RLST311: Lama vs. China

According to Buddhist belief, when the Dalai Lama dies, he is reincarnated as a different form. There then is a process in which the ‘incarnate’ Lama is found and is then brought up in Buddhist teaching. As the current Dalai Lama turns seventy-six, people have been wondering where the next Dalai Lama will be born. Since the Dalai Lama is the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the reincarnate is usually found there as well (although current-day Tibet is mostly controlled by China). The Communist leadership in China claims that the next leader will come from the part of Tibet that is controlled by the Chinese. This has outraged the Lama, and he has called their intentions “a disgrace”.

In another article, from the perspective of the Chinese, it says that since 1653, all the past Dalai Lamas were approved by China’s government. The foreign ministry spokesman of China stated that the Dalai Lama broke from tradition by trying to choose a successor while he still is alive. Not only that, but the Dalai Lama implied that his next reincarnation could be a female. This has created a tension not only between the leaders, but within Buddhism itself. If both sides choose a successor, then there could possibly be two Dalai Lamas. Buddhists would then have to make the choice of which one to follow (or possibly both). If this happened, it could cause a split within Buddhism. Although there are many religious followings in China, the country is self-proclaimed ‘Atheist’. It seems that either pursuit of choosing the next Dalai Lama is one of power.

Read about it here: http://www.globalnews.ca/dalai+lama+calls+chinese+insistence+on+picking+his+religious+successor+a+disgrace/301238/story.html

And here: http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/677293/China-dismisses-Dalai-Lamas-reincarnation-scheme.aspx

Or about the process of how the Dalai Lama is chosen here:

http://www.tibettravel.info/tibetan-buddhism/confirmation-of-reincarnation.html