The Dalai Lama’s successor will be born outside China. The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism states this in his new book, raising the stakes in a dispute with Beijing. The dispute concerns control of the Himalayan region he fled more than six decades ago.
Tibetans worldwide want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue after his death. He is currently 89 years old. He writes this in “Voice for the Voiceless,” which was reviewed by Reuters and is being released on Tuesday.
He had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him.
His book marks the first time the Dalai Lama has specified that his successor would be born in the “free world.” He describes this as outside China. He has previously said only that he could reincarnate outside Tibet, possibly in India where he lives in exile.
The Dalai Lama writes that the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world. This is “Since the purpose of a reincarnation is to carry on the work of the predecessor… so that the traditional mission of the Dalai Lama – that is, to be the voice for universal compassion, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and the symbol of Tibet embodying the aspirations of the Tibetan people – will continue.”
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled to India at the age of 23. He fled with thousands of other Tibetans in 1959 after a failed uprising against Mao Zedong’s Communists.
Beijing insists it will choose his successor. The Dalai Lama has said any successor named by China would not be respected.
China brands the Dalai Lama as a “separatist”. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for keeping alive the Tibetan cause.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said the Dalai Lama “is a political exile who is engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion.” This was when asked about the book at a press briefing on Monday.
The spokesperson continued, “On the Tibet issue, China’s position is consistent and clear. What the Dalai Lama says and does cannot change the objective fact of Tibet’s prosperity and development.”
Beijing said last month it hoped the Dalai Lama would “return to the right path”. Beijing also said it was open to discussing his future if he met such conditions. These include recognizing that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China, whose sole legal government is that of the People’s Republic of China. The Tibetan parliament-in-exile in India has rejected that proposal.
Supporters of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause include Richard Gere and Nancy Pelosi.
His followers have been worried about his health, especially after knee surgery last year. He told Reuters in December that he might live to be 110.
In his book, the Dalai Lama says he has received numerous petitions for more than a decade. The petitions are from a wide spectrum of Tibetan people, including senior monks and Tibetans living in Tibet and outside. These petitions “uniformly asking me to ensure that the Dalai Lama lineage be continued”.
Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. The current Dalai Lama was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was two.
The book is being published on Tuesday in the U.S. by William Morrow and in Britain by HarperNonFiction. The Dalai Lama calls the book an account of his dealings with Chinese leaders over seven decades. HarperCollins publications will follow in India and other countries.
The Dalai Lama has said he will release details about his succession around his 90th birthday in July. He writes that his homeland remains “in the grip of repressive Communist Chinese rule.” He also writes that the campaign for the freedom of the Tibetan people will continue “no matter what,” even after his death.
He expressed faith in the Tibetan government and parliament-in-exile. They are based with him in India’s Himalayan city of Dharamshala, to carry on the political work for the Tibetan cause.
He writes, “The right of the Tibetan people to be the custodians of their own homeland cannot be indefinitely denied, nor can their aspiration for freedom be crushed forever through oppression. One clear lesson we know from history is this: if you keep people permanently unhappy, you cannot have a stable society.”
He writes that his hopes of going back to Tibet look “increasingly unlikely,” given his advanced age.
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