“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue.”
With that Tibet’s highest spiritual authority put at rest any speculation regarding his succession. He also made clear that the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, holds the sole authority to recognize his reincarnation. “ No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”
“They should consult the heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lama. They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past traditions.”
The statement comes ahead of celebrations in Dharmshala to mark the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday. Read along with an earlier statement that his successor would be born “in the free world”, it clearly shows that the Dalai Lama has no intention of allowing the Chinese to influence the selection of his successor.
Rather the battle lines have been drawn. It is not in the Dalai Lama’s power to stop the Chinese from picking their own choice for the 15th Dalai Lama, but this statement from Dharmshala makes it clear Beijing’s choice will have no legitimacy anywhere in the world much less Tibet.
But China appears to be determined to push a parallel narrative. Recently the Global Times published a few articles asserting that the reincarnation process must involve traditional rituals like “golden urn’ method and securing due approval from the Chinese central government.
One article claimed that the reincarnation “strictly adheres to a system of traditional religious rituals” that must take place “within Chinese territory,” while referring to Tibet not by its globally recognized name but as “Xizang Autonomous Region.”
Ironically, the government which once declared ‘religion as poison’, is now trying to claim legitimacy in Tibetan Buddhism by promoting its efforts to preserve monasteries. To the world, the irony of an officially atheist state meddling in what is a purely religious matter, underscores the lengths to which the Chinese Communist Party will go to ensure no challenge to its rule in Tibet.
