China’s Tech-Savvy, Burned-Out and Spiritually Adrift, Turn to Buddhism
BEIJING — For centuries, Buddhists seeking enlightenment made the journey to Longquan Monastery, a lonesome temple on a hilltop in the hinterlands of northwest Beijing. Under the ginkgo and cypress trees, they meditated, chanted and pored over ancient texts.
Now a new generation has arrived. They wear hoodies, watch television shows like “The Big Bang Theory” and use chat apps to trade mantras. Many, with jobs at some of China’s hottest and most demanding companies, feel burned-out and spiritually adrift, and are looking for change.
“Life in the outside world is chaotic and stressful,” said Sun Shaoxuan, 39, the chief technology officer at an education start-up. “Here, I can be at peace.”
As a spiritual revival sweeps China, Longquan has become a haven for a distinct brand of Buddhism, one that preaches connectivity instead of seclusion and that emphasizes practical advice over deep philosophy.
Monks and volunteers at Longquan Monastery in Beijing perform the morning songjing, or chanting of Buddhist sutras.
The temple is run by what may be some of the most highly educated monks in the world: nuclear physicists, math prodigies and computer programmers who gave up lives steeped in precision to explore the ambiguities of the spiritual realm.
To build a large following, the monks have put their digital prowess to work. They have pioneered a popular series of cartoons based on Buddhist ideas like suffering and reincarnation. (“Having a bad mood can ruin one’s good luck,” a recent cartoon said.) This past spring, they introduced a two-foot-tall robot named Xian’er to field questions from visitors, the temple’s first foray into artificial intelligence.
Traditionalists worry that Longquan’s flashy high-tech tools may have muddled the teachings of the Buddha, the dharma. They say its emphasis on practical topics like resolving family conflict and achieving success neglects more important philosophical questions.
But the leader of the monastery, the Venerable Xuecheng, who dispenses bits of wisdom every day to millions of online followers, has defended his approach, saying that Buddhism can stay relevant only by embracing modern tools. In a computer-dominated world, he has said, it is no longer realistic to expect people to attend daily lectures.
“Buddhism is old and traditional, but it’s also modern,” he said in an interview in March with the state-run news agency Xinhua. “We should use modern methods to spread the wisdom of Buddhism.”
On a recent Sunday morning, I stood outside Longquan’s gates, watching as hundreds of volunteers and tourists ascended to the temple. They bowed to one another and took turns sweeping cracked walkways. Some wandered through the organic vegetable garden, stopping to prop up unruly tomato plants.
The modernity of the temple was inescapable. While it was first built in 957, many of its original structures were demolished by war and, more recently, by the Cultural Revolution, when Chinese Buddhists were persecuted. Only at the turn of the century was the temple salvaged and rebuilt by a Buddhist businesswoman, Cai Qun. It reopened in 2005, and it is now equipped with fingerprint scanners, webcams and iPads for studying sutras, or Buddhist texts.
The state-run news media speaks of the temple in almost mythical terms. In success-driven China, many people marvel at the decision of the temple’s monks to leave behind lucrative careers in the tech sector to devote themselves to Buddhist study, rising at 3:55 a.m. each day for morning prayers.
Longquan has become a favorite showpiece for the ruling Communist Party, which officially promotes atheism but has led a push in recent years to revive ancient cultural traditions. In addition to leading Longquan, the Venerable Xuecheng is the president of the Buddhist Association of China, a party-controlled supervisory organ. The temple displays the writings of President Xi Jinping, and long-term residents must submit information about their patriotism and political views.
In a kind of soft-power spiritual push, the Venerable Xuecheng has sought to turn the teachings of the monastery into a global export, translating his writings into more than a dozen languages. In July, he helped open a temple in Botswana for Chinese expatriates.
Longquan’s proximity to several of Beijing’s top universities and the city’s main science and technology hubs has made it popular among young people. Many of them are searching for deeper meaning in a society rife with materialism. Others seek an escape from grueling schedules, and tips on relaxation.
The temple is renowned in start-up circles, in part because of a widely circulated rumor involving Zhang Xiaolong, one of the inventors of WeChat, a popular messaging app. News articles have claimed that Mr. Zhang, having hit a stumbling block, attended a retreat at the temple, after which he gained inspiration for WeChat. (Mr. Zhang, through a spokesman, denied the reports.)
Today, young entrepreneurs make the pilgrimage to Longquan in hopes of creative epiphanies. They work at some of China’s most prominent technology companies, including JD.com, an e-commerce giant, and Xiaomi, a smartphone maker.
“Some of the people who come here may not actually be incredibly interested or believe in Buddhism,” said Rax Xie, a software developer. “But they will have a certain connection and receptiveness to the thought and culture behind Buddhism.”
On Sunday mornings, Mr. Sun, the technology entrepreneur, makes his way from his suburban apartment to Longquan. He slips on a maroon robe and begins to chant.
Mr. Sun was once a skeptic of religion. But after a spiritual awakening last year, he said he came to embrace Buddhism, eschewing meat and alcohol and persuading his wife to join him on his spiritual journey.
I met Mr. Sun at a chanting ceremony one Sunday at Longquan. The meditation hall was covered in pillows decorated with lotus flowers; a large, gleaming Buddha statue rose from the front.
A wiry man with soft, dark eyes, he sat in the first row of worshipers, a bell in his hand, and wore a golden sash reading, “Thanks to those who taught me salvation.”
After the ceremony, he told me about his transformation. As he saw it, he was once self-centered and angry, prone to barking orders at his family and co-workers. While his mother was a Buddhist, he saw the religion as “just a story.”
Then, in the fall, he attended a three-day retreat at Longquan intended for information technology workers. He was forced to give up his cellphone and passed the time by meditating, listening to lectures and working in the garden. Almost immediately, he said, his mind felt cleaner and lighter.
Mr. Sun and his wife now attend services nearly every week. In the afternoons, he performs maintenance on Longquan’s websites and helps organize workshops on back-end programming.
He said he had come to see the temple as a “small utopia, free of conflict,” in a society that could sometimes feel riddled with deception.
“When you go to the mountain, you don’t need to think: ‘Who will trick me? Who will harass me? Who will think badly of me?’” he said. “Once you have a sense of security and trust, then you will want to open up, help others and explore your beliefs.”
Follow Javier C. Hernández on Twitter @HernandezJavier.
