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'New Chinese law aimed at wiping out Tibetan identity'
DHARAMSALA: The new Chinese law which would come into effect next month banning reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist monks in Tibet was aimed at wiping out the Tibetan identity and its rich culture, said exiled Tibetan government based here on Monday.
The new law which stipulates Buddhist monks in Tibet to seek permission from Chinese communist regime for reincarnation has been ironically described by Chinese state administration for religious affairs as an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation.
However, the de facto Prime Minister of Tibet Samdhong Rinpoche, speaking to TOI said that the new Chinese law coming into effect next month framed to ban reincarnation of Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Lamas was not surprising and unexpected at all. He said that China had been for a long time engaged in working out various methods and formula to finish the two major Tibetan religious institutions-Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. He said that these two institutions are very important for Tibetans.
He said that the new Chinese law was nothing but a ploy to take control of Tibetan religious institutions. He said that China was perhaps waiting for the departure of the Dalai Lama as it believed that his departure would resolve the problem of Tibet itself.
Rinpoche said that China believes that by choosing its own Dalai Lama as it did in the case of appointing its own Panchen Lama with the new law coming into force would help them to control Tibetans living in various parts of the world including here (Dharamsala) which was not the case at present.
The de facto Prime Minister of Tibet said that it was wishful thinking on the part of Beijing to believe that if the Dalai Lama leaves the scene it would make things easier for it (China) to control the Tibetan struggle and movement for its cause as per its own convenience. He said that the Tibetan issue creates lot of pressure on China at global level, a fact though not accepted by Chinese. He said that Tibetan struggle could not be stymied with one individual (Dalai Lama) not on the scene as it was struggle of a nation.
However, he said that departure of the Dalai Lama would defiantly have a significant bearing on the Tibetan struggle as it could make Tibetans especially youth agitated and could resort to violent means owing to lack of leadership.
About the Karmapa monastery issue, he said that if huge haul of foreign currency including Chinese Yuan had been accumulated illegally must be investigated thoroughly to extract t the truth about it. He said that he believes that Karmapa staff had been responsible for the money found to be kept at monastery in illegal manner. Regarding suspicions being raised about Karmapa being Chinese agent or spy, he said that he (Karmapa) was not so smart and competent to indulge in such sort of activity. When asked that how the Karmapa managed to run away from Tibet (China) in dramatic circumstances in January 2000, Rinpoche said that he (Karmapa) he took advantage of snow while escaping from there.
'New Chinese law aimed at wiping out Tibetan identity' - The Times of India
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China tells living Buddhas to obtain permission before they reincarnate
Tibets living Buddhas have been banned from reincarnation without permission from Chinas atheist leaders. The ban is included in new rules intended to assert Beijings authority over Tibets restive and deeply Buddhist people.
The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid, according to the order, which comes into effect on September 1.
The 14-part regulation issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs is aimed at limiting the influence of Tibets exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, and at preventing the re-incarnation of the 72-year-old monk without approval from Beijing.
It is the latest in a series of measures by the Communist authorities to tighten their grip over Tibet. Reincarnate lamas, known as tulkus, often lead religious communities and oversee the training of monks, giving them enormous influence over religious life in the Himalayan region. Anyone outside China is banned from taking part in the process of seeking and recognising a living Buddha, effectively excluding the Dalai Lama, who traditionally can play an important role in giving recognition to candidate reincarnates.
For the first time China has given the Government the power to ensure that no new living Buddha can be identified, sounding a possible death knell to a mystical system that dates back at least as far as the 12th century.
China already insists that only the Government can approve the appointments of Tibets two most important monks, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lamas announcement in May 1995 that a search inside Tibet and with the co- operation of a prominent abbot had identified the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, who died in 1989, enraged Beijing. That prompted the Communist authorities to restart the search and to send a senior Politburo member to Lhasa to oversee the final choice. This resulted in top Communist officials presiding over a ceremony at the main Jokhang temple in Lhasa in which names of three boys inscribed on ivory sticks were placed inside a golden urn and a lot was then drawn to find the true reincarnation.
The boy chosen by the Dalai Lama has disappeared. The abbot who worked with the Dalai Lama was jailed and has since vanished. Several sets of rules on seeking out soul boys were promulgated in 1995, but were effectively in abeyance and hundreds of living Buddhas are now believed to live inside and outside China.
All Tibetans believe in reincarnation, but only the holiest or most outstanding individuals are believed to be recognisable a tulku, or apparent body. One Tibetan monk told The Times: In the past there was no such regulation. The management of living Buddhas is becoming more strict.
The search for a reincarnation is a mystical process involving clues left by the deceased and visions among leading monks on where to look. The current Dalai Lama, the fourteenth of the line, was identified in 1937 when monks came to his village.
China has long insisted that it must have the final say over the appointment of the most senior lamas. Tibet experts said that the new regulations may also be aimed at limiting the influence of new lamas.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2194682.ece
