China should look for Mao Zedong's reincarnation, not Dalai Lama’s: Sikyong Penpa Tsering

Dharamshala: Penpa Tsering, the head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) or ‘Sikyong’, on Friday hit back at the Chinese government's persistent claim to the next Dalai Lama and said the government should first look for the reincarnations of its own leadership.

Tsering, who leads the Tibetan government-in-exile from McLeodganj in Dharamshala, said that China should “first study Tibetan Buddhism and life after death”.

“The Chinese government also says they will look for the Dalai Lama's reincarnation within the borders of China. His Holiness is going to be reborn, he will decide where he wants to be reborn. How can the Chinese government dictate a lama, a spiritual being, where he or she should be reborn."

“So it is completely absurd. There is no logic or reason,” Tsering told PTI ahead of the 90th birthday celebration of the 14th Dalai Lama on July 6.

On Wednesday, the Tibetan spiritual leader 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.

China rejected the Nobel Peace laureate's succession plan, insisting that any future heir must receive its seal of approval, and has to be selected through the “golden urn” process.

Tsering refuted the claims of the golden urn process as the traditional way of recognising a Dalai Lama.

“When was the golden urn introduced? 1793, when there was some influence from the Qing over the Tibetan plateau. Before 1793, there were eight Dalai Lamas already chosen not through the golden urn. There was no golden urn at all. So what break from tradition are we talking about?” he argued.

The former speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in exile said that the introduction of the golden urn in itself is “an interference from the Qing over the Tibetans at that time”.

“Even after the introduction, it was hardly used by the Tibetans because Tibetans don't have trust in that. It's not the traditional method,” Tsering said.

The golden urn process was introduced in 1793 for selecting reincarnations of the Dalai Lama by drawing lots or tally sticks from a golden urn.

“His highness always says first they have to study Tibetan Buddhism and believe in the concept of life after death, then maybe they should look for Mao Zedong's reincarnation, because he's no more with us, if they are serious about reincarnation. Why go after his holiness, look for their own leadership's reincarnation. Then maybe Deng Xiaoping, then Jiang Zeming. Then maybe the Dalai Lama after that,” he said.

Buddhist leaders from around the world have gathered in the Himalayan town to celebrate the 90th birth anniversary of 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.

The occasion was also expected to be the opportune moment when the spiritual leader would have announced his successor, a misconception Tsering refuted.

“Some are talking as if his holiness is going to die tomorrow or day after or next year or something. He says he's going to live for another 20 years. So we have to understand the tradition. I think a lot of people came expecting this. His holiness might appoint somebody, or he might say that I'm going to be born in this place at that time. It doesn't happen like that,” Tsering said.

He also said that China’s attempts at fostering divisiveness among the Tibetan Buddhist community is going to hit back at it.

“...the more repressive they become, people are going to get back. They will not take it lying for that long. So China will also have to change as His Holiness has assured us that he will live for another two decades and more. And I tell that to the Chinese that this is meant for you because you are waiting for him to die so let us see whether communism outlives his holiness or his holiness outlives communism,” the Tibetan leader said.