Beijing [China], July 3: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama says he will be reincarnated and that his organisation will identify that incarnation after he dies.
The Dalai Lama said on July 2 that he will be reincarnated and that his non-profit organization has sole authority to determine that reincarnation, contradicting China's view that it will choose the next leader of Tibetan Buddhism , according to Reuters.
The remarks by the 14th Dalai Lama, who turns 90 on July 6, put an end to speculation among millions of followers about whether there will be another Dalai Lama after his death.
The announcement, made during the week of his birthday celebrations and closely watched by many, came as China said on July 2 that it had the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor and that this must be done in China according to centuries-old rituals.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said the country's leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor, a legacy from imperial times, and that China has a policy of religious freedom.
A selection ritual, in which the names of reincarnation candidates are drawn from a golden urn, dates back to 1793 during the Qing dynasty.
"Determining whether a child is the reincarnation of an important living Buddha such as the Dalai Lama or the Panchen Lama must be done through a drawing from a golden urn and approved by the central government," Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on July 2.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India in 1959 and is considered a separatist by Beijing. He has previously said that his successor will be born outside China and has urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing. In previous years, he has also said that there may be no successor at all.
Speaking on July 2, the Dalai Lama said that the Gaden Phodrang Foundation, a non-profit organization he founded, is the only party that has the right to confirm his reincarnation in consultation with the leaders of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, contrary to the stance taken by the Chinese government.
According to popular belief in Tibet , the soul of a Buddhist monk will be reincarnated in the body of a child after death.
Born Lhamo Dhondup on July 6, 1935 to a peasant family in what is now Qinghai Province, China, the 14th Dalai Lama was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor at the age of 2, based on several signs, according to the Dalai Lama's website.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
