Dalai Lama Reincarnation: Tibetan Spiritual Leader Says He Will Spell Out Own Details

DHARMSALA, India -- The Dalai Lama said Saturday if he is to be reincarnated he will leave clear written instructions about the process, but that the matter is unlikely to come up for a number of years.

The Tibetan spiritual leader said in a statement that when he is "about 90" he will consult Buddhist scholars to evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue at all. He is 76.

The statement came after a meeting between the Dalai Lama and the leaders of the four Tibetan Buddhist sects, the first since he transferred his political role earlier this year to an elected prime minister.

China reviles the Dalai Lama as a separatist, although the Nobel Peace Prize laureate insists he is only seeking increased autonomy for Tibet. Beijing has left little doubt that it intends to be deeply involved in choosing the next Dalai Lama. That concern has led the current Dalai Lama to contemplate ideas that break with the ancient system in which each dead Dalai Lama is reincarnated in the body of a male child.

In May, the Dalai Lama formally stepped down as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, giving up the political power that he and his predecessors have wielded over Tibetans for hundreds of years. Though he remains the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, his decision to abdicate is one of the biggest upheavals in the community since a Chinese crackdown led him to flee Tibet in 1959 into exile in India.

China insists that religious law requires that the Dalai Lama's reincarnation be born in a Tibetan area under Chinese control. However, the Dalai Lama has said his successor will be born in exile and has even floated the idea of choosing his own successor while still alive – perhaps even a woman.

In his statement Saturday, he said if the institution of the Dalai Lama were to continue, then he would leave behind "clear written instructions about it."

"Bear in mind that, apart from the reincarnation recognized through such legitimate methods, no recognition or acceptance should be given to a candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, including those in the People's Republic of China," he said.

The Dalai Lama has lived in the Indian hill town of Dharmsala since fleeing Tibet. China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, but many Tibetans say the region was virtually independent for centuries.

Comments

[researcher]

12:09 AM on 11/23/2011

when the buddhist finally figure out what comes after the question about the origin of suffering then you will have hinduism. buddha was a hindu that was more interested in eliminating suffering then the big questions in life.

my research revealed to me that indian sages such as aurobindo are much more advanced in answering these big questions than buddhism. buddhism is about suffering and how to rid of it once and for all.

life has meaning and purpose not just to rid oneself of suffering. although that is an important part of the path. very important. the buddha set out to find the origin of suffering and how to eliminate it. in that he was successful.

now calling him the perfect one is religion defined.

join no religion including materialistic scientism because the second you do your path is limited in scope.

[Jared Keith Jones]

04:39 PM on 11/23/2011

The Buddha was not Hindu. As philosophers, we must posit that there can be a description of reality which most accurately describes how things exist and function. Everything else is a less and less true version of that description - while containing some truth - up to a point. After a certain point, the statements become completely incorrect. Some secondary conclusions drawn from incorrect positions may resemble conclusions of the correct position.

The fundamental ontology - atman, brahman, ishvara - has many of the same "methods" as the ontology of impermanence and emptiness. Simply because the secondary set of conclusions - ethical living, single-pointed concentration (samadhi), generating love and compassion in our minds - are similar, does not mean that the reasoning behind those is the same or that both positions are correct.

You will know the "big question" answers by knowing the fundamental facts. As the Buddha said (paraphrase), "You are like a man who has been shot by a poison arrow. Now, instead of trying to take the arrow out, you are asking me: What kind of wood was the arrow made from? Who shot the arrow? What city and cultural background was that person from?" Those questions can/should/will be addressed after you take out the arrow and cure yourself from the poison.

[Jared Keith Jones]

04:33 PM on 09/29/2011

Minds and particles come into existence together, so why isn't reality complete chaos? This is the edge of scientific thought. The only thing which adequately completes the picture without including a magical, occult phenomenon - god, shiva, inherent existence, etc - is a special case of cause and effect which relates to sentient beings i.e. karma.

Intentional actions (karma): Certain relationships with a non-inherent reality of particles which have no history and arise co-dependently with minds results in specific future collapses of the wave function.

Therefore, same leads to same. When you kill with a deluded, ignorant intention in a non-inherent reality that arises co-dependently with YOUR mind, the only sensible future collapse of the wave function is having a range of experiences which correspond to that act.

Reincarnation: Collapsing the wave function in an entirely new way. The entire parameters of the possibility of collapse are altered. As a human being, the collapse is limited.. upon death, there are many possibilities in terms of collapsing a new body, external reality, etc along with a new mental experience of those phenomenon.

Tulku (i.e. Reincarnated Lamas): Someone who has gained sufficient control of the process of death to effect where and in what type of body they will be reborn. This does not guarantee, by they way, they will remember everything they did in a past life, nor remember wisdom (if it was only a valid inference and not a direct realization), or have compassion.

