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Dalai Lama says he will have successor after his death
It is a landmark decision not only for Tibetans, but also for global supporters who see the Dalai Lama as a symbol of non-violence, compassion and the enduring struggle for Tibetan identity
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday said that the institution will continue after his death, citing multiple appeals over the past 14 years from Tibetan diaspora in exile, Buddhists from across the Himalayan region, Mongolia, and parts of Russia and China for it.
The Dalai Lama said the responsibility for identifying the 15th Dalai Lama will rest exclusively with the India-based Gaden Phodrang Trust, his office. “I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” said the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama ahead of his 90th birthday on July 6
The announcement of the continuation of the 600-year-old institution comes amid fear that China will name a successor to strengthen its control over Tibet. “In particular, I have received messages through various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message ahead of the 15th Tibetan religious conference.
Representatives of all major Tibetan Buddhist traditions are attending the conference in McLeod Ganj, where the Dalai Lama has lived since an uprising in Tibet in 1959.
“In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” said the Dalai Lama, who describes himself as a “simple Buddhist monk” even as China condemns him as a rebel and separatist.
He noted he has had no public discussions on the issue over the last 14 years. “...members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, participants in a Special General Body Meeting, members of the Central Tibetan Administration, NGOs, Buddhists from the Himalayan region, Mongolia, Buddhist republics of the Russian Federation and Buddhists in Asia including mainland China, have written to me with reasons, earnestly requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama continue.”
The spiritual leader, who was recognised as the reincarnation of his predecessor at the age of two, in 2011, said that he would speak on the reincarnation when he reached the age of 90.
“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 His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
He said 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.”
Tibetans say that the process of recognising the reincarnations of lamas in Tibetan Buddhism is solely and uniquely a Tibetan religious tradition. Beijing maintains that the process of selecting its successor must adhere to Chinese law, asserting its control over Tibetan Buddhism and rejecting any succession beyond its authority.