Emily Feng and Owen Guo contributed research.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/08/world ... d=71987722
BUDHISM
Seeking Solitude in Japan’s Mountain Monasteries
Excerpt:
Koyasan is one of the premier destinations for Buddhist pilgrims in Japan, and is considered one of the holiest sites in the country. It was chosen 1,200 years ago by the monk Kobo-Daishi for its lotus-like geography — a shallow valley nestled into a mountain — to be the headquarters of Esoteric Shingon Buddhism. The religion, which dates to the Tang dynasty, places an emphasis on daily ritual as a means of reaching enlightenment in an immediate, practicable way, developing what several monks described as a “Buddha nature.” Over the course of the last century, the religion’s birthplace has also attracted an increasing number of visitors without any background in Buddhism — visitors who seek out mountains, peace, history, or just a fleeting connection with the mysticism of another time.
I came for a little bit of each of these, teased by the promise of a remote corner of the country, thousands of miles removed, both physically and mentally, from the frenetic anxieties of New York. I wanted to challenge myself to a place with a different logic and rhythm, and to see myself disappear briefly into the magnitude of a 1,200-year-old rite. Also appealing was the prospect of a place that was truly dark at night — a place where the thick, spindly velvet of steep, tree-covered mountainsides soaks up the darkness completely. And like many others, as I would learn, I also wanted something a little bit naïve and capitalistic: to buy an ascetic experience.
More..
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/trav ... d=45305309
Excerpt:
Koyasan is one of the premier destinations for Buddhist pilgrims in Japan, and is considered one of the holiest sites in the country. It was chosen 1,200 years ago by the monk Kobo-Daishi for its lotus-like geography — a shallow valley nestled into a mountain — to be the headquarters of Esoteric Shingon Buddhism. The religion, which dates to the Tang dynasty, places an emphasis on daily ritual as a means of reaching enlightenment in an immediate, practicable way, developing what several monks described as a “Buddha nature.” Over the course of the last century, the religion’s birthplace has also attracted an increasing number of visitors without any background in Buddhism — visitors who seek out mountains, peace, history, or just a fleeting connection with the mysticism of another time.
I came for a little bit of each of these, teased by the promise of a remote corner of the country, thousands of miles removed, both physically and mentally, from the frenetic anxieties of New York. I wanted to challenge myself to a place with a different logic and rhythm, and to see myself disappear briefly into the magnitude of a 1,200-year-old rite. Also appealing was the prospect of a place that was truly dark at night — a place where the thick, spindly velvet of steep, tree-covered mountainsides soaks up the darkness completely. And like many others, as I would learn, I also wanted something a little bit naïve and capitalistic: to buy an ascetic experience.
More..
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/trav ... d=45305309
Why Are We Surprised When Buddhists Are Violent?
Most adherents of the world’s religions claim that their traditions place a premium on virtues like love, compassion and forgiveness, and that the state toward which they aim is one of universal peace. History has shown us, however, that religious traditions are human affairs, and that no matter how noble they may be in their aspirations, they display a full range of both human virtues and human failings.
While few sophisticated observers are shocked, then, by the occurrence of religious violence, there is one notable exception in this regard; there remains a persistent and widespread belief that Buddhist societies really are peaceful and harmonious. This presumption is evident in the reactions of astonishment many people have to events like those taking place in Myanmar. How, many wonder, could a Buddhist society — especially Buddhist monks! — have anything to do with something so monstrously violent as the ethnic cleansing now being perpetrated on Myanmar’s long-beleaguered Rohingya minority? Aren’t Buddhists supposed to be compassionate and pacifist?
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/opin ... dline&te=1
Most adherents of the world’s religions claim that their traditions place a premium on virtues like love, compassion and forgiveness, and that the state toward which they aim is one of universal peace. History has shown us, however, that religious traditions are human affairs, and that no matter how noble they may be in their aspirations, they display a full range of both human virtues and human failings.
While few sophisticated observers are shocked, then, by the occurrence of religious violence, there is one notable exception in this regard; there remains a persistent and widespread belief that Buddhist societies really are peaceful and harmonious. This presumption is evident in the reactions of astonishment many people have to events like those taking place in Myanmar. How, many wonder, could a Buddhist society — especially Buddhist monks! — have anything to do with something so monstrously violent as the ethnic cleansing now being perpetrated on Myanmar’s long-beleaguered Rohingya minority? Aren’t Buddhists supposed to be compassionate and pacifist?
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/opin ... dline&te=1
Buddhists Go to Battle: When Nationalism Overrides Pacifism
A call to arms for Sri Lankan monks. Ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar. A Buddhist faith known for pacifism is taking its place in a new age of nationalism.
Excerpt:
Incited by a politically powerful network of charismatic monks like Sumedhananda Thero, Buddhists have entered the era of militant tribalism, casting themselves as spiritual warriors who must defend their faith against an outside force.
Their sense of grievance might seem unlikely: In Sri Lanka and Myanmar, two countries that are on the forefront of a radical religious-nationalist movement, Buddhists constitute overwhelming majorities of the population. Yet some Buddhists, especially those who subscribe to the purist Theravada strain of the faith, are increasingly convinced that they are under existential threat, particularly from an Islam struggling with its own violent fringe.
As the tectonic plates of Buddhism and Islam collide, a portion of Buddhists are abandoning the peaceful tenets of their religion. Over the past few years, Buddhist mobs have waged deadly attacks against minority Muslim populations. Buddhist nationalist ideologues are using the spiritual authority of extremist monks to bolster their support.
“The Buddhists never used to hate us so much,” said Mohammed Naseer, the imam of the Hillur Mosque in Gintota, Sri Lanka, which was attacked by Buddhist mobs in 2017. “Now their monks spread a message that we don’t belong in this country and should leave. But where will we go? This is our home.”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/worl ... 3053090709
A call to arms for Sri Lankan monks. Ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar. A Buddhist faith known for pacifism is taking its place in a new age of nationalism.
Excerpt:
Incited by a politically powerful network of charismatic monks like Sumedhananda Thero, Buddhists have entered the era of militant tribalism, casting themselves as spiritual warriors who must defend their faith against an outside force.
Their sense of grievance might seem unlikely: In Sri Lanka and Myanmar, two countries that are on the forefront of a radical religious-nationalist movement, Buddhists constitute overwhelming majorities of the population. Yet some Buddhists, especially those who subscribe to the purist Theravada strain of the faith, are increasingly convinced that they are under existential threat, particularly from an Islam struggling with its own violent fringe.
As the tectonic plates of Buddhism and Islam collide, a portion of Buddhists are abandoning the peaceful tenets of their religion. Over the past few years, Buddhist mobs have waged deadly attacks against minority Muslim populations. Buddhist nationalist ideologues are using the spiritual authority of extremist monks to bolster their support.
