China said on Wednesday that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama “must be approved by the central government”. The statement came after Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader said he would have a successor after his death.
“The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and other great Buddhist figures must be chosen by drawing lots from a golden urn, and approved by the central government,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning was quoted by news agency AFP as saying.
Dalai Lama says his successor will be chosen by…
The Dalai Lama, who turns 90 on Sunday, end speculation among millions of followers about whether there would be another Dalai Lama after his death.
He said on Wednesday that he will be reincarnated and that his non-profit institution will have the sole authority to identify his reincarnation, countering China’s insistence that it will choose the successor of the Tibetan Buddhist leader.
“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message on Wednesday.
He added that the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the non-profit organisation that he set up to maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama, has the sole authority to recognise his reincarnation in consultation with the heads of Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
“They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition … no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” the Dalai Lama said.
About the Dalai Lama
China views the Dalai Lama as a separatist. The Dalai Lama had fled to India from Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule.
The Dalai Lama has previously said his successor will be born outside China and urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing. In previous years, he had also said it was possible that there might be no successor at all.
Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child upon his death.
Born as Lhamo Dhondup on July 6, 1935, to a farming family in what is now Qinghai province, the 14th Dalai Lama was identified as such a reincarnation when he was just two years old by a search party on the basis of several signs, such as a vision revealed to a senior monk, the Dalai Lama’s website says.
He is now regarded as one of the world’s most influential religious figures, with a following extending well beyond Buddhism, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
(With inputs from agencies)