China can't choose: Dalai Lama plans to reincarnate - will be reborn abroad

KULLU: Ahead of his 90th birthday, Tibetan Spiritual leader the Dalai Lama stated on Wednesday that the institution of the Dalai Lama would continue and the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation.

In a statement posted on social media, the 14th Dalai Lama said that “no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”

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The statement further states that the process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognized has been clearly established according to which the responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

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The statement further reads that the members should carry out the search for his successor .

“They (the members) 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,” the statement reads.

The Dalai Lama has said in his statement that he had asked during a meeting with the heads of Tibetan spiritual traditions on 24 September 2011, whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue.

The spiritual leader has further said in the statement that “As far back as 1969, I made clear that concerned people should decide whether the Dalai Lama’s reincarnations should continue in the future.”

“I had also said that 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,” reads the statement.

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The Dalai Lama has also said that he has had no public discussions on this issue in the last 14 years.

However, members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, 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 him with reasons, earnestly requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama should 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,” reads the statement.

“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,” adds the statement.

It may be mentioned that the Dalai Lama is turning 90 on July 6 and grand celebrations have been planned in Mcleodganj, Dharamshala, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, to mark the occasion.

A number of ministers in the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) including Penpa Tsering, Sikyong or the Elected Head of the CTA, and Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering have also said that the Dalai Lama may reveal about his successor when he turns 90.