Dalai Lama's reincarnation and China’s interference

IN the Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama is the most famous of tulkus (beings emanated from the Buddha), who take the human form to preserve and continue their line of spiritual teachings. Out of compassion for humankind, they reincarnate again and again and leave behind indicators which help people who have been specially designated to search for them.The current Dalai Lama was identified as a reincarnation of his predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama, when he was two years old. But given the occupation of Tibet by China and the fact that he has been forced to live in exile, the current (14th) Dalai Lama has been worried that the process now could be hijacked by politics.In 2011, he handed over his political powers to the Central Tibetan Authority, headquartered in Dharamshala. He also wrote an essay published on September 24, 2011 to clarify issues relating to incarnation. He wondered aloud whether he should reincarnate at all, or even do so as a woman. But he did clearly say that when he was around 90, he would provide clear-cut guidelines to ensure that there is "no room for doubt or deception" in the process.His views, he said, were based on the obvious fact that "the person who reincarnates has sole legitimate authority over where and how he or she takes birth and how that reincarnation is to be recognised."This year, on May 25, just before his birthday which falls on July 5 , at a major meeting of Tibetan religious leaders, he declared that he would indeed reincarnate and, as per tradition, this reincarnation would be exclusively certified by the Gaden Phodrang Trust, which is an institution attached to the office of the Dalai Lama and which has had the duty to search for and certify previous Dalai Lamas.Their search is based on a letter and other instructions as to where and how the Dalai Lama will reincarnate. In addition, other tulkus and heads of other Tibetan traditions will be consulted in the process.A major problem has been that there is a 20-25-year gap between the discovery of a reincarnated lama-child and his growing up to maturity. In today's situation, where the Dalai Lama's leadership is in constant demand, waiting for the reincarnate lama to mature could lead to a great deal of instability.So, the Dalai Lama had also spoken in his September 2011 message of another route based on the Tibetan tradition. This is the concept of "emanation", where, instead of reincarnation after the passing away of a lama, there is a process through which the living lama transfers his persona into a chosen living younger person.One reason for the Dalai Lama to speak about these issues publicly is that controversy has been introduced into the issue by the Chinese. It is well known that China and Tibet have had a complex relationship and that the Communist Party of China-led government established control over Tibet in 1951.The Tibet-China connection was a "patron-priest" relationship, one where the Chinese emperor acknowledged the spiritual authority of the Dalai Lama in exchange for Tibet accepting his temporal authority. Tibet came under the protection of the Qing Empire in the 18th century. In practice, this meant that while the Qing assumed some control over Tibet's foreign affairs and security, they had none over its internal affairs. Throughout the 19th century, the Qing control over Tibet was often only on paper.A discontinuity arose in the process of the succession of the Dalai Lama when the Tibetans needed Qing's help during the conflict with the Gurkhas (1791-93). The Qing established control over the Lhasa government and enforced a rule that all the incarnations of high lamas be decided through a draw of lots from a golden urn. The 11th (1840) and 12th (1860) Dalai Lamas were selected by this process, but not the 9th (1808), 10th (1822), 13th (1877) and the 14th (current) Dalai Lama (1950). Note that Tibet had declared independence in 1913 and was free till the Chinese occupation in 1951.Beijing insists that lamas cannot reincarnate without authorisation from the central government. It argues that the old imperial authority of recognising a Dalai Lama is now vested with the government run by the Communist Party of China. No matter how absurd this sounds, the Chinese insist that under their law, only the government can authorise reincarnation.What Beijing worries about is the reincarnation, or emanation, of the Dalai Lama within the Tibetan community outside the Chinese-controlled Tibet. This could be anywhere in the world or the Tawang area of Arunachal Pradesh, where there is a great monastery which was founded in 1680-81 in accordance with the 5th Dalai Lama's wishes. This is the area populated by the Monpa tribe, where the 6th Dalai Lama was discovered.China is sensitive to India's official interactions with the Dalai Lama. It protested Prime Minister Modi's birthday greetings to His Holiness and the attendance of officials at the celebrations. To soothe Beijing's nerves, New Delhi has said that at the official level, it does not take any stand on the issue of his reincarnation.China is working hard to eliminate or "Sinicise" Tibetan cultural markers. Indeed, it now calls Tibet "Xizang". Young children are being sent to boarding schools to learn Chinese before they speak their own language.The Chinese will definitely seek to "capture" the institution of the Dalai Lama when he passes away. They are bound to come up with their own Dalai Lama, as they did with the Panchen Lama, regardless of the decision of the Gaden Phodrang Trust. The net result will be the weakening of the spiritual authority of the office that the current Dalai Lama holds.Manoj Joshi is Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation.

Dalai Lama's reincarnation and China’s interference

Manoj Joshi

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