Dharamshala, India, July 2 (Reuters) – The elderly Dalai Lama assured his followers on Wednesday that after his death he will be reborn as the next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and spell out the succession process that will set up a new conflict with China. Rama herself is that he is the last of Tibetan spiritual leadership and may end the line that goes back centuries.
Speaking during the week’s celebration in the hill town of Dalamshala, the northern Indian hill town of Indian hills, for his birthday, the Dalai Lama said the nonprofit he set had the sole authority to counter China’s claims to choose his successor.
Beijing reiterated Wednesday that it had to approve the reincarnation and that it had to be held in China through ceremonies that were centuries ago.
Beijing sees the Dalai Lama as a separatist, fled from Tibet to India in 1959 after the failed uprising against Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama said his successor was born outside of China and urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing. For the past few years, he also said there may be no successors at all.
“We are asserting that the Dalai Lama facilities will continue,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message.
The event was attended by journalists from around the world and longtime supporters such as Hollywood star Richard Guerre. Richard Guerre sat in the hall’s audience, holding gorgeous paintings of Buddha and photographs of the Dalai Lama on the walls.
He added that the Gaden Fodran Trust, a nonprofit organization founded to maintain and support the traditions and institutions of the Dalai Lama, has the sole authority to consult with the head of Tibetan Buddhist traditions and recognition of his reincarnation.
“They must respond accordingly carry out search and recognition procedures according to past traditions. There is no other such authority to interfere with this issue,” the Dalai Lama said.
Tibetan tradition believes that the soul of the advanced Buddhist monk K was reborn in the body of a child after his death.
Born as Ramodon Dup on July 6, 1935 and a farmer in what is now Qingdao Province, the 14th Dalai Lama was identified as such a reincarnation at the age of two, based on several indications, including the vision revealed to senior monks.
He is now considered one of the most influential religious figures in the world, and continues far beyond Buddhism. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
“You can visit Tibet”
Dalai Lama is healthy and has not yet given written instructions, said Samdhong Rinpoche, a senior official at Gaden Phodrang Trust.
He told reporters in Dharamshala that successors are of all genders and their nationality is not limited to Tibet.
Penpa, the leader of the Central Tibetan government, is India’s Tibetan government government, and the Dalai Lama is open to visiting Tibet if his health is permitted, and there are no restrictions from China to mark his first visit since 1959.
“It’s entirely dependent on China and the Chinese government,” he said.
The response of “his holiness” was, “If I go to Tibet and China, I will go, but I don’t live there because there is no freedom there.”
Mao Zedong, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said the country’s leaders are entitled to recognize the successor of the Dalai Lama as a legacy from the imperial era, and that China is implementing a policy of freedom of religious belief.
The ritual of choice that the possible reincarnation names date back to 1793 during the Qing Dynasty.
“The reincarnation of major living Buddha children, such as the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, must be identified through lots from the Golden Bone n and approval by the central government,” Mao said at a regular press conference.
Touring, the leader of the government in exile, said the US has lifted several restrictions on funding for Tibetans in exile, and the Tibetan government is also looking for alternative sources of funding.
The United States, facing increasing competition from China due to its global domination, has repeatedly said it is committed to advancing Tibetan human rights. US lawmakers have previously said they will not allow China to influence the choice of successor to the Dalai Lama.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Shivam Patel; Additional reports by Tanvi Meta and Ryan Wu of New Delhi and Ethan Wang of Beijing; Editing by Tom Hoag and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
