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Friday, March 13th, 2015

China’s Tensions With Dalai Lama Spill Into the Afterlife

Author:     CHRIS BUCKLEY
Source:     The New York Times
Publication Date:     MARCH 11, 2015
 Link: China’s Tensions With Dalai Lama Spill Into the Afterlife
Stephan:   In this extraordinary article below Robert Barnett, director of the modern Tibetan studies program at Columbia University, is quoted in a telephone interview as saying: “I don’t think the Dalai Lama would mind if you saw this through the prism of Monty Python.”  I agree. This is culturally mediated spiritual geopolitics. In the West we could have this fight, but not in this form.
The Dalai Lama has hinted that he might not be reincarnated, angering Beijing. Credit Sanjay Baid/European Pressphoto Agency

The Dalai Lama has hinted that he might not be reincarnated, angering Beijing.
Credit Sanjay Baid/European Pressphoto Agency

HONG KONG — Chinese Communist Party leaders are afraid that the Dalai Lama will not have an afterlife. Worried enough that this week, officials repeatedly warned that he must reincarnate, and on their terms.

Tensions over what will happen when the 14th Dalai Lama, who is 79, dies, and particularly over who decides who will succeed him as the most prominent leader in Tibetan Buddhism, have ignited at the annual gathering of China’s legislators in Beijing.

Officials have amplified their argument that the Communist government is the proper guardian of the Dalai Lama’s succession through an intricate process of reincarnation that has involved […]

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3 Comments

  1. Anne B. on Friday, March 13, 2015 at 5:16 am

    The article is very interesting, and telling about the Dalai Lama and of the Chinese government. It’s not up to any government whether or not a person reincarnates. I understand it’s the individual who makes the decision.

  2. Theresa39 on Friday, March 13, 2015 at 7:19 am

    That is sooo stupid. No wonder athiests don’t have my respect.

  3. Lori on Friday, March 13, 2015 at 8:12 am

    The Dalai Lama … What a refreshing breath full of rebel awesomeness!