“The Buddhists never used to hate us so much,” said Mohammed Naseer, the imam of the Hillur Mosque in Gintota, Sri Lanka, which was attacked by Buddhist mobs in 2017. “Now their monks spread a message that we don’t belong in this country and should leave. But where will we go? This is our home.”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/worl ... 3053090709
Re: BUDHISM
As the Dalai Lama Turns 90, His Exiled Nation Faces a Moment of Truth
The Tibetan spiritual leader has vowed to reveal a succession plan when his birthday is celebrated on July 6. He may get creative to thwart Chinese interference.
The Dalai Lama at the main Tibetan temple in Dharamsala, India, in 2024.
Mujib MashalHari KumarAtul Loke
By Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar
Photographs by Atul Loke
Reporting from Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan administration in exile have been based for over half a century
Over the nearly seven decades since the Dalai Lama led his flock of tens of thousands out of Tibet to escape Chinese persecution, he put himself to the grueling work of sustaining a nation in exile.
As both the spiritual and political leader of Tibetan Buddhists, he established a little democracy in the Indian Himalayas, complete with a parliament and all its routine bickering and beauty. He entrenched a bureaucracy that encouraged a culture of service among a scattered people. In refugee settlements across India, the Tibetan administration runs schools, clinics, monasteries, agricultural cooperatives and even old-age homes.
But as the Dalai Lama turns 90 next month, Tibetans in exile are anxious about the fate of their stateless nation.
The man who has been Tibetans’ binding force and most recognizable face is growing increasingly frail. His goal of returning his people to their homeland remains distant, with China working to finish the task of crushing the Tibetan movement for autonomy. And as Tibetans confront a future of continued exile, the United States and other global powers have become more unreliable in their support.
ImageMonks in red robes, several of them holding beads, stand or sit in an outdoor area with trees in the background.
Monks rehearsing their teachings at the Dharamsala temple.
Image
A woman instructs a group of children, dressed in blue shirts and black pants, as they play the Tibetan lute.
Learning to play the Tibetan lute at a primary school in a Tibetan settlement in Bylakuppe, in the south Indian state of Karnataka.
“We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst,” said Tsering Yangchen, a member of Tibet’s parliament in exile, invoking a refrain from the Dalai Lama himself.
When his birthday is celebrated on July 6, the Dalai Lama has promised, he will reveal a plan for deciding on his successor that factors in the complexities of the moment. The most pressing is dealing with China’s efforts to hijack the process.
Under Tibetan tradition, the search for a Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, who becomes his successor, begins only upon the incumbent’s death. After the next Dalai Lama is identified as a baby, there can be a gap of nearly two decades until he is groomed and takes the reins.
Image
Two men in traditional Tibetan garb hold white cups while they stand in front of a building with a sign that reads “Tibetan Parliament in Exile.”
Thondup Tsering, left, and Tenzing Jigme, members of the Tibetan parliament in exile in Dharamsala who live in the United States.
Image
A person in scrubs and a surgical mask inspects the mouth of a patient leaning backward in a medical chair in a clinic.
A charity hospital in the Tibetan settlement in Bylakuppe.
The Dalai Lama has hinted that he might buck these established practices as part of an apparent strategy to throw off the Chinese and avoid a vacuum that Beijing can exploit as it seeks to control Tibetan Buddhism.
He has said that his successor will be born in a free country, indicating that the next Dalai Lama could come from among Tibetan exiles, who number about 140,000, half of them in India. He has also said that his successor could be an adult, and not necessarily a man.
China already has a blueprint for inserting itself in Tibetan successions. After the 10th Panchen Lama, as Tibet’s second highest spiritual figure is known, died in 1989, the boy whom the Dalai Lama recognized as the successor went missing in Tibet when he was 6. He has not been seen since.
In his stead, China selected and promoted its own Panchen Lama. Earlier this month, that lama met with the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, and reaffirmed his allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.
Image
Xi Jinping receives a white cloth that is being presented to him by a Tibetan monk.
A photograph from Chinese state media showed the government-appointed 11th Panchen Lama with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing in June.
Credit...Xie Huanchi/Xinhua, via Associated Press
But interfering in the succession of the Dalai Lama runs the risk of provoking unrest among the roughly six million people in Tibet.
“The Dalai Lama has been out of his house and country for 65 years, and that has already created a great sense of pain, anger, frustration and disappointment among the Tibetans inside Tibet,” said Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan activist and poet. “This will, you know, burst into volcano.”
Image
A man wearing jeans, a black shirt and a red headband and holding a book sits at the entrance of a building surrounded by trees and other plants.
Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan refugee activist and poet, at his home in Dharamsala.
Image
Tibetan monks walk by a large dome-shaped Buddhist shrine.
Monks and local residents at a stupa in Bylakuppe.
The succession question has become more urgent as the Dalai Lama has become more frail, with his public engagements increasingly restricted.
Before he conducted one of his limited teaching sessions last fall, he traveled the short distance from his residence to the temple in a golf cart. He was helped to his seat by two monks.
When the Dalai Lama sneezed, many in the crowd looked up with worry. A monk stepped up to wipe the corner of his mouth. Among the questions that the Dalai Lama took during the 30-minute session: How to be a Tibetan Buddhist in the 21st century?
“Logic and reason,” he answered, “not just blind faith in the teachings of Buddha.”
Image
The Dalai Lama, escorted by three other monks, walks in a crowded outdoor area of a temple.
The Dalai Lama has grown increasingly frail.
Image
Monks inside a temple watch a screen showing an image of the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama’s public appearances have become more restricted.
More than eight decades ago, the Dalai Lama’s ascension was accompanied by another perilous period that instilled a fear of discontinuity that has shaped his lifetime of work.
After his predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama, died in 1933 at age 57, a search committee set out to identify a child who could grow into Tibet’s new spiritual leader.
The boy was discovered after two years of effort. The committee arrived at the family’s door during a harsh Tibetan winter, as they were clearing four feet of snow, the future Dalai Lama’s mother wrote in her memoir.
Moving the boy to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, required paying ransoms to local warlords. His education, as well as his assumption of political leadership, was fast-tracked because the Chinese government was using the vacuum to tighten its noose around the autonomous region.
If a similar gap were to happen after the current Dalai Lama’s death — with the added challenge of a nation now in exile — it would be “a disaster,” said Lobsang Tenzin, a Tibetan educator who is better known as the Samdhong Rinpoche.
