The Dalai Lama confirms continuation of his reincarnation line
After 14 years of discussions, the decision has been made: the Dalai Lama has officially announced that his line of reincarnations will continue. Numerous requests from around the world played a decisive role.
Photo: দেবর্ষি রায়, CC BY-SA 2.0
On July 2, the official website of the Dalai Lama published a statement in which the spiritual leader of Tibet confirmed the continuation of the institution of the Dalai Lamas.
Although back in 1969 he said that the future of this tradition should be decided by the Tibetan people, he has now made a final decision: the reincarnations will continue.
In recent years, the Dalai Lama has received hundreds of requests from Buddhists in Tibet, India, Mongolia, China, and other Asian countries.
Civic organizations, members of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, and leaders of spiritual schools urged him to preserve the lineage. Tibetans inside Tibet were especially active.
In response to these appeals, the Dalai Lama confirmed that the right to recognize his next incarnation belongs solely to the Ganden Phodrang Foundation — his official office.
Only they, along with the heads of Tibetan Buddhist schools and spiritual guardians of the tradition, will be able to initiate the search and confirmation of a new Dalai Lama. External interference is ruled out.
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, revered as the reincarnation of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara.
The title originated in the 16th century, with the most well-known being the 14th Dalai Lama — Tenzin Gyatso, born in 1935. Since 1959, he has lived in exile in India following the suppression of the Tibetan uprising.
The Dalai Lama advocates peace, nonviolence, and autonomy for Tibet, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.