Buddhist rebirth v Chinese language management: the battle to decide on the Dalai Lama’s successor | Dalai Lama

Few celebrations have the hills of Dharamshala abuzz just like the birthday of the Dalai Lama. However this yr, as monks and devotees flooded into the mountainous Indian metropolis earlier than the Tibetan non secular chief turns 90 on Sunday, the temper of anticipation has been palpable.

For years, the Dalai Lama had promised that round his ninetieth birthday he would make a long-awaited announcement about his reincarnation. Lastly, in a video broadcast to Tibetan monks and leaders on Wednesday, he laid out what the future would maintain. It got here amid fears of a ruthless succession battle between the Tibetan group and the Chinese language authorities, which for many years has sought to regulate the establishment of the Dalai Lama, revered as the best trainer in Tibetan Buddhism.

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, confirmed he would stay within the position till he died. Then, as per centuries of custom, he can be reincarnated, and solely his inside circle – a belief of intently allied monks – would have the “sole authority” to find his successor; an usually prolonged course of to trace down a toddler during which his spirit has been reborn.

“Nobody else has any such authority to intervene on this matter,” the Dalai Lama advised his monks.

The announcement ended years of hypothesis that, in an try to stop Chinese language interference, the Dalai Lama would possibly put ahead another mode of reincarnation, resembling transferring his non secular essence to a successor who could possibly be discovered whereas he was nonetheless alive. To the nice fear of many within the Tibetan diaspora, he had even hinted that he might not reincarnate in any respect.

The Dalai Lama’s newest assertion was a transparent defiance of the Communist social gathering in China, which has lengthy held the view that solely it has the authority to resolve the following Dalai Lama and has even enshrined the fitting into Chinese language legislation.

Nonetheless, Tansen Sen, a scholar of Indo-Chinese language relations and Buddhism, famous that the Dalai Lama’s message struck a extra diplomatic tone than a few of his earlier statements. In earlier writings, he had stated the fifteenth Dalai Lama can be born within the “free world” – taken to imply exterior China – however this time he didn’t repeat that.

“I see this as a really strategically dealt with announcement which prevented ruffling China’s feathers an excessive amount of,” stated Sen. “The Dalai Lama shouldn’t be solely a spiritual chief, he’s additionally a shrewd thinker and I believe he realises that there are bigger points at play, significantly that he’s caught geopolitically between India and China.”

Nonetheless, China’s sensitivity over the problem was evident within the absence of the Dalai Lama’s assertion from all Chinese language or Tibetan media. “China’s propaganda managers appear very reticent for this information to succeed in Tibetans and even Chinese language,” stated Robert Barnett, a scholar of Tibetan historical past at Soas College of London. “Presumably that’s as a result of Chinese language leaders concern a preferred outpouring of help for the Dalai Lama, or they’re struggling to agree on the right way to reply.”