Dharamshala: The Gaden Phodrang Trust, and not China, will decide his successor, the Dalai Lama said on Wednesday. He made this announcement at the 15th Tibetan Religious Conference that began at McLeodganj near Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh ahead of his 90th birthday that falls on July 6.
Reaffirming that the 600-year-old institution of the Dalai Lama will continue, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader – the 14th Dalai Lama – said that he has been receiving appeals from Tibetans across the world.
“Though I have had no public discussions on this issue, over the last 14 years, leaders of Tibet’s spiritual traditions, members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, participants in a special general body meeting, members of the Central Tibetan Administration, NGOs, Buddhists from the Himalayan region, Mongolia, Buddhist republics of 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. In particular, I have received messages through various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal. In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the Dalai Lama said in his statement.
The spiritual leader, who was recognised as the reincarnation of his predecessor at the age of two and has been living in exile in Dharamshala for 66 years, had in 2011 said that he would speak on the matter (reincarnation) when he reached the age of 90.
“The process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognised has been clearly established in the September 24, 2011 statement which states that responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They should consult the various heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas. They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition,” he further said.
Rejecting any interference by China in naming the 15th Dalai Lama, he said: “I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”
The process of recognising the reincarnations of Lamas in Tibetan Buddhism is solely and uniquely a Tibetan religious tradition. In contrast, China maintains that the process of selecting his successor must adhere to Chinese law, asserting its control over Tibetan Buddhism and rejecting any succession beyond its authority.
In 1959, the Dalai Lama, then 23-year-old Tenzin Gyatso, fled to Dharamshala with thousands of Tibetans, following a failed uprising against Mao Zedong’s Communist rule, which gained control of Tibet in 1950.
