The spiritual leader has rejected China’s role in choosing his successor
Ahead of his 90th birthday, the Dalai Lama said his reincarnation will follow traditional methods, rejecting China's claim to control the succession.
New Delhi: Putting to rest the uncertainty over his reincarnation and blocking China’s attempts to appoint his successor, exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has said that the 600-year-old institution of the Dalai Lama would continue after his death, and that the 15th Dalai Lama would be chosen solely by the Gaden Phodrang Trust set up in his office.
Without naming China, but clearly indicating that Beijing will have no role to play, Tenzin Gyatso also called Lhama Thondup who is the current 14th Dalai Lama, said the Gaden Phodrang Trust should consult the various heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the “reliable oath-bound dharma protectors” and should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition. He reiterated that no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.
Reacting to this the Chinese government said the issue of reincarnation of Buddhist figures must be settled though draw of lots of potential candidates from a Golden Urn, and approved by the central government.
The statement from the Dalai Lama came around his 90th birthday, a time which he chosen 14 years ago to re-evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not after him. The Dalai Lama turns 90 on July 6.
“When I am about 90 I will consult the high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public, and other concerned people who follow Tibetan Buddhism, and re-evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not… If it is decided that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should continue and there is a need for the 15th Dalai Lama to be recognized, responsibility for doing so will primarily rest on the concerned officers of the Dalai Lama’s Gaden Phodrang Trust…I shall leave clear written instructions about this. Bear in mind that, apart from the reincarnation recognized through such legitimate methods, no recognition or acceptance should be given to a candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, including those in the People’s Republic of China,” the Dalai Lama had said in a statement on September 24, 2011.
Later, the Dalai Lama also made statements indicating the Tibet's most sacred tradition of finding the next spiritual leader could be wound up, or his successor could be a woman or someone born outside China. But if at all there is his successor, it will not be born in China or Chinese controlled territories.
Coming back to July 2025, when he turns 90, the Dalai Lama while speaking at his birthday celebration prayers in Tsuglagkhang Temple at McLeodganj, said that although he has not had public discussions on this issue, over the last 14 years leaders of Tibet’s spiritual traditions, members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, members of the Central Tibetan Administration, NGOs, Buddhists from the Himalayan region, Mongolia, Russia and in Asia including mainland China, have written to him with reasons, requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama continue. He added that he has also received messages through various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal.
“In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue. The process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognized has been clearly established in the 24 September 2011 statement, which states that responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of the Dalai Lama. They should consult the various heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas. They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition. I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” the exiled spiritual leader of the Tibetans said.
The Gaden Phodrang Trust is headed by the Dalai Lama and has a Rinpoche, the senior most monk, among top persons.
Rejecting the statement, China said the established method set up by Qing dynasty of using the Golden Urn has to be used to decide on the next reincarnation and this has to be approved by the central government of China. “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… The Chinese government implements a policy of freedom of religious belief, but there are regulations on religious affairs and methods for managing the reincarnation of Tibetan living Buddhas," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday.
According to the spokesperson for the Tibetan Government in Exile the Dalai Lama picked by the Chinese will never be acceptable to Tibetans, and Buddhists around the world.
The Dalai Lama himself had explained that when he was recognized as the 14th incarnation in 1939, the `Priest-Patron’ relationship between Tibet and China had come to an end, therefore, there was no question of any need to confirm the reincarnation by employing the Golden Urn. He added that the Golden Urn system was actually used only in the cases of the 11th and 12th Dalai Lamas. However, the 12th Dalai Lama had already been recognized before the procedure was employed which means there has only been one occasion when a Dalai Lama was recognized by using Golden Urn method.
Similarly, among the reincarnations of the Panchen Lama, apart from the 8th and the 9th, there have been no instances of this method being employed, the Dalai Lama stressed. He added this system was imposed by the Manchus, but Tibetans had no faith in it because it lacked any spiritual quality.
Some of the ways to decide on reincarnation involve the predecessor’s predictive letter and other instructions and indications that might occur; the reincarnation’s reliably recounting his previous life and speaking about it; identifying possessions belonging to the predecessor and recognizing people who had been close to him. Apart from these, additional methods include asking reliable spiritual masters for their divination as well as seeking the predictions of mundane oracles, who appear through mediums in trance, and observing the visions that manifest in sacred lakes of protectors like Lhamoi Latso, a sacred lake south of Lhasa, says the website of Dalai Lama while talking about reincarnation.
The Indian government, which considers the Dalai Lama, a revered spiritual figure and a guest of India has so far not made any statement on this issue. However, India has all along maintained that these matters are internal to Tibetans and Buddhists.
However, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Mr Pema Khandu welcomed the statement by the Dalai Lama saying this decision brings immense joy and spiritual reassurance to millions across the Himalayan region and the world. Khandu said that the deep-rooted faith and reverence the people of the Himalayan region hold for the Dalai Lama institution remain unshakable, and this affirmation strengthens people's shared commitment to the values of compassion, wisdom, and peace.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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