Deciding that they should be the ones to appoint all future Lamas, in an attempt to gain the upper hand in the mindspace of the people of Tibet in their struggle against them for independence, the Chinese government recently enacted a law giving themselves full authority over all reincarnations.
Well played China. Well played.
But the Dalai Lama knows how to play the game as well.
In response, at the end of 2007, the Dalai Lama proposed to hold a referendum among his millions of followers on whether he should be reincarnated at all, and, if the vote was in favor, to determine his reincarnation while he was still alive. He cited the example of one of his teachers as a precedent for a lama being reincarnated while still alive. But he also indicated that he would not be reborn in China or any other country which is “not free.”
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In turn, the Dalai Lama has raised the possibility to forgo his rebirth, or to be reborn while still alive so that he, not China, can choose his successor.
The Dalai Lama has even suggested reincarnating as a woman.
I find it incredibly interesting that the Dalai Lama, a being who’s existence spans at least fourteen lifetimes, is now reincarnating only in free countries in order to stay free of the grasp of the ancient empire which seeks to trap and control him within it’s borders. That is, of course, unless he chooses not to reincarnate at all and instead transcends to a higher dimension.
I certainly hope they aren’t using Dielbolds to count the votes in that referendum, it would be an easy way for the Chinese to finally remove the Dalai Lama from this level of reality (at least for a while).
What’s especially interesting about this strange game of espionage and rebirth is how important it actually is to the future of Tibet, China, and the rest of the world, as well as to the lives of the individuals involved.
In 1995, China showed how it would deal with the reincarnation issue if they didn’t agree with a Tibetan selection. Beijing rejected the Dalai Lama’s choice of a 6-year-old boy as the successor of the 10th Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second holiest figure who had died in 1989. China proceeded to choose its own 11th Panchen, and the boy the Dalai Lama selected was never heard from again.
Martin Scorsese made an amazing film in 1997, possibly his best, called Kundun,
Meanwhile, in the jungles of Nepal. . .
A Nepalese teenager revered by many as a reincarnation of Buddha has returned to the jungle to meditate after emerging for less than two weeks, officials said Saturday.
Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 18, reappeared on Nov. 10 after several months of meditation to bless thousands of his followers, speaking to them on at least two occasions.
Ram has had various strange happenings attributed to him. His clothes spontaneously combusting, being impervious to a poisonous snakebite and the strangest one of all – apparently exisiting without food or water for six months during a deep meditation under his banyan tree. He was also prone to disappearing, causing his followers to become concerned for him.
IF the people were not so ignorant and superstitious then China would not hold anymore sway than it currently does.
Left by JD on November 24th, 2008