has it, saved the coastal town of Denia from a plague in 1633. The bulls chased into the sea are later brought back to land by small boats. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Key Gompa (also spelled Ki, Kye or Kee) is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on top of a hill at an altitude of 4,166 metres (13,668 ft) above sea level, close to the Spiti River, in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh, Lahaul and Spiti district, India. It is the biggest monastery of Spiti Valley and a religious training centre for Lamas. It reportedly had 100 monks in 1855.

Monastic dormitories stand on the hillside at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 4, 2006 in Serthar County of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. The Wuming Buddhist Study Institute is located in Larung Gar Monastery on an altitude of 3,700 meters (about 12,136 feet). The institute has the largest conglomeration of monks and nuns in Tibetan Areas, with over 40,000 monastics from the Tibet Buddhism Nyingma School, Gelug School, Sakya School and Kagyu School, including more than 10,000 nuns. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Nopparat (R), a 24-year-old transgender, and a Buddhist monk (L) wait to speak to officers during an army draft held at a school in Bang Na in Bangkok April 3, 2015. Thai men over 21 must serve in the army. Those who volunteer serve six months, but others choose the annual lottery, which goes on for 10 days in recruitment centres around Thailand. Only those not considered physically capable of service, the mentally ill and those who have significantly altered their physical appearance, such as transgenders, are exempt. Picture taken April 3, 2015. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Naga Sadhus or Hindu holy men, smeared with ash, drink tea inside their makeshift camps near the confluence of river Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, ahead of Makar Sankranti festival at Sagar Island, south of Kolkata January 13, 2015. Hindu monks and pilgrims are making their annual trip to Sagar Island for the one-day festival of “Makar Sankranti” on Wednesday. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)