Dalai Lama says he will be reincarnated, non-profit will name his successor

CBC News

· Posted: Jul 02, 2025 4:55 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

The Dalai Lama said connected Wednesday that a non-profit that helium has founded volition person the sole authorization to admit his aboriginal reincarnation, countering China's insistence that it volition take the successor of the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The remarks by the leader, who turns 90 connected Sunday, came during a week of celebrations to people his birthday. 

Beijing views the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet successful 1959 aft a failed uprising against Chinese rule, arsenic a separatist. The Dalai Lama has antecedently said his successor volition beryllium calved extracurricular China and urged his followers to cull anyone chosen by Beijing.

"I americium affirming that the instauration of the Dalai Lama volition continue," the Dalai Lama said successful a video message, mounting disconnected claps and cheers from much than 100 monks successful maroon robes who had gathered successful a room successful Dharamshala, a municipality successful the foothills of the Himalayas successful bluish India.

Chinese overseas ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated connected Wednesday that Beijing had to o.k. the individuality of the successor and that it had to beryllium done successful China done a centuries-old ritual.

The lawsuit successful Dharamshala, India was besides attended by journalists from astir the satellite and long-time supporters including Hollywood prima Richard Gere, who sat successful the assemblage successful a hallway which had ornate paintings of the Buddha and photographs of the Dalai Lama connected the walls.

The Dalai Lama added that the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the non-profit that helium acceptable up to support and enactment the contented and instauration of the Dalai Lama, has the sole authorization to admit his aboriginal reincarnation successful consultation with the heads of Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

"They should accordingly transportation retired the procedures of hunt and designation successful accordance with past contented ... nary 1 other has immoderate specified authorization to interfere successful this matter," the Dalai Lama said.

The Dalai Lama was successful bully wellness and has not fixed immoderate written instructions yet connected the succession, said Samdhong Rinpoche, a elder authoritative of the Gaden Phodrang Trust.

He told reporters successful Dharamshala that the successor tin beryllium of immoderate sex and that their nationality would not beryllium restricted to Tibet.

Penpa Tsering, person of the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile successful India, said the Dalai Lama would beryllium unfastened to visiting Tibet if his wellness permits and if determination were nary restrictions from China, which would people his archetypal sojourn to the state since 1959.

"It's wholly babelike connected China and the Chinese government," helium said, adding that Beijing had enactment a information that if the Dalai Lama visits, helium should enactment back.

"His holiness' effect is 'If I get to spell to Tibet and China, I volition go, but I volition not unrecorded there, due to the fact that determination is nary state there'. This is besides connected with the reincarnation wherever his holiness says 'I volition beryllium calved successful a escaped world'," Tsering said.

Chinese overseas ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the country's leaders had the close to o.k. the Dalai Lama's successor, arsenic a bequest from imperial times, and that China practices a argumentation of state of spiritual belief.

A enactment ritual, successful which the names of imaginable reincarnations are drawn from a aureate urn, dates to 1793, during the Qing dynasty.

"The kid reincarnation of a large Living Buddha specified arsenic the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama needs to beryllium identified done lot-drawing from a aureate urn and support by the cardinal government," Mao said astatine a regular quality conference.

Tsering, the person of the government-in-exile, said the U.S. had lifted immoderate restrictions connected funds for Tibetans successful exile and that the Tibetan authorities was besides looking for alternate sources of funding.

The United States, which faces rising contention from China for planetary dominance, has repeatedly said it is committed to advancing the quality rights of Tibetans. U.S. lawmakers person antecedently said they would not let China to power the prime of the Dalai Lama's successor.

The spiritual caput of Tibetan Buddhists is regarded arsenic 1 of the world's most influential figures, with a pursuing extending good beyond Buddhism. The prime of a successor is simply a substance of riveting involvement not lone for followers of his religion, but besides China, India, and the United States, for strategical reasons.

Tibetan contented holds that the psyche of a elder Buddhist monk is reincarnated aft his death.

The 14th Dalai Lama, calved arsenic Lhamo Dhondup to a farming household successful what is present Qinghai state connected July 6, 1935, was identified arsenic specified a reincarnation erstwhile helium was conscionable 2 years old.

A hunt enactment sent by the Tibetan authorities made the determination connected the ground of respective signs, specified arsenic a imaginativeness revealed to a elder monk, according to the Dalai Lama's website. The searchers were convinced erstwhile the toddler identified belongings of the 13th Dalai Lama with the phrase, "It's mine, it's mine."

In the wintertime of 1940, Lhamo Thondup was taken to the Potala Palace successful Lhasa, the superior of today's Tibet Autonomous Region, and officially installed arsenic the spiritual person of Tibetans.

He has lived successful exile successful bluish India since 1959, aft fleeing a failed uprising against the regularisation of Mao Zedong's Communists.

In his publication Voice for the Voiceless, released this past March, the Nobel laureate wrote that his successor would beryllium calved extracurricular China. He said it is inappropriate for Chinese Communists, who cull religion, "to meddle successful the strategy of reincarnation of lamas, fto unsocial that of the Dalai Lama."

But China has said its leaders person the close to o.k. the Dalai Lama's successor, arsenic a bequest from imperial times. A enactment ritual, successful which the names of imaginable reincarnations are drawn from a aureate urn, dates to 1793, during the Qing dynasty.

Beijing brands the Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize successful 1989 for keeping live the Tibetan cause, arsenic a "separatist" and prohibits displays of his representation oregon immoderate nationalist amusement of devotion towards him.