https://www.wsj.com/articles/high-stakes-as-the-dalai-lama-hints-at-being-reborn-outside-china-1491585210
Following is a summation of an article in the NY Times concerning this matter:
"The Dalai Lama has been enigmatic about how his successor will be chosen.
In
the past, monks have turned to visions and oracles to lead them to a
child conceived just as the previous Dalai Lama died. Having identified a
child, they administer tests seeking to confirm that he is the
reincarnated lama, such as asking him to pick out objects belonging to
his predecessor.
But
that method would leave Tibetan Buddhism without a leader for at least a
year, allowing China to identify and promote its own candidate. The
Dalai Lama has hinted that he may instead opt for a nontraditional
selection process, selecting a child or an adult to succeed him while he
is still alive.
Aging
Tibetan Buddhist lamas have, in some cases, visited places where they
would later be reincarnated as babies, and the Dalai Lama’s visits to
Tawang and Mongolia seemed to fall into that pattern, said Robert J. Barnett, a historian of modern Tibet at Columbia University.
“This
is a way of getting under the skin of the Chinese, of probing them, and
reminding them that they have no control over where the next
reincarnation occurs,” he said.
...Though
India is typically wary of provoking China, several officials have been
unusually pugnacious in their responses. Pema Khandu, the chief
minister of Arunachal Pradesh, took the unusual step this week of
stating that an independent Tibet, not China, is India’s true northern
neighbor.
“Let
me get this straight,” Mr. Khandu told journalists. “China has no
business telling us what to do and what not to do because it is not our
next-door neighbor.”
The
Dalai Lama, for his part, has been characteristically jovial to the
crowd of journalists trailing after him, expounding cheerily on subjects
from quantum physics to global warming. He hardly needs to do more, Mr.
Barnett said.
“He
doesn’t have to do anything except exist and be his usual beaming self
to embarrass the Chinese,” he said. “He will be right on the border, he
will be a complete free person, he will be only meters away from Chinese
territory, but they cannot do anything about it.”
An interesting development in the ongoing Chinese attempt to control the
future of Tibetan Buddhism. And a non-violent approach to a major
international issue and conflict.
Does this hold out hope for actual conflict resolution? Will the Chinese be willing to seriously negotiate with the Tibetans?
What can we learn from this?
