Credit...Atul Loke for The New York Times
Dalai Lama Succession: How the Next Tibetan Spiritual Leader Will Be Chosen
The Tibetan spiritual leader said that his lineage would continue, and that China would have no say about his successor.
by https://www.nytimes.com/by/mujib-mashal, https://www.nytimes.com/by/hari-kumar · NY TimesAs the Dalai Lama turns 90 this month, he is focusing attention on the future of Tibetan Buddhism and the exiled Tibetan nation.
The spiritual leader, who led a flock of tens of thousands out of Tibet and into exile to escape Chinese persecution nearly seven decades ago, has long raised questions about the future of Tibetan Buddhism’s highest office, in the face of Chinese interference.
The Dalai Lama has hinted that he might upend established practices for his succession, as part of an apparent strategy to throw off the Chinese government and avoid a leadership vacuum that Beijing can exploit as it seeks to control Tibetan Buddhism.
On Wednesday, he said the institution of the Dalai Lama would continue, without offering many specifics. But he said the Gaden Phodrang Trust, an organization run by the Dalai Lama’s office, had “sole authority” to recognize a future reincarnation.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Who is the Dalai Lama?
- How will his successor be chosen?
- How might China try to control the succession?
Who is the Dalai Lama?
Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama.
He was born into a farming family in 1935 in what was then northeastern Tibet and is now Qinghai Province in China. He was recognized at age 2 as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama and afterward began monastic training and Buddhist philosophical studies.
Chinese troops entered Tibet in 1950. At age 15, the Dalai Lama became Tibet’s political leader, guiding the Tibetan people through the crisis. In 1959, during the Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama left the country for India with many of his followers, and he has never returned.
He settled in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala and formed a government in exile. In 1989, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2011, he relinquished his political leadership role in the Tibetan government in exile but kept his position as spiritual leader.
In a book he published this year, the Dalai Lama describes how, after years of fruitless negotiations with Chinese leaders, he came to the decision that fighting for Tibetan independence was a lost cause. Instead, he began advocating that Tibetans be given cultural autonomy within China.
How will his successor be chosen?
Traditionally, the search for a Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, who becomes his successor, begins only upon the incumbent’s death and could take several years.
Tibetan Buddhist leaders say they follow ancient customs of parsing mystical visions, clues left by the previous Dalai Lama and astrology to help narrow their search. Candidates are then tested to see if they show any traits that could be deemed especially holy.
The Dalai Lama has offered hints that he might diverge from the customs. He has said that his successor will be born in a free country, indicating that the next Dalai Lama could come from among Tibetan exiles, who number about 140,000, half of them in India. He has also said that his successor could be an adult, and not necessarily a man.
At times, he has even suggested that the institution of the Dalai Lama had served its purpose and did not necessarily need to be continued.
On Wednesday, in a video statement to a meeting of religious leaders, he said that the Tibetan people wanted the institution to continue, and that the next Dalai Lama’s search and recognition should happen “in accordance with past tradition.”
Officials would not clarify whether the leader was ruling out his earlier proposals, saying that the Dalai Lama remained in good health, and that he would give clearer instructions on reincarnation when the time was right.
Lobsang Tenzin, the Tibetan trust’s second-most-senior leader, who is known by his religious title of Samdhong Rinpoche, said the Dalai Lama had weighed the future of the institution for decades, but over time he found that Tibetan people favored preserving it.
But he did not say how the Dalai Lama planned to shield the reincarnation process from Chinese interference. “When the time comes, he will give instructions,” Samdhong Rinpoche said.
How might China try to control the succession?
China’s leaders claim that only the ruling Communist Party — an avowed atheist organization — can name the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama.
By seeking to control Tibetan Buddhism’s leadership, China hopes it can all but erase the Dalai Lama’s influence in Tibet and any challenges to the party’s rule.
The Chinese government has tried to resurrect a “golden urn” system — using a relic once employed by the Manchu emperors of the Qing dynasty to anoint Tibetan lamas — to further control successions. Beijing has said that after a reincarnated lama is selected using the urn, the choice must be approved by the Chinese government.
China already has a blueprint for inserting itself into Tibetan Buddhist successions. When the 10th Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second-highest spiritual figure, died in 1989, the Dalai Lama named the 5-year-old son of a herder as the successor. The boy and his family were kidnapped by China, and the boy — who has not been seen since — was replaced with a monk chosen by Beijing.
Last month, that monk met with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, and pledged his allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party, state media reported.
In his statement to the conference of monks on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama said a trust under his office has “sole authority” for the search and recognition of the next Dalai Lama. Without naming Beijing, he said “no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”
The monks were more blunt. In a statement, they condemned “the People’s Republic of China’s usage of reincarnation for their political gain.”
David Pierson, Alexandra Alter and Amy Chang Chien contributed reporting.
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