Dalai Lama says his Trust will lead search for his successor
World
"I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," he said in a statement
DHARAMSHALA, India (Reuters) – The Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that a non-profit that he has founded will have the sole authority to recognise his future reincarnation, countering China's insistence that it will choose the successor of the Tibetan spiritual leader.
The remarks by the leader, who turns 90 on Sunday, came during a week of celebrations to mark his birthday. There was no immediate comment from China.
Beijing views the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a separatist. The Dalai Lama has previously said his successor will be born outside China and urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing.
"I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," the Dalai Lama said in a statement.
He added that the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the non-profit that he set up to maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama, has the sole authority to recognise his future reincarnation in consultation with the heads of Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
"They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition ... no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter," the Dalai Lama said.
MEET 11 SENIOR BUDDHIST MONKS
Earlier, it was announced that the Dalai Lama will meet 11 senior Buddhist monks on Wednesday morning before delivering a written statement that will "most probably" talk about his eventual succession as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhists, an official said.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that enlightened monks are reborn to continue their spiritual legacy. The 14th Dalai Lama has long been expected to use the occasion to share possible clues on where his successor, a boy or a girl, could be found following his death.
The northern Indian town of Dharamshala, where the Dalai Lama is based with thousands of other Tibetans, has already seen the arrival of the heads of various sects of Buddhism ahead of a Wednesday-Friday religious conference that precedes the birthday celebrations on the weekend.
"All the religious heads are here and they are going to talk to His Holiness, which may relate to reincarnation issues," said Tenzin Lekshay, spokesperson for the exiled government in Dharamshala, as mists and rains cloaked the Himalayan hills.
On the first day of the conference, more than 100 religious figures including the senior monks will issue a declaration of gratitude to the Dalai Lama and discuss the way ahead, he said.
The Dalai Lama will address them in Tibetan in a pre-recorded message but is unlikely to refer to reincarnation in that message, Lekshay said.
The issue will "most probably" be covered in a written statement to be issued by the Dalai Lama late morning, he said.
Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the written statement would refer to his reincarnation.