[Jared Keith Jones]

04:31 PM on 09/29/2011

If this doesn't sound like the scientific basis for a non-material mind, a mind which is not a mere epiphenomenon of matter... then you need to sit down again with basic quantum mechanics.

Secondly, the appearance of "moment-by-moment cause and effect" even at the simplest level - this moment of a particle, and the next moment of the "same particle" - are actually two different things. The previous moment did not transfer energy or information to the next moment. There is a gap between the first and second moment, so that the first moment is not actually the cause of the second moment.

In other words, all causality is NON-LOCAL. If we posit that causality happens from the side of inherently existent particles, then reality doesn't work, according to quantum physics. Minds must always be a part of the equation otherwise there is no particle. Therefore, all causality needs some explanation.

[Jared Keith Jones]

04:29 PM on 09/29/2011

Quantum non-locality, quantum entanglement, and the measurement paradox (not actually a paradox) destroy what you take for granted about your reality, namely billiard ball reactions of particles.

There is no prior moment of a particle. Quantum physics 101. A particle is an instance that happens when consciousness collapses the wave function. Each instance of a particle-mind has no prior history.

Also, consciousness is something that happens when there is something to be conscious of. Minds need objects, objects need minds. Therefore material reality and mind must always go together, and billiard ball cause and effect does not happen from the side of particles without minds, this is why we have the measurement "paradox." See below.

Measurement paradox: Our brains are made of particles which are merely potential particles (non-actualities) that have to be collapsed by an observer into actual particles on a moment by moment basis. Since the mind which collapses particles into actualities is produced by the brain, and the brain is produced by the mind... we have a paradox. Chicken and the egg.

[Mike Altland]

10:22 PM on 11/07/2011

Thinking is the best way to travel. Faster than light if you want to.

[researcher]

12:27 AM on 11/23/2011

jared you may want to rethink the chicken and egg thing.

your comments on billard ball reactions or lack of is well thought out. very advanced awareness of the lack of validity of that aspect of the buddhist religion.

now paradoxes are always the result of a lack of understanding or better stated as a lack of awareness.

perfection meaning infinite awareness knows no paradoxes. all paradoxes have one common underlying reality: unawareness or its synonym ignorance.

as far as dialog with a materialist. it is a waste of your time and theirs. materialistic scientism has become a religion to them. they must to hold on to their religious beliefs and deny anything that even suggests something outside their materialistic paradigm.

they reject before any investigation as you have seen on huff post time and time again.

dialog with them is similiar to dialog with a evangel in spite of the evidence they must deny it as it is too mentally painful to do otherwise.

[Jared Keith Jones]

04:21 PM on 11/23/2011

I was actually arguing For the Buddha's final position on the nature of reality, not against his position. Quantum Mechanics and Madhyamika-Prasangika are hand and glove.

[Steelsil]

01:59 AM on 09/29/2011

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
Dalai Lama

[Dharmakitri]

03:40 PM on 09/29/2011

That is one of my favorite quotes from the Dalai Lama. The other is "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."

[simon Bar]

01:41 PM on 09/30/2011

I like that. I don't like re-incarnation. Why do religions have to add that extra element of magic to attract the masses. There is no reason to "believe" in reincarnation, ponder all you like, please do not profess it!

[HanMeiRen]

10:06 PM on 09/28/2011

There is too much propaganda/misinformation from the Free Tibet crowds on the ground reality in Tibet.

Here is a critical trip report from a US Senate staff visit to Tibet in 2010:

http://for­eign.senat­e.gov/down­load/?id=E­3A86CB6-49­9B-4228-9F­2F-2B046E0­ADE83

[CMB1969]

09:23 AM on 09/28/2011

The Chinese government is weighing in on what Tibetan Buddhist religious law specifies about the future reincarnation of a soul? No that is cynical.

[HanMeiRen]

10:03 PM on 09/28/2011

Politics is a dirty business.

[I Make Stuff]

01:25 PM on 09/29/2011

It's not a Tibetan religious law, it's a Chinese one. The Chinese officially atheist government made a law saying that the Chinese government has the sole authority to choose reincarnate lamas.

[ZenGardner]

07:57 AM on 09/27/2011

If reincarnation were real, insurance companies would find a way to capitalize on it.

[Inannawhimsey]

04:47 PM on 09/27/2011

They already are, in effect -- the industry wants to have your genetic info and is complaining that if it doesn't get it, then the whole industry is going to go out of business as more 'genetically weak' puts stress on the system (ie more and more payouts) :3 We live in quite a bizarre world, the various artificial mechanisms that we create.