He served as prime minister in the Tibetan refugee administration and has known the Dalai Lama for more than 60 years. From the start, the Samdhong Rinpoche said, the Dalai Lama wanted to put in institutions and a culture that could hold a traumatized people together in exile after he was gone.
Image
A man in a red robe with beads around his wrist holds a teacup while sitting in an armchair.
The Samdhong Rinpoche said that the Dalai Lama had long focused on setting up structures that would outlive him.
Image
A woman smiles as she bows and holds the hand of the Dalai Lama. Several people surround them.
Receiving blessings from the Dalai Lama.
“In the first meeting, he told me that now the monks cannot remain just as monks would — just meditating and studying,” the Samdhong Rinpoche said about the early months of their exile, when he was still a teenager. “That we should learn from the Christian monks and nuns. They always work as nurses or teachers or doctors.”
In the decades that followed, the Samdhong Rinpoche had a front-row seat to the Dalai Lama’s efforts to put some distance between himself and the institutions he was building on lands he had managed to acquire from the Indian government.
He wanted his political powers to be devolved to a self-reliant democracy while he remained the spiritual head of the Tibetan people.
“His Holiness was adamant that sooner or later His Holiness should be irrelevant,” the Samdhong Rinpoche said.
That was easier said than done, given the Dalai Lama’s singular role as the leader of his people and as an international celebrity with a vast fund-raising network.
But his political position was devolved partly in 2001 and entirely in 2011, when Tibetans elected a sikyong, the equivalent of a president, through a vote held across refugee settlements in India and in other Tibetan communities around the world.
“He’s my boss,” the Dalai Lama said at an event in 2012 when he introduced the leader elected by the people. “Although when it comes to spiritual affairs, I’m still his boss!”
The current sikyong is Penpa Tsering, 62. Like his predecessor, he was born in a refugee camp in India and has never been to Tibet.
Mr. Tsering’s administration runs on a modest annual budget of around $35 million. About one-tenth of that comes from small contributions from exiles, akin to membership dues. The rest comes from countries like the United States, India and European nations.
Image
A woman in front of a wall with black-and-white pictures of the Dalai Lama and Gandhi looks at her phone.
The office of the exiled Tibetan administration in Dharamsala.
Image
A man in a red tunic holds a sheet of paper in one hand and a cup in the other while sitting in an armchair. A Tibetan flag is on the wall.
Penpa Tsering, the current sikyong, or president, of the exiled administration. He was born in the Bylakuppe refugee camp.
But the Trump administration has cut aid, including millions of dollars meant to help build the capacity of Tibetan institutions. Questions now also hover over India’s strong support of Tibetans, as New Delhi has remained silent over the succession question while navigating fraught relations with Beijing.
Twice a year, the 45-member Tibetan Parliament meets in Dharamsala, India, to approve the budget and review the government’s performance. Most of its members have other jobs, like teaching or running restaurants.
They make heavy use of social media to weave together a nation now in its third generation of exile. The sikyong, during an interview last fall, joked that his role was that of a digital “tour guide” helping Tibetan people connect.
Much of his time is spent on the road, trying to fill the Dalai Lama’s huge shoes in his advocacy efforts.
“Earlier, we didn’t have to work that hard because His Holiness was there,” Mr. Tsering said.
“We don’t command that kind of respect,” he added. “I’m a very ordinary Tibetan from a farmers’ background.”
Image
A model of a red and white palace with white exterior walls and golden domes. Above the model is a picture of the 13th Dalai Lama.
A model of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, with a picture of the 13th Dalai Lama hanging above it.
Mujib Mashal is the South Asia bureau chief for The Times, helping to lead coverage of India and the diverse region around it, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.
Hari Kumar covers India, based out of New Delhi. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/worl ... tibet.html
The Tibetan spiritual leader has vowed to reveal a succession plan when his birthday is celebrated on July 6. He may get creative to thwart Chinese interference.
The Dalai Lama at the main Tibetan temple in Dharamsala, India, in 2024.
Mujib MashalHari KumarAtul Loke
By Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar
Photographs by Atul Loke
Reporting from Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan administration in exile have been based for over half a century
Over the nearly seven decades since the Dalai Lama led his flock of tens of thousands out of Tibet to escape Chinese persecution, he put himself to the grueling work of sustaining a nation in exile.
As both the spiritual and political leader of Tibetan Buddhists, he established a little democracy in the Indian Himalayas, complete with a parliament and all its routine bickering and beauty. He entrenched a bureaucracy that encouraged a culture of service among a scattered people. In refugee settlements across India, the Tibetan administration runs schools, clinics, monasteries, agricultural cooperatives and even old-age homes.
But as the Dalai Lama turns 90 next month, Tibetans in exile are anxious about the fate of their stateless nation.
The man who has been Tibetans’ binding force and most recognizable face is growing increasingly frail. His goal of returning his people to their homeland remains distant, with China working to finish the task of crushing the Tibetan movement for autonomy. And as Tibetans confront a future of continued exile, the United States and other global powers have become more unreliable in their support.
ImageMonks in red robes, several of them holding beads, stand or sit in an outdoor area with trees in the background.
Monks rehearsing their teachings at the Dharamsala temple.
Image
A woman instructs a group of children, dressed in blue shirts and black pants, as they play the Tibetan lute.
Learning to play the Tibetan lute at a primary school in a Tibetan settlement in Bylakuppe, in the south Indian state of Karnataka.
“We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst,” said Tsering Yangchen, a member of Tibet’s parliament in exile, invoking a refrain from the Dalai Lama himself.
When his birthday is celebrated on July 6, the Dalai Lama has promised, he will reveal a plan for deciding on his successor that factors in the complexities of the moment. The most pressing is dealing with China’s efforts to hijack the process.
Under Tibetan tradition, the search for a Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, who becomes his successor, begins only upon the incumbent’s death. After the next Dalai Lama is identified as a baby, there can be a gap of nearly two decades until he is groomed and takes the reins.
Image
Two men in traditional Tibetan garb hold white cups while they stand in front of a building with a sign that reads “Tibetan Parliament in Exile.”
Thondup Tsering, left, and Tenzing Jigme, members of the Tibetan parliament in exile in Dharamsala who live in the United States.
Image
A person in scrubs and a surgical mask inspects the mouth of a patient leaning backward in a medical chair in a clinic.
A charity hospital in the Tibetan settlement in Bylakuppe.
