Dalai Lama says his incarnation may be found in India; warns against any successor named by China

The 14th Dalai Lama was quoted saying "Chinese have more concern about the next Dalai Lama than me," by Reuters.

Image: AFP/ Getty Images

New Delhi: The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists Dalai Lama who has been living in India since the last 60 years said on Monday that it was possible that if he dies his incarnation could be found in India and at the same time warned against any other successor named by China. “China considers Dalai Lama’s reincarnation as something very important. They have more concern about the next Dalai Lama than me, “the 14^th Dalai Lama was quoted as saying by Reuters. He said that if in future, in case people see two Dalai Lamas come, one from India, in free country, one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect (the one chosen by China). So that’s an additional problem for the Chinese, he added. The statement comes a day after the town of Dharamshala marked the anniversary of Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibetan capital disguised as a soldier. China has earlier said that as per a legacy inherited from China’s emperors, the Chinese leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama’s successor. However, many Tibetans suspect any Chinese role as a ploy to exert influence on the community. The Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. The current Dalai Lama, was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was two years old.  He escaped to India in the early 1959, after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Many of China’s Tibetans still worship Dalai Lama despite government’s prohibition on any public display of devotion to him.