By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, September 12: The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama today said that it is too early to talk of the 14th Dalai Lama’s reincarnation following a recent report in German newspaper Welt Am Sonntagwhich reported that the present 14th Dalai Lama could be the last Dalai Lama.
Speaking to Phayul, Chimme Rinzin Choekyapa, Secretary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, said, “His Holiness is only 79 years old and is in excellent health and I am sure he will be there for many years to come. Therefore to talk of his reincarnation, whether there will be a reincarnation in the future is premature.”
The Tibetan leader was quoted as saying by the German newspaper, “We had a Dalai Lama for almost five centuries. The 14th Dalai Lama now is very popular. Let us then finish with a popular Dalai Lama.”
“If a weak Dalai Lama comes along, then it will just disgrace the Dalai Lama,” His Holiness added with a laugh.
His Holiness had said that the Tibetan Buddhism wasn’t dependent on a single person and that it has a very good organizational structure with highly trained monks and scholars, according to the German newspaper.
Rinzin further noted that His Holiness has issued a statement about his reincarnation indicating that around age of 90 years he will consult the senior lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public, and other concerned people who follow Tibetan Buddhism and re-evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not.
“If its is decided that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should continue, the responsibility for doing so will rest primarily on the concerned officers of the Dalai Lama’s Gaden Phodrang Trust. Various other heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the reliable oath-bound dharma protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas and Tibetan people will be consulted. It will be done in such a way that there will be no loopholes and no room for any kind of mistrust or worry,” Rinzin added.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government has already reacted to the Tibetan leader’s remarks saying that the Dalai Lama should respect the “historic practice of reincarnation”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing that when it came to the reincarnation of living Buddhas, including the Dalai Lama, China had a “set religious procedure and historic custom”, which the Tibetans says is a direct intrusion in the Tibetan religious beliefs and sentiments.