The Dalai Lama has hinted that he might buck these established practices as part of an apparent strategy to throw off the Chinese and avoid a vacuum that Beijing can exploit as it seeks to control Tibetan Buddhism.
He has said that his successor will be born in a free country, indicating that the next Dalai Lama could come from among Tibetan exiles, who number about 140,000, half of them in India. He has also said that his successor could be an adult, and not necessarily a man.
China already has a blueprint for inserting itself in Tibetan successions. After the 10th Panchen Lama, as Tibet’s second highest spiritual figure is known, died in 1989, the boy whom the Dalai Lama recognized as the successor went missing in Tibet when he was 6. He has not been seen since.
In his stead, China selected and promoted its own Panchen Lama. Earlier this month, that lama met with the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, and reaffirmed his allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.
Image
Xi Jinping receives a white cloth that is being presented to him by a Tibetan monk.
A photograph from Chinese state media showed the government-appointed 11th Panchen Lama with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing in June.
Credit...Xie Huanchi/Xinhua, via Associated Press
But interfering in the succession of the Dalai Lama runs the risk of provoking unrest among the roughly six million people in Tibet.
“The Dalai Lama has been out of his house and country for 65 years, and that has already created a great sense of pain, anger, frustration and disappointment among the Tibetans inside Tibet,” said Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan activist and poet. “This will, you know, burst into volcano.”
Image
A man wearing jeans, a black shirt and a red headband and holding a book sits at the entrance of a building surrounded by trees and other plants.
Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan refugee activist and poet, at his home in Dharamsala.
Image
Tibetan monks walk by a large dome-shaped Buddhist shrine.
Monks and local residents at a stupa in Bylakuppe.
The succession question has become more urgent as the Dalai Lama has become more frail, with his public engagements increasingly restricted.
Before he conducted one of his limited teaching sessions last fall, he traveled the short distance from his residence to the temple in a golf cart. He was helped to his seat by two monks.
When the Dalai Lama sneezed, many in the crowd looked up with worry. A monk stepped up to wipe the corner of his mouth. Among the questions that the Dalai Lama took during the 30-minute session: How to be a Tibetan Buddhist in the 21st century?
“Logic and reason,” he answered, “not just blind faith in the teachings of Buddha.”
Image
The Dalai Lama, escorted by three other monks, walks in a crowded outdoor area of a temple.
The Dalai Lama has grown increasingly frail.
Image
Monks inside a temple watch a screen showing an image of the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama’s public appearances have become more restricted.
More than eight decades ago, the Dalai Lama’s ascension was accompanied by another perilous period that instilled a fear of discontinuity that has shaped his lifetime of work.
After his predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama, died in 1933 at age 57, a search committee set out to identify a child who could grow into Tibet’s new spiritual leader.
The boy was discovered after two years of effort. The committee arrived at the family’s door during a harsh Tibetan winter, as they were clearing four feet of snow, the future Dalai Lama’s mother wrote in her memoir.
Moving the boy to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, required paying ransoms to local warlords. His education, as well as his assumption of political leadership, was fast-tracked because the Chinese government was using the vacuum to tighten its noose around the autonomous region.
If a similar gap were to happen after the current Dalai Lama’s death — with the added challenge of a nation now in exile — it would be “a disaster,” said Lobsang Tenzin, a Tibetan educator who is better known as the Samdhong Rinpoche.
He served as prime minister in the Tibetan refugee administration and has known the Dalai Lama for more than 60 years. From the start, the Samdhong Rinpoche said, the Dalai Lama wanted to put in institutions and a culture that could hold a traumatized people together in exile after he was gone.
Image
A man in a red robe with beads around his wrist holds a teacup while sitting in an armchair.
The Samdhong Rinpoche said that the Dalai Lama had long focused on setting up structures that would outlive him.
Image
A woman smiles as she bows and holds the hand of the Dalai Lama. Several people surround them.
Receiving blessings from the Dalai Lama.
“In the first meeting, he told me that now the monks cannot remain just as monks would — just meditating and studying,” the Samdhong Rinpoche said about the early months of their exile, when he was still a teenager. “That we should learn from the Christian monks and nuns. They always work as nurses or teachers or doctors.”
In the decades that followed, the Samdhong Rinpoche had a front-row seat to the Dalai Lama’s efforts to put some distance between himself and the institutions he was building on lands he had managed to acquire from the Indian government.
He wanted his political powers to be devolved to a self-reliant democracy while he remained the spiritual head of the Tibetan people.
“His Holiness was adamant that sooner or later His Holiness should be irrelevant,” the Samdhong Rinpoche said.
That was easier said than done, given the Dalai Lama’s singular role as the leader of his people and as an international celebrity with a vast fund-raising network.
But his political position was devolved partly in 2001 and entirely in 2011, when Tibetans elected a sikyong, the equivalent of a president, through a vote held across refugee settlements in India and in other Tibetan communities around the world.
“He’s my boss,” the Dalai Lama said at an event in 2012 when he introduced the leader elected by the people. “Although when it comes to spiritual affairs, I’m still his boss!”
The current sikyong is Penpa Tsering, 62. Like his predecessor, he was born in a refugee camp in India and has never been to Tibet.
Mr. Tsering’s administration runs on a modest annual budget of around $35 million. About one-tenth of that comes from small contributions from exiles, akin to membership dues. The rest comes from countries like the United States, India and European nations.
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A woman in front of a wall with black-and-white pictures of the Dalai Lama and Gandhi looks at her phone.
The office of the exiled Tibetan administration in Dharamsala.
Image
A man in a red tunic holds a sheet of paper in one hand and a cup in the other while sitting in an armchair. A Tibetan flag is on the wall.
Penpa Tsering, the current sikyong, or president, of the exiled administration. He was born in the Bylakuppe refugee camp.
But the Trump administration has cut aid, including millions of dollars meant to help build the capacity of Tibetan institutions. Questions now also hover over India’s strong support of Tibetans, as New Delhi has remained silent over the succession question while navigating fraught relations with Beijing.
Twice a year, the 45-member Tibetan Parliament meets in Dharamsala, India, to approve the budget and review the government’s performance. Most of its members have other jobs, like teaching or running restaurants.
They make heavy use of social media to weave together a nation now in its third generation of exile. The sikyong, during an interview last fall, joked that his role was that of a digital “tour guide” helping Tibetan people connect.
Much of his time is spent on the road, trying to fill the Dalai Lama’s huge shoes in his advocacy efforts.
“Earlier, we didn’t have to work that hard because His Holiness was there,” Mr. Tsering said.
