Update from July 2, 2025 at 3:11 p.m.
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, said on Wednesday that he would have a successor chosen by a non -profit organization that he had started – not by the Chinese government. Beijing sounded a different note: the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, said that China had the right to approve the Dalai Lama successor. Bottom Line de Beijing: Whatever the spiritual force guides this sacred process must adhere to the restrictions of the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP.
If that seems impious, it may be the point. China has very practical reasons why it means who is the next Dalai Lama, given the enormous popularity of the current capacity and its ability to maintain cohesion among the Tibetans around the world in their fight for greater autonomy for Tibet.
The current Dalai Lama has become an extremely popular figure. Winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, its international fame has helped maintain unity among the Tibetans in and outside Tibet, despite the efforts to cancel its influence by the PCC.
Last year, China Tibetan Buddhist Academy – a Chinese institution supported by the government – organized a seminar to promote its point of view on the issue. The seminar has re-entered the PCC policies on reincarnation which must align the system with the policies of thought and party of Xi Jinping.
According to the official Beijing media, the participants in the seminar were representatives of Tibetan Buddhism and experts from Tibetan populated areas, including the Autonomous Tibet region and the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu.
But that quickly sparked a refutation from the Tibetan government in exile, the institution that the current Dalai Lama helped to create in 1959.
“While China only recognizes the autonomous region of Tibet as the only” Tibet “, they have always recruited participants in other Tibetan -populated areas for important questions,” said Sikyong Penpa Tsering, president of the current government, in response to the seminar.
“No government or individual has the right to interfere in the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama,” he added.
Who is the Dalai Lama?
“Lama” means teacher or master, and a lama is essentially a monk who has achieved a certain renown and assumed a leadership role within a community. We think that there are hundreds of lamas within Tibetan Buddhism, which integrates principles of traditional Buddhism and shamanic practices that preceded its creation.
The faithful consider the Dalai Lama as the demonstration of Avalokiteshvara (Phakchok Chenri Se- འཕགས་མཆོག་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས འཕགས་མཆོག་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས in Tibetan), the Buddhist source of compassion.
The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the 14th of a line that started in 1391. The Tibetans believe that when he dies, he will be reborn to continue his role as spiritual leader.
Beyond the spiritual meaning of the Dalai Lama, thousands of Tibetans who fled their homeland and were forced to leave behind families consider it as a paternal figure which also provided their temporal needs – security, education, health care – through an exiled government which he helped to create in Dharamsala.
How is a new Dalai Lama selected?
Tibetan Buddhists believe that when the Dalai Lama dies, his mind will reincarnate in a new body. A research committee traditionally composed of high -ranking monks and lamas is formed to find a child born in the year following the death of the Dalai Lama who presents exceptional qualities and behaviors similar to his predecessor. The current Dalai Lama was two years old when it was identified.
The discovery method includes visions, consultations with oracles and interpretations of omens. The child must recognize the personal effects of the previous Dalai Lama, demonstrating a link with his past life.
Why is the choice of Dalai Lama controversial?
The succession process affirms the continuity of leadership and Tibetan Buddhist culture, which is why China seeks to control the selection. The choice of the 15th Dalai Lama could help solidify authority over Tibet and the provinces where ethnic Tibetans live in large numbers. We think there would be more than 6 million Tibetans in China, against 150,000 in exile.
The meeting of the Chinese Tibetan Buddhist Academy this month attempted to promulgate the prefers process of the Chinese government, known as the “Golden Urn Selection”. The method is considered to be a popularized historical custom during the Qing dynasty, but is challenged by the Tibetan manner to recognize the reincarnated llamas.
A previous effort to control the selection of Tibetan leaders had only a minimal success. In 1995, the Chinese authorities removed a 6 -year -old Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism, shortly after being chosen by the Dalai Lama. The Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama traditionally participate in the process of reincarnation of the other, many experts think that Beijing will use his own panchen to choose the next Dalai Lama.
The person they have installed in continuous replacement to be seen with suspicion by many Tibetans inside and outside China.
What did the Dalai Lama said about his reincarnation?
The Dalai Lama himself suggested several possibilities for his reincarnation, declaring once “if I die in exile, my reincarnation will be born in exile and not in Tibet”. The declaration was considered a means of underlining the importance of spiritual freedom.
He had also raised the possibility that the line dies with him; that a woman for the first time would be chosen; And that he can identify his successor before his death.
Edited by Jim Snyder and Boer Deng.
Updated to correct the methods of discovering the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
Updated to add the Dalai Lama succession announcement on July 2, 2025 and China’s response.