The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, turns 90 on July 6. On July 2, he released a statement about the process of selecting his successor:
The process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognized has been clearly established in the 24 September 2011 statement which states that responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They should consult the various heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas. They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition.
I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its organs such as the Buddhist Association of China assert that the People’s Republic of China’s central government is the only authority that can name Tibetan religious leaders. The CCP will likely appoint its own competing successor. This is what happened after the 1989 death of the Panchen Lama, another high-ranking Tibetan Buddhist leader. After the Dalai Lama selected a successor in Tibet, Chinese officials abducted the child (who has not been seen since) and installed a different boy in his place—one widely viewed by Tibetans as a puppet.
How might the battle over succession play out over the coming months? If the Dalai Lama announces a successor, how will Beijing respond? How robust is the institutional framework for maintaining legitimacy without the Chinese government’s recognition, and what are its potential vulnerabilities? What are the ramifications for China’s relationship with India, which hosts the Tibetan government-in-exile? How might other countries respond to Beijing? —The Editors
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