Is the Dalai Lama "a buddha"?

Nope not a Buddha but he is believed to be an emanation of te Boddhisattva of compion Chenrezig or Avalokishvara. A Boddhisattva is a being who has achieved a high level of realization and could go on to becoming a fully enlightened Buddha but chooses not too in order to help the rest of us shmucks down here in samsara. :o)