The successor of the Dalai Lama could be from anywhere in the world. “He could even be from India, as this is where His Holiness has spent his entire life and he has a connection here,” Penpa Tshering (Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration) told Business India.
On 2 July, the 14th Dalai Lama, in a statement said that the tradition of having the institution of Dalai Lama would continue and also that the authority of identifying him lay with the Gaden Phodrang Trust. He made this statement a few days ahead of his 90th birthday, which falls on 6 July.
India’s minister of minority affairs Kiren Rijiju (who happens to be a Buddhist) contended that the Dalai Lama was the most important and defining institution for Buddhists. Rijiju will represent Indian government for the 90th birthday celebrations of Dalai Lama. “Only the Dalai Lama can determine who his reincarnation would be. No one else has the right to decide it,” added Rijiju.
Meanwhile, the government of India has announced that it would not take a position on His Holiness’ statement. “The government of India will not speak on matters concerning beliefs and practices of faith and religion,” affirmed Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the ministry for external affairs. “India has always upheld freedom of religion for all in India and will continue to do so”.
China has responded to Dalai Lama’s statement by saying that the process of appointment of his successor must go through a lottery procedure. “The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Erdeni and other grand living Buddhas must go through the Golden Urn lottery procedure, subject to the approval of the government of China,” declared Xu Feihong, China’s ambassador to India.
Earlier, Dalai Lama had stated that he had left the decision of the continuation of the tradition of the Dalai Lama to the Tibetans around the world. “Although I have had no public discussions on this issue for over the past 14 years, leaders of Tibet’s spiritual traditions, members of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, participants of a special general body meeting, members of the central Tibetan administration, NGOs, Buddhists from the Himalayan region, Mongolia, Buddhist republics from the Russian Federation and Buddhists in Asia including mainland China have written to me with reasons, earnestly requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama continue,” he informed. “So, I affirm that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue”. Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama, had fled Tibet in 1959, after China took control of the region. The Gaden Phodrang Trust is a non-profit body he established in 2015.
On 24 September 2011, at a meeting of the heads of Tibetan spiritual traditions, the Dalai Lama had made a statement, asking his followers whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not. “I had stated as far back as 1969 that concerned people should decide whether the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation should continue in the future,” he reiterated.
Rituals and conventions
Meanwhile, China has stated that the 14th Dalai Lama himself was searched for in accordance with religious rituals and historical conventions after the 13th Dalai Lama’s demise and was enthroned, but he was exempted from the lottery by the then Chinese government.
“The government of China implements a policy of religious freedom and protects the reincarnation of living Buddhas in accordance with law,” ambassador Xu Feihong emphasised. However, in 1995, years after the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, Beijing installed its own Panchen Lama, rejecting the Dalai Lama’s chosen candidate – a six-year-old boy, who has since vanished from public view. Traditionally, the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas have played crucial roles in recognising each other’s reincarnations.
It may be recalled that Beijing had annexed Tibet in 1951 and, after a failed revolt against Chinese rule in 1959, Dalai Lama fled to India and has lived in exile in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, since then.