Some of the methods include showing the children items which belong to the previous incarnation.Īccording to the 14th Dalai Lama's official biography, he was discovered when he was two years old. Once they find a number of candidates, the children are tested to determine whether they are the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. "There's a heavy responsibility on these people to get it right," she said. Then they send out search parties across Tibet, looking for children who are "special" and born within a year of the Dalai Lama's death, according to Ruth Gamble, an expert in Tibetan religion at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Sometimes it is based on signs that the former incarnation gave before he died, at other times top lamas - a monk or priest of varying seniority who teaches Buddhism - will go to a sacred lake in Tibet, Lhamo Lhatso, and meditate until they have a vision of where to search for his successor. The search begins when the previous Dalai Lama passes away. The Dalai Lama has been reincarnated 13 times since 1391, when the first of his incarnates was born, and normally a centuries-old method is used to find the new leader. Tenzin Tseten, a research fellow at the Dharamsala-based Tibet Policy Institute, said the Dalai Lama was of great significance to the Tibetan people and a symbol of their "nationalism and identity." "The Tibetan people will never accept a CCP-appointed Dalai Lama," Tenzin said. That could lead to two separate Dalai Lamas being chosen - one in China and one in India. Over the years, the Dalai Lama has floated a number of options for his reincarnation, including picking a new successor himself in India, rather than in Tibet - and has even toyed with the idea of a woman taking on the role.Įxperts, however, have said that, regardless of what he chooses, the Chinese government will almost certainly move to pick a new Dalai Lama in Tibet - one who is expected to support the ruling Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) control of the region. Since 1974, the Dalai Lama has said he does not seek independence from China for Tibet, but a "meaningful autonomy" that would allow Tibet to preserve its culture and heritage. Today, Beijing views him as a separatist with the aim of breaking Tibet away from China, and is therefore keen for the next reincarnation of his role to fall in line with its own political aims. While the Dalai Lama had originally hoped his exile would only be temporary, Beijing's control of Tibet has only tightened, making a return unlikely anytime soon. While the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is reportedly still in good health, he is now 85 and questions over his succession are growing, along with fears that his death could spark a religious crisis in Asia.Īfter an unsuccessful revolt against the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India where he established a government-in-exile in Dharamsala, leading thousands of Tibetans who have followed him there. The best-known living Buddhist figure in the world said that when he turned 90 years old, he would decide whether he should be reincarnated - potentially ending a role that has been key to Tibetan Buddhism for more than 600 years, but in recent decades has become a political lightning rod in China. A decade ago, the Dalai Lama set himself a significant deadline.
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