Dalai Lama successor: Next pick may be born outside China – but can it be a woman? | India News

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Dalai Lama successor: Next pick may be born outside China – but can it be a woman? | India News


NEW DELHI: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that the centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist institution will survive beyond his death.The Nobel Peace Prize-winning spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who spoke at prayer celebrations on Sunday in advance of his 90th birthday, indicated that China should not become involved in the process of choosing his successor and stated that the next Dalai Lama should be found and acknowledged in accordance with historical Buddhist customs. For the majority of Tibetans who oppose China’s strict control over Tibet and have fought to preserve their identity, whether in exile or at home, the Dalai Lama’s succession plan has political ramifications. For Tibetan Buddhists, who revere him as a living embodiment of Chenrezig, the Buddhist deity of mercy, it is equally significant.He declared, “We will never tolerate the People’s Republic of China’s use of the reincarnation subject for their political advantage, and we strongly condemn it.”However, China, which has stated time and time again that it alone has the power to approve the next religious head, is likely to be offended by the choice. It gives Communist officials authority over the selection process and demands that the reborn figure be located in Tibetan regions of China.

Where do Dalai Lamas come from?

Tibetan Buddhists hold that, as has occurred 14 times since the institution’s founding in 1587, the Dalai Lama has the ability to select the body into which he is reborn. His successor would be born outside of China, as he has already stated.At a religious assembly of Buddhist monks in Dharamshala, Dalai Lama made a message that was broadcast on television, outlining his succession plan. He claimed that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust, a non-profit organization he established in 2015 to manage affairs pertaining to the spiritual leader and the Dalai Lama Institute, could identify and acknowledge his reincarnation.He stated that the search for a future Dalai Lama should be conducted “in accordance with past tradition” and that “no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”The Dalai Lama’s successor’s nationality need not be limited to Tibet, officials stated at a press conference earlier today.There are now 14 Dalai Lamas, most of whom are from Tibet, which has been ruled by China since 1950. Born in Taktser in northeastern Tibet, the present Dalai Lama was recognized as a reincarnation at the age of two. When the current Dalai Lama was discovered to be the reincarnation of his predecessor, he was just two years old. He was born in 1935 as Lhamo Dhondup into a farming family.

dalai lama tibet (1)

Although it is uncommon, Dalai Lamas are frequently selected from beyond the Tibetan homeland. The fourth and sixth Dalai Lamas have so far been selected from outside the area.Yonten Gyatso, the fourth Dalai Lama, was born in Mongolia in 1589, while Tsangyang Gyatso, the sixth, was born in the Mon Tawang area of modern-day Arunachal Pradesh, India, in 1682.In 1940, Tenzin Gyatso became the Dalai Lama’s fourteenth reincarnation. He left Tibet in 1959 after Chinese troops put down an uprising in the Tibetan capital Lhasa. Since then, he has been residing in the Indian town of Dharamshala, where he has been traversing the world to promote Tibetan autonomy and assisting in the establishment of a democratic government-in-exile.

Can a woman be Dalai Lama?

‘If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive.” These were the words of Dalai Lama when he was asked by a reporter in 2019 if a woman could be his successor. This was not the first time he made such a statement. “He reaffirmed his belief that beauty matters as much as brains. ‘If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive,’ he told me while laughing,” a BBC article in 2015 said.A statement was later released on Dalai Lama’s website saying he meant no offence and is ‘deeply sorry’ for hurting sentiments that ’caused disquiet.’In the Tibetan community, however, there is no intrinsic reason why a future Dalai Lama couldn’t be a woman. In response to a question on the possibility of a female Dalai Lama in the future, Dalai Lama told the audience at IIT-Bombay in 2018 that “Buddha has given equal rights to both genders and that both Tibetan and Indian masters of the highest ordination have been females as well.”





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