![]() ![]() "One thing I want to make clear: As far as my own rebirth is concerned, the final authority is myself - no one else - and obviously, not Chinese communists!" the Dalai Lama told reporters in 2011. He has said his rebirth will occur in a "free country" - which could mean India - but also suggested that it may not happen at all. So far, the Dalai Lama has dropped contradictory hints: He says he might be reincarnated as a man or a woman, an adult or a child - or might emanate into the bodies of several people simultaneously. He has told advisers he plans to consult with them and others, including the Tibetan public, about his reincarnation plans when he turns "about 90."Īccording to Tibetan Buddhist belief, he has control over his reincarnation: "The person who reincarnates has sole legitimate authority over where and how he or she takes rebirth," according to the Dalai Lama's official website, "and how that reincarnation is to be recognized."īut he was hospitalized earlier this year with a chest infection and has scaled back public audiences. The Dalai Lama says he has plenty of time: He has had dreams, he says, that he will live to 113. The discrepancy threatens to divide the Tibetan Buddhist community and imperil relations between the world's two most populous countries, India and China. ![]() So once he dies, the world could end up with two Dalai Lamas - one identified by the Chinese government and another by Tibetans in exile. The Chinese government claims the right to name his successor. Beijing, which has controlled Tibet since, says the Dalai Lama lost his legitimacy when he and his followers fled. ![]() It's about who truly heads the Tibetans."įor the past 60 years, the Dalai Lama has sought to do so from exile in northern India, ever since fleeing a Chinese crackdown in his native Tibet. "The Dalai Lama's reincarnation is a civilizational struggle between China and Tibetans over who controls Tibetan Buddhism," says Amitabh Mathur, a retired adviser to the Indian government on Tibetan affairs. ![]()
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