The Dalai Lama yesterday assured his followers that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and spelled out a succession process that sets up a renewed clash with China.
The eagerly awaited statement, made days before the frail Nobel peace laureate turns 90, puts to rest speculation, started by the Dalai Lama himself, that he might be the last of Tibet’s spiritual leaders, ending a line that stretches back centuries.
Speaking during a week of celebrations in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala to mark his birthday, the Dalai Lama said a nonprofit institution he has set up would have the sole authority to identify his reincarnation, countering China’s insistence that it would choose his successor.
Photo: Reuters
Beijing yesterday reiterated that it had to approve the reincarnation and that it had to be done in China through a centuries-old ritual.
Beijing views the Dalai Lama, who fled to India from Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a separatist.
The Dalai Lama has said his successor would 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.
“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message, setting off cheers and applause from more than 100 monks in maroon robes who had gathered in a library in Dharamshala.
The event was also attended by journalists from around the world and long-time supporters including Hollywood star Richard Gere.
He added that the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the nonprofit organization that he set up to maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama, has the sole authority to recognize 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.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s administration has lifted aid cuts for Tibetans in exile and would provide US$7 million in financing for projects such as those supporting health and education, Central Tibetan Administration leader Penpa Tsering said.
The Trump administration started cutting foreign aid after taking office in January as part of its “America First” policy, which has had an impact on programs including those aimed at securing food supplies and preventing the spread of HIV in some of the poorest parts of the world.
Tsering said he believed Tibetans became “collateral damage” in foreign assistance cuts and that their leadership had worked hard to restore US funding.
“I’m happy to inform you that the US government has decided to lift the termination,” Tsering told reporters on the sidelines of the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday celebrations. “We received this communication just day before yesterday.”
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