[curiousdwk]

07:40 PM on 09/26/2011

The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama? And people wonder why I'm not a Buddhist. So much for all those people who claim that Buddhism is not a religion. It definitely isn't science. And one can't believe in reincarnation without believing in a supernatural reality in addition to a natural reality.

Yup. It's a religion and I want to stay far away from it.

[Inannawhimsey]

10:56 PM on 09/26/2011

Isn't the internet great? You come in contact with so many different world views...it truly is one of the best things some people in that certain bits of the USA have given the world :3

[simon Bar]

03:44 PM on 11/04/2011

well welcome.

[ZenGardner]

07:59 AM on 09/27/2011

Reincarnation is a Tibetan Buddhist thing. Other sects reject reincarnation since it posits something that can move from one life to another - something the Buddha said didn't "exist."

The 'beauty' of Buddhism is that, if you don't want to believe in such silliness as reincarnation, you don't have to.

[Myoho Mod]

01:46 PM on 09/26/2011

Most people don't understand the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. It is not the western idea that you think

[eric14]

06:13 PM on 09/26/2011

You know what I think?

[nodiseos]

01:37 PM on 09/26/2011

For the best overview of reincarnation ni the Tibetan tradition, see http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-59030-839-4.cfm

[TYRANNASAURUS]

11:13 AM on 09/26/2011

Dalai Lama Talks Reincarnation...........

The catch words here are....If he is to be reincarnated.... not to worry Sir you and no one else including Shirley McClain will be....it doesn't fix into the laws of physics..

[Jared Keith Jones]

03:25 PM on 10/01/2011

Given the measurement paradox in quantum physics and the quote "Hard Problem" in modern psychology, positing that the observer or mind or consciousness (a phenomenon which knows), is not an epiphenomenon of matter is most satisfactory answer to these issues. By positing that matter does not produce knowing phenomenon - by giving mind its own ontological status - the door is wide open for an ongoing knowing existence beyond the moment of physical death. It necessitates this conclusion.

The hard problem: http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness
The measurement paradox: http://emergentfool.com/2010/06/02/quantum-reality-and-the-measurement-paradox/

[TYRANNASAURUS]

10:30 AM on 10/02/2011

.....ongoing knowing existence beyond the moment of physical death.....

.People do whatever than can to exist..... alas DEAD IS DEAD.

[Cannonball Taffy O Jones]

09:49 AM on 09/26/2011

Just what the world needs, one more man in a sheet spouting mumbo-jumbo and magic.

[TYRANNASAURUS]

11:15 AM on 09/26/2011

At least he's usually more down to earth than most mumbo-jumbo-ers.

[Inannawhimsey]

11:10 PM on 09/26/2011

And the 'mumbo-jumbo' that he spouts and practices has empirical results that Western scientists have and are studying :3

[Cannonball Taffy O Jones]

03:41 AM on 09/29/2011

Link?

[TYRANNASAURUS]

06:31 PM on 10/03/2011

Still Inannaw.....the word studying....means nothing except the action of studying.

[kodimirpal]

04:38 AM on 09/26/2011

karma is based on a belief in reincarnat­ion-the belief that after death, people return to the world in a different body, and that this process of death and rebirth is continuous­.

For example, someone who is rich and successful in this life is being rewarded with wealth for having been a good person in their previous life.

In the same way, someone who is poor, crippled or a failure in this life will have done bad things in their previous life and is now reaping the reward for those actions.

In fact, it is claimed by those who subscribe to this belief system that people may take the form of plants or animals in their successive lives, depending on the nature of the evil they have done.

At first sight it might appear that a belief in karma would provide a strong incentive for people to adopt attractive moral qualities, since they will want to enjoy the best possible conditions when they are reborn into this world. It is contrary to human conscience­.

The poor living conditions and the injustice prevalent in those countries where these religions are common or where they have, in fact, been adopted as the national religion, quite clearly demonstrat­e the truth of this.

[Neemni]

09:31 AM on 09/26/2011

"The poor living conditions and the injustice prevalent in those countries where these religions are common or where they have, in fact, been adopted as the national religion, quite clearly demonstrat­­e the truth of this."

Up to this point it was lucid, then it degenerated into rubbish.

[NitramNos]

02:30 PM on 09/26/2011

No, karma has often been used to rationalize the idea that the poor deserve to be poor and the rich deserve to be rich, just like the Christian concept in medieval times that it was "God's will".

[Welshish]

09:50 AM on 09/26/2011

So, all the 'good' people are healthy and wealthy in this lifetime?
And so, they have mostly been reborn as Americans and Europeans and can enjoy those earthly gifts.
And the sick and poor deserve that lifetime? So, why help them, the gods have condemned them?

[DavidEdwardOliver1973]

10:01 PM on 09/25/2011

"I admire the Dali Lama because he is very brave and very compassionate,"