“We don’t command that kind of respect,” he added. “I’m a very ordinary Tibetan from a farmers’ background.”
Image
A model of a red and white palace with white exterior walls and golden domes. Above the model is a picture of the 13th Dalai Lama.
A model of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, with a picture of the 13th Dalai Lama hanging above it.
Mujib Mashal is the South Asia bureau chief for The Times, helping to lead coverage of India and the diverse region around it, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.
Hari Kumar covers India, based out of New Delhi. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/worl ... tibet.html
Re: BUDHISM
Dalai Lama Says He Will Reincarnate, but China Has No Say in Successor
The aging Tibetan spiritual leader is looking to prevent Beijing from taking advantage of a power vacuum that might arise after his death.
Tibetan Buddhist monks gathered in Dharamsala, a Himalayan hill town in India, to discuss the future of the Dalai Lama’s spiritual office, as China tries to control who will succeed him.Credit...Atul Loke for The New York Times
By Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar
Reporting from Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist leaders are meeting to discuss the future of the spiritual leader’s institution
July 2, 2025
Updated 6:43 a.m. ET
Leer en español
The Dalai Lama gathered senior Tibetan Buddhist monks on Wednesday in Dharamsala, the Himalayan town where he has lived in exile for over half a century, to chart the future of his spiritual office — and how it might survive growing pressure from China.
In a recorded video statement to the three-day conference, the 89-year-old offered few specifics on how Tibetan Buddhism’s highest office might avoid a period of uncertainty after he dies, a moment that Beijing may try to seize by installing its own choice as the next Dalai Lama.
But he made one thing clear: his own doubts about whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue after him have now been put to rest. He had previously been open to ending the role to avoid it being exploited by China after his death, but now affirmed that the lineage would go on.
He also made what was seen as another move at shutting China out from the future reincarnation of the Tibetan spiritual leader. He said in a statement that Gaden Phodrang Trust, which is registered in India and run by the Dalai Lama’s office, has “sole authority” to recognize such a reincarnation.
“No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” he said.
The Chinese Communist Party, which has sought to erode the influence of the Dalai Lama in Tibet, asserts that only it has the authority to choose his reincarnation, despite being committed to atheism in its ranks. In Beijing, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the reincarnation had to be approved by the central government.
Lobsang Tenzin, the Tibetan trust’s second-most-senior leader, who is known by his religious title of Samdhong Rinpoche, said the Dalai Lama had weighed the future of the institution for decades, but over time he found that Tibetan people favored preserving it.
“In 1960s and 1970s, he proposed that the Dalai Lama institution should be ended,” he said at a news conference in Dharamsala. “Today’s message is that the Dalai Lama institution will continue — that after the 14th Dalai Lama, there will be a 15th Dalai Lama, there will be a 16th Dalai Lama.”
But he did not say how the Dalai Lama planned to shield the reincarnation process from Chinese interference.
“When the time comes, he will give instructions,” the Samdhong Rinpoche said, referring to the reincarnation.
The Dalai Lama fled China in 1959 after the Chinese army invaded Tibet to bring the region under the control of the Communist Party. He has lived in India ever since, helping to establish a democracy in exile while traveling the world to advocate for true autonomy and cultural and religious freedom for the Tibetan people.
The Chinese government sees the octogenarian leader as a separatist who seeks independence for Tibet, where more than six million Tibetans live. In his absence, Beijing has tried to bring elements of the Tibetan religious institution under state control, and erase Tibetan culture to absorb the people into one nation united around the Communist Party.
Traditionally, the search for a new Dalai Lama begins only after the current one dies. It can take years to identify the child believed to be his reincarnation, and more than a decade to educate and prepare him for the role. The fear that China will exploit that gap has long shaped the Dalai Lama’s strategy ever since he went into exile.
The Dalai Lama relinquished his political leadership role in the Tibetan exile government in 2011, a decision intended to strengthen the democratic structure of the Tibetan movement. Since then, Tibetan refugees scattered around the world have elected their political leader through a direct vote.
In recent years, the Dalai Lama has told his followers that he was considering other possibilities for the future of his role after him.
He has said that his successor would be born in a free country, indicating that the next Dalai Lama could come from among Tibetan exiles, who number about 140,000, half of them in India. He has also said that his successor could be identified while he is alive, and that person could be an adult, and not necessarily a man, in a break with centuries of tradition.
But he had said he would clarify his position on the future of the institution, and his reincarnation, around his 90th birthday, which is being celebrated in Dharamsala this week.
In his brief statement, the Dalai Lama indicated that he would hew to the centuries-old custom, saying that the trust under his office should “carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition.”
Samdhong Rinpoche declined to say whether that ruled out the Dalai Lama’s earlier suggestions, such as finding a successor before his death to prevent a takeover of the process by China.
Amy Chang Chien contributed to this report from Taipei.
Mujib Mashal is the South Asia bureau chief for The Times, helping to lead coverage of India and the diverse region around it, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.
Hari Kumar covers India, based out of New Delhi. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/worl ... e9677ea768
The aging Tibetan spiritual leader is looking to prevent Beijing from taking advantage of a power vacuum that might arise after his death.
Tibetan Buddhist monks gathered in Dharamsala, a Himalayan hill town in India, to discuss the future of the Dalai Lama’s spiritual office, as China tries to control who will succeed him.Credit...Atul Loke for The New York Times
By Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar
Reporting from Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist leaders are meeting to discuss the future of the spiritual leader’s institution
July 2, 2025
Updated 6:43 a.m. ET
Leer en español
The Dalai Lama gathered senior Tibetan Buddhist monks on Wednesday in Dharamsala, the Himalayan town where he has lived in exile for over half a century, to chart the future of his spiritual office — and how it might survive growing pressure from China.
In a recorded video statement to the three-day conference, the 89-year-old offered few specifics on how Tibetan Buddhism’s highest office might avoid a period of uncertainty after he dies, a moment that Beijing may try to seize by installing its own choice as the next Dalai Lama.
But he made one thing clear: his own doubts about whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue after him have now been put to rest. He had previously been open to ending the role to avoid it being exploited by China after his death, but now affirmed that the lineage would go on.
He also made what was seen as another move at shutting China out from the future reincarnation of the Tibetan spiritual leader. He said in a statement that Gaden Phodrang Trust, which is registered in India and run by the Dalai Lama’s office, has “sole authority” to recognize such a reincarnation.
“No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” he said.
The Chinese Communist Party, which has sought to erode the influence of the Dalai Lama in Tibet, asserts that only it has the authority to choose his reincarnation, despite being committed to atheism in its ranks. In Beijing, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the reincarnation had to be approved by the central government.
