(TibetanReview.net, Jul02’25) – The Dalai Lama has on Jul 2 made public to reaffirm what he has already repeatedly indicated before, including in his most recently published book, that his reincarnation will continue and the search for the 15th will be led by his Gaden Phodrang Trust with the proviso suggesting that it will take place outside the control and precinct of the Communist Party of China-state.
In this connection, his statement on this matter, dated May 21, 2025, takes note of the fact that “over the last 14 years, leaders of Tibet’s spiritual traditions, members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, participants in a Special General Body Meeting of the Tibetan people), members of the Central Tibetan Administration, NGOs, Buddhists from the Himalayan region, Mongolia, Buddhist republics of the Russian Federation and Buddhists in Asia including mainland China, have written to me with reasons, earnestly requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama continue.”
The statement made it clear that the process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognized was clearly established in his statement on Sep 24, 2011, at the 11th Tibetan Religious Conference of the heads of Tibetan spiritual traditions. That statement, he said, “states that responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 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.”
Given this fact, the statement declared, “I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”
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Meanwhile, participants in the three-day, 15th Tibetan Religious Conference, which kicked off on Jul 2 at Dharmshala, and at which the Dalai Lama delivered his statement via video-link, have adopted a three-point resolution to express unanimous support for the Dalai Lama’s statement.
The participants in the conference, “led by esteemed religious heads and realised masters of different religious traditions,” expressed support for “His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s precious words on this significant subject” and wanted “this statement (to) be made public far and wide.”
The resolution sought to make it clear that “the core process of recognising the reincarnations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is as per the unique Tibetan Buddhist tradition,” and therefore not only “strongly condemned the People’s Republic of China’s usage of reincarnation subject for their political gain,” but also vowed to “never accept it.”
The resolution also made it clear that “Tibetans both in and outside Tibet have made a pledge to maintain national unity of solidarity and continue to struggle for the just cause of Tibet in a bid to extend whole hearted cooperation to the fulfilment of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s noble wishes and aspirations.”
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Meanwhile, in a fundamentally flawed and audaciously untrue claim on the issue, explicating Beijing’s position on the issue, China’s official Xinhua news agency issued a lengthy commentary on Jul 1, with the whole point of it being that the reincarnation of “living Buddhas” are never decided by reincarnated individuals.
What makes what China calls ‘living Buddhas” special is that they are believed to have the power to determine their own rebirth by means of reincarnation to continue their work for the benefit of sentient beings. Clearly the Chinese government is missing or ignoring this point for obvious political reasons.
China’s real reasons for planning its own 15th Dalai Lama “reincarnation” are far from spiritual and are spelled out in numerous length political commentaries in China’s official media in recent days. These include, in particular, a Jun 30 Xinhua online posting titled “Central government approval is fundamental principle, legal safeguard of Grand Living Buddha reincarnation: signed article”, which was carried also by risingnepaldaily.com on Jul 1.