China Claims The Right To Select Next Dalai Lama And Dictate The Spiritual Leader Of A Nation
The last vestige of respectfulness is being stripped from the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people, as the Chinese communist regime make a mockery out of their most sacred religious ritual.
The selection of the next Buddha reincarnate known as the Dalai Lama is the most significant ritual in the Buddhist faith and for reasons that may baffle those outside of the Communist ideology, its makes sense to the Chinese that they can dictate who that leader might be!
Yet Zhu Weiquin, head of the ethnic and religious affairs committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, asserted that the “decision-making power over the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, and over the end or survival of this lineage, resides in the central government of China.” reported Lobsang Sangay in Time.
In 1959, the current and 14th Dalai Lama had to escape from Tibet after the Chinese took occupation in 1950, leading to the implementation a strict regime that saw the disrobing of over 90 percent of Tibetan monks and nuns. Since then, The Dalai Lama has worked tirelessly to regain freedom for Tibetans and promoted a message of peace, much to the dismay and public frustration of the Chinese Communist regime.
Only tolerance and patience can protect us from the destructive effects of anger and hatred.
— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) March 4, 2015
Members of the Regime have labelled the Dalai Lama as “a devil with a human face” and “a devil with horns” and introduced strict laws that punish anyone who carries or keeps a portrait of the Dalai lama.
The Dalai Lama has already counseled the Tibetan people that the next Dalai Lama may well be born outside the country to avoid the challenges associated with growing up in a Communist regime. In addition to this, the Dalai Lama has voluntary transferred his political powers