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Kolkata: Ahead of his 90th birthday on July 6, Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism, is going to address a major three-day gathering of Buddhist religious figures this week. His followers are anticipating that the Dalai Lama will share details about his succession.
Dalai Lama's succession plans are interesting not only to his followers, but also to other interested parties like China, India, and the United States, for strategic reasons. The Nobel peace laureate is one of the most influential figures in the world with his fame and followers spread all over the globe.
To China, the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after an unsuccessful revolt against Chinese rule, is a separatist and the government has reportedly said that it will choose his successor. However, the Dalai Lama has said his successor will be born outside China and urged his followers to reject Beijing's choice.
As per Tibetan Buddhists, enlightened monks are reborn to carry forward their spiritual legacy. Their belief states that a senior Buddhist monk's soul is reincarnated after his death. The 14th Dalai Lama was born on July 6, 1935, in Tibet and he was identified as a reincarnation when his age was only two. The then Tibetan government's search party made the decision based on several signs like a vision revealed to a senior monk.
The 14th Dalai Lama has said he would consult senior monks and others to share possible clues on the location of his successor after his death. Earlier, he had said he could reincarnate in India, as he lives in exile in Dharamshala. He would release details about his succession around his 90th birthday. Notably, the exiled government has a system to continue its work while Gaden Phodrang Foundation's officers will be charged with finding and recognising his successor. In 2015, he established the foundation to "maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama".
However, China believes that it has the right to approve the successor of the Dalai Lama as per the norm since imperial times. As per Dolma Tsering Teykhang, the deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile in Dharamshala, "We want the incarnation of the Dalai Lama to be born not only for the survival of Tibet as a distinct culture, religion and nation but also for the well-being of the whole humanity."
Normally, discussions of succession take place after the death of the Dalai Lama. But with the threat of China looming large, that norm has changed. All eyes are now on the three-day gathering which will be addressed by the supreme spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
