The Dalai Lama has said that the institution he embodies will continue after his death and that his Gaden Phodrang trust has the sole authority to recognise his future reincarnation.
The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader has previously questioned whether there should be another Dalai Lama after him, with the process to name his successor likely to be bitterly contested between the Chinese government and Tibetans in exile.
In a long-awaited statement issued to a gathering of the Tibetan government-in-exile on Wednesday, the 14th Dalai Lama said he had long believed that the future of his role should be decided by the Tibetan people themselves.
In a statement on Wednesday, he said: “In particular, I have received messages through various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal (that the institution of the Dalai Lama continue). In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue.”
The Dalai Lama will turn 90 on 6 July and the most senior figures in Tibetan Buddhism have gathered in Dharamshala in India for a three-day religious conference building up to Sunday. He met with 11 senior Buddhist monks on Wednesday morning before his video statement on his reincarnation was made public.
The Dalai Lama said: “The process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognised 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.”
He added: “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 recognise the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly said his successor will be born outside China and urged followers to reject any candidate appointed by Beijing. The Chinese government says it is the sole body with the authority to name a successor.
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