Dalai Lama Says He Plans To Reincarnate, Signals China To Stay Away

Dharamshala: Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday said the centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist institution will continue after his death, ending years of speculation that started when he indicated that he might be the last person to hold the role.

Speaking at prayer celebrations ahead of his 90th birthday on Sunday (July 6), the Nobel Peace Prize-winning spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism said that the next Dalai Lama should be found and recognised as per past Buddhist traditions, while signalling that China should stay away from the process of identifying his successor.

The spiritual leader providing clarity on the continuation of the 600-year-old institution of Dalai Lama, the supreme religious post of the Tibetan Buddhist order, ended years of uncertainty about the future of one of Tibet’s vibrant religious traditions.

“By all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the 14th Dalai Lama declared in a comprehensive statement dated May 21 that was released on X.

The decision follows overwhelming appeals from Tibetan spiritual leaders, Buddhist communities worldwide, and crucially, Tibetans living inside Tibet. His move directly challenges China’s persistent attempts to control the succession of the Tibetan spiritual leader. He made it unequivocally clear that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness, holds the sole authority to recognise his future reincarnation.

“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 Dalai Lama said, clearly drawing the battle lines against Beijing’s ambitions to appoint a China-backed successor.

Firm stand, a shift from previous position

The decision represents a significant shift from the Dalai Lama’s previous position. “As far back as 1969, I made clear that concerned people should decide whether the Dalai Lama’s reincarnations should continue in the future,” he stated, referencing his long-standing uncertainty about the institution’s future.

He had also previously said, “When I am about ninety, I will consult the high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public, and other concerned people who follow Tibetan Buddhism, to re-evaluate whether or not the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue.”

He continued, "Although 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."

Succession plan amid China opposition

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated on Wednesday that Beijing had to approve the identity of the successor and that it had to be done in China through a centuries-old ritual.

Beijing views the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a separatist and says it will choose his successor. The Dalai Lama has previously said his successor will be born outside China and urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing. Tibetan Buddhists hold that enlightened monks are reborn to carry forward their spiritual legacy.

Before turning 90, the leader said he would consult senior monks and others at this time to share possible clues on where his successor, a boy or a girl, could be found following his death.

He has previously said he could 'reincarnate' in India, where he lives in exile near the northern Himalayan town of Dharamshala. He was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was two years old.

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