Lobsang Tenzin, the Tibetan trust’s second-most-senior leader, who is known by his religious title of Samdhong Rinpoche, said the Dalai Lama had weighed the future of the institution for decades, but over time he found that Tibetan people favored preserving it.
“In 1960s and 1970s, he proposed that the Dalai Lama institution should be ended,” he said at a news conference in Dharamsala. “Today’s message is that the Dalai Lama institution will continue — that after the 14th Dalai Lama, there will be a 15th Dalai Lama, there will be a 16th Dalai Lama.”
But he did not say how the Dalai Lama planned to shield the reincarnation process from Chinese interference.
“When the time comes, he will give instructions,” the Samdhong Rinpoche said, referring to the reincarnation.
The Dalai Lama fled China in 1959 after the Chinese army invaded Tibet to bring the region under the control of the Communist Party. He has lived in India ever since, helping to establish a democracy in exile while traveling the world to advocate for true autonomy and cultural and religious freedom for the Tibetan people.
The Chinese government sees the octogenarian leader as a separatist who seeks independence for Tibet, where more than six million Tibetans live. In his absence, Beijing has tried to bring elements of the Tibetan religious institution under state control, and erase Tibetan culture to absorb the people into one nation united around the Communist Party.
Traditionally, the search for a new Dalai Lama begins only after the current one dies. It can take years to identify the child believed to be his reincarnation, and more than a decade to educate and prepare him for the role. The fear that China will exploit that gap has long shaped the Dalai Lama’s strategy ever since he went into exile.
The Dalai Lama relinquished his political leadership role in the Tibetan exile government in 2011, a decision intended to strengthen the democratic structure of the Tibetan movement. Since then, Tibetan refugees scattered around the world have elected their political leader through a direct vote.
In recent years, the Dalai Lama has told his followers that he was considering other possibilities for the future of his role after him.
He has said that his successor would be born in a free country, indicating that the next Dalai Lama could come from among Tibetan exiles, who number about 140,000, half of them in India. He has also said that his successor could be identified while he is alive, and that person could be an adult, and not necessarily a man, in a break with centuries of tradition.
But he had said he would clarify his position on the future of the institution, and his reincarnation, around his 90th birthday, which is being celebrated in Dharamsala this week.
In his brief statement, the Dalai Lama indicated that he would hew to the centuries-old custom, saying that the trust under his office should “carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition.”
Samdhong Rinpoche declined to say whether that ruled out the Dalai Lama’s earlier suggestions, such as finding a successor before his death to prevent a takeover of the process by China.
Amy Chang Chien contributed to this report from Taipei.
Mujib Mashal is the South Asia bureau chief for The Times, helping to lead coverage of India and the diverse region around it, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.
Hari Kumar covers India, based out of New Delhi. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/worl ... e9677ea768
Re: BUDHISM
Dalai Lama, god-king for Tibetan Buddhists, will have a successor. That decision is consequential
Video: https://apnews.com/video/dalai-lama-say ... 461ebb958e
1 of 4 | The Dalai Lama said Wednesday there will be a successor after his death. But China insists that it alone has the authority to approve the next religious leader. AP’s Sheikh Saaliq explains why the decision is consequential for most Tibetans. AP video by Shonal Ganguly, Rishi Lekhi and Ashwini Bhatia
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama presides over an event celebrating his 90th birthday according to a Tibetan calendar at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Monday, June 30, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
2 of 4 | Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama presides over an event celebrating his 90th birthday according to a Tibetan calendar at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Monday, June 30, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
Buddhist monks of various schools of Tibetan Buddhism watch a recorded video message by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
BY SHEIKH SAALIQ
Updated 10:09 PM MDT, July 3, 2025
DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — The Dalai Lama has often called himself a simple monk, but millions of his Tibetan Buddhist followers have worshipped him for decades as a near deity.
They also see him as the face of Tibet’s aspirations for greater autonomy, but have for years wrestled with the idea that he might be the last person to hold the role.
He put that speculation to rest Wednesday, just days before he turns 90 on Sunday. There will be a successor after his death, he announced, and the Dalai Lama’s office will lead the search and recognize a successor in accordance with past tradition.
The decision is consequential for most Tibetans, who have struggled for decades to keep their identity alive — in Tibet or outside in exile — and rallied behind the Dalai Lama for that cause. It could also irk China, which insists that it alone has the authority to approve the next religious leader, a move seen as Beijing’s efforts to strengthen its control over Tibet’s overwhelmingly Buddhist population.
‘Simple Buddhist monk’ hailed as a god-king
Recognized worldwide in his red robes and wide smile, the Dalai Lama describes himself as a “simple Buddhist monk.” But he is also worshipped as living manifestations of Chenrezig, the Buddhist god of compassion, and is the 14th person to hold the title of the Dalai Lama in a tradition stretching back 500 years.
As a village boy, Tenzin Gyatso was thrust onto the Tibetan throne to become the Dalai Lama — a god-king to his people — in 1937. Soon after, Chinese troops swept into his homeland in the 1950s and crushed a failed uprising. He escaped with thousands of his followers to India and established a government in exile.
Since then, the Dalai Lama has spent more than seven decades in exile, living an austere monastic life in regal isolation in the tiny, Himalayan town of Dharamshala. He has also jetted from capital to capital to try to force the aspirations of his tiny community onto the world agenda, uniting and mobilizing Tibetans inside and outside China.
The face of Tibet’s struggle for autonomy
Tibetans in exile say they were effectively independent for centuries, and accuse China of trying to wipe out Tibet’s Buddhist culture and language, and encouraging Chinese to move there from other parts of the country. Beijing insists Tibet is a part of China.
While many Tibetans seek full independence, the Dalai Lama has long said that he seeks only substantial autonomy and identity for Tibetan people. He has advocated for a nonviolent “Middle Way” for autonomy and religious freedom for Tibetan people through peaceful means.
Attendant monks help Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to leave after presiding over an event celebrating his 90th birthday according to a Tibetan calendar at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Monday, June 30, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
Beijing, however, accuses him of making efforts to wrest Tibet’s control away from China and inciting rebellion among Tibetans. In the past, Chinese leaders have called him a “wolf in monk’s robes” and the “scum of Buddhism.”
In 1989, the Nobel Peace Prize committee honored him “for his consistent resistance to the use of violence in his people’s struggle.” In 2011, he relinquished his role as head of the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile and handed over political powers to a democratically elected government.
