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The title “Dalai Lama” is a combination of the Sino-Mongolian word dalai meaning “big sea” and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning “guru, teacher”
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama speaks via a video message. (Image: PTI)
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, will turn 90 this week. While he has ended speculation on whether he will have a successor or not after his death by reaffirming his succession plan, this is set to escalate tensions with China that has rejected it.
China has said any future heir must receive its seal of approval, adding a new chapter to Tibetan Buddhism’s decades-long struggle with the Chinese ruling Communist Party.
WHAT DOES THE DALAI LAMA MEAN?
While the Dalai Lama is the face of Buddhism to many people across the world, he is actually the head of just one tradition within Tibetan Buddhism known as the Gelug school.
According to the website of the Namgyal Monastery, the Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by Tsongkhapa (1357-1419). The title “Dalai Lama” is a combination of the Sino-Mongolian word dalai meaning “big sea” and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning “guru, teacher”, suggesting breadth and depth of wisdom.
Britannica states that it became the title for the leader of the Gelukpa order in the beginning, with the third Dalai Lama who reached an agreement for mutual respect and support with Mongol chief Altan Khan, who bestowed on him that title.
Tibetans believe the Dalai Lama to be the manifestation of Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and the “one who hears the cries of the world”. Avalokiteśvara is prayed to across Asia, and is known as Chenrezig in Tibet, Guanyin in China, and Kannon or Kanzeon in Japan. The line of Dalai Lamas began as a lineage of spiritual teachers, with the fifth Dalai Lama assuming political authority over Tibet.
WHAT IS THE SUCCESSION PLAN, WHY HAS CHINA REJECTED IT?
On Wednesday (July 2), the Dalai Lama affirmed that the sacred institution of the Dalai Lama will continue and only the Gaden Phodrang Trust will have the authority to recognise his future “reincarnation”, declaring no one else can “interfere” in his succession plan.
The Gaden Phodrang Trust, a non-profit organisation, was founded by the Office of the Dalai Lama in 2015. The statement made by the 14th Dalai Lama, who is also called Lhama Thondup, on May 21, was released by his office four days ahead of his birthday on July 6. A 5.57-minute video of his speech in Tibetan was also released.
“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue and I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has the sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation. No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” the statement said.
Earlier, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism had maintained that Tibet’s most sacred tradition could be wound up, or his successor could be a woman or someone born outside China.
China, however, has rejected the Nobel Peace laureate’s succession plan. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, the second-high priest of Tibetan Buddhism, has to go through the centuries-old tradition of the ‘Golden Urn’ law procedure started by the 18th century Qing dynasty.
“The Dalai Lama’s reincarnation must follow the principles of domestic recognition, the ‘Golden Urn’ process, and approval by the central government, in line with religious traditions and laws,” she told a media briefing in Beijing while responding to the Dalai Lama’s announcement.
The week-long celebrations to mark the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday commenced at Tsuglagkhang, the main temple at McLeodganj near Dharamshala, on June 30. The occasion is significant, as the Dalai Lama had said in 2011 that at the age of 90, he will decide whether the institution will continue or not.
(With PTI inputs)
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