Permission to reincarnate, sir?
In the current issue (17 January 2008) of the
New York Review of Books, Pankaj
Mishra writes about dissenters in Tibet. In "The Quiet Heroes of
Tibet", the Dalai Lama plays a big role, especially with respect to
"the extreme Chinese distrust of the Dalai Lama". Mishra tells us
(p. 40) that:
In August this year, the officially
atheist Chinese regime passed legislation effectively banning Buddhist
monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission.
The larger story:
... Chinese authorities are trying
hard, if often clumsily, to undermine the Dalai Lama's authority.
In 1995, Chinese authorities kidnapped the boy--called Gendrun Choekyi
Nyima--whom the Dalai Lama had identified as the eleventh Panchen Lama,
and installed their own child candidate in this important position in
Tibetan Buddhism. (The whereabouts of the kidnapped boy remain
unknown.) In an attempt to forestall the Chinese regime from
usurping his position, the Dalai Lama announced that he will be
reincarnated outside Tibet, guaranteeing that his successor will be
born in the Tibetan community in exile. In August this year, the
officially atheist Chinese regime passed
legislation effectively banning Buddhist monks in Tibet from
reincarnating without government permission. According to a
statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the
law, which stipulates the procedures for rebirth, is "an important move
to institutionalize management of reincarnation."
I hadn't realized that you could pick how and where you would be
reincarnated -- or, of course, that reincarnation could be subject to
government regulation.
[Added 8 January: Tom Vinson explains, "Tibetan Buddhists believe that certain highly-developed lamas can choose their form of rebirth. See
this site for more information" and adds wryly, "As far as I know, government regulation is not part of this tradition."]
Posted by Arnold Zwicky at January 7, 2008 01:58 PM