Raging dispute
With the Dalai Lama in his twilight years, the question looms about what happens after him.
The Dalai Lama has said that his successor will be born in a free country, indicating that the next spiritual leader could come from among Tibetan exiles and not from China.
China, meanwhile, is determined to control the succession of the Dalai Lama and insists that the reincarnation must be found in China’s Tibetan areas, giving the Communist authorities immense power over who is chosen.
Buddhist monks of various schools of Tibetan Buddhism watch a recorded video message by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
Thus, many observers believe there eventually will be rival Dalai Lamas — one appointed by Beijing, and one by senior monks loyal to the current Dalai Lama.
China has also sought to elevate other spiritual figures, particularly Tibetan Buddhism’s No. 2 figure, the Panchen Lama. A boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the new Panchen disappeared soon after, and Beijing produced its own successor, whose legitimacy is highly contested.
Search for next Dalai Lama
The search for a Dalai Lama’s reincarnation begins only upon the incumbent’s death. Traditionally, the successor has been identified by senior monastic disciples, based on spiritual signs and visions. They interpret signs, consult oracles and send search parties to the Tibetan region for a child who exhibits qualities of the previous Dalai Lama.
It can take several years after the next Dalai Lama is identified as a baby and groomed to take the reins.
That process might be undone this time as the Dalai Lama has said that he might leave written instructions for finding his reincarnation, or name his successor while still alive.
https://apnews.com/article/dalai-lama-t ... 9d2ba91872
Video: https://apnews.com/video/dalai-lama-say ... 461ebb958e
1 of 4 | The Dalai Lama said Wednesday there will be a successor after his death. But China insists that it alone has the authority to approve the next religious leader. AP’s Sheikh Saaliq explains why the decision is consequential for most Tibetans. AP video by Shonal Ganguly, Rishi Lekhi and Ashwini Bhatia
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama presides over an event celebrating his 90th birthday according to a Tibetan calendar at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Monday, June 30, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
2 of 4 | Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama presides over an event celebrating his 90th birthday according to a Tibetan calendar at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Monday, June 30, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
Buddhist monks of various schools of Tibetan Buddhism watch a recorded video message by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
BY SHEIKH SAALIQ
Updated 10:09 PM MDT, July 3, 2025
DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — The Dalai Lama has often called himself a simple monk, but millions of his Tibetan Buddhist followers have worshipped him for decades as a near deity.
They also see him as the face of Tibet’s aspirations for greater autonomy, but have for years wrestled with the idea that he might be the last person to hold the role.
He put that speculation to rest Wednesday, just days before he turns 90 on Sunday. There will be a successor after his death, he announced, and the Dalai Lama’s office will lead the search and recognize a successor in accordance with past tradition.
The decision is consequential for most Tibetans, who have struggled for decades to keep their identity alive — in Tibet or outside in exile — and rallied behind the Dalai Lama for that cause. It could also irk China, which insists that it alone has the authority to approve the next religious leader, a move seen as Beijing’s efforts to strengthen its control over Tibet’s overwhelmingly Buddhist population.
‘Simple Buddhist monk’ hailed as a god-king
Recognized worldwide in his red robes and wide smile, the Dalai Lama describes himself as a “simple Buddhist monk.” But he is also worshipped as living manifestations of Chenrezig, the Buddhist god of compassion, and is the 14th person to hold the title of the Dalai Lama in a tradition stretching back 500 years.
As a village boy, Tenzin Gyatso was thrust onto the Tibetan throne to become the Dalai Lama — a god-king to his people — in 1937. Soon after, Chinese troops swept into his homeland in the 1950s and crushed a failed uprising. He escaped with thousands of his followers to India and established a government in exile.
Since then, the Dalai Lama has spent more than seven decades in exile, living an austere monastic life in regal isolation in the tiny, Himalayan town of Dharamshala. He has also jetted from capital to capital to try to force the aspirations of his tiny community onto the world agenda, uniting and mobilizing Tibetans inside and outside China.
The face of Tibet’s struggle for autonomy
Tibetans in exile say they were effectively independent for centuries, and accuse China of trying to wipe out Tibet’s Buddhist culture and language, and encouraging Chinese to move there from other parts of the country. Beijing insists Tibet is a part of China.
While many Tibetans seek full independence, the Dalai Lama has long said that he seeks only substantial autonomy and identity for Tibetan people. He has advocated for a nonviolent “Middle Way” for autonomy and religious freedom for Tibetan people through peaceful means.
Attendant monks help Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to leave after presiding over an event celebrating his 90th birthday according to a Tibetan calendar at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Monday, June 30, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
Beijing, however, accuses him of making efforts to wrest Tibet’s control away from China and inciting rebellion among Tibetans. In the past, Chinese leaders have called him a “wolf in monk’s robes” and the “scum of Buddhism.”
In 1989, the Nobel Peace Prize committee honored him “for his consistent resistance to the use of violence in his people’s struggle.” In 2011, he relinquished his role as head of the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile and handed over political powers to a democratically elected government.
Raging dispute
With the Dalai Lama in his twilight years, the question looms about what happens after him.
The Dalai Lama has said that his successor will be born in a free country, indicating that the next spiritual leader could come from among Tibetan exiles and not from China.
China, meanwhile, is determined to control the succession of the Dalai Lama and insists that the reincarnation must be found in China’s Tibetan areas, giving the Communist authorities immense power over who is chosen.
Buddhist monks of various schools of Tibetan Buddhism watch a recorded video message by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, ahead of his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar on July 6. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
Thus, many observers believe there eventually will be rival Dalai Lamas — one appointed by Beijing, and one by senior monks loyal to the current Dalai Lama.
China has also sought to elevate other spiritual figures, particularly Tibetan Buddhism’s No. 2 figure, the Panchen Lama. A boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the new Panchen disappeared soon after, and Beijing produced its own successor, whose legitimacy is highly contested.
Search for next Dalai Lama
The search for a Dalai Lama’s reincarnation begins only upon the incumbent’s death. Traditionally, the successor has been identified by senior monastic disciples, based on spiritual signs and visions. They interpret signs, consult oracles and send search parties to the Tibetan region for a child who exhibits qualities of the previous Dalai Lama.
It can take several years after the next Dalai Lama is identified as a baby and groomed to take the reins.
That process might be undone this time as the Dalai Lama has said that he might leave written instructions for finding his reincarnation, or name his successor while still alive.
https://apnews.com/article/dalai-lama-t ... 9d2ba91872