In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has
banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government
permission.
According to a statement issued by the State Administration
for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and
strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is
"an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."
But
beyond the irony lies China's true motive: to cut off the influence of
the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, and to
quell the region's Buddhist religious establishment more than 50 years
after China invaded the small Himalayan country.
By barring any Buddhist
monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation, the law
effectively gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next Dalai
Lama, whose soul, by tradition, is reborn as a new human to continue
the work of relieving suffering.
At 72, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since 1959, is
beginning to plan his succession, saying that he refuses to be reborn in
Tibet so long as it's under Chinese control.
Assuming he's able to
master the feat of controlling his rebirth, as Dalai Lamas supposedly
have for the last 600 years, the situation is shaping up in which there
could be two Dalai Lamas: one picked by the Chinese government, the
other by Buddhist monks.
"It will be a very hot issue," says Paul
Harrison, a Buddhism scholar at Stanford.
"The Dalai Lama has been the
prime symbol of unity and national identity in Tibet, and so it's quite
likely the battle for his incarnation will be a lot more important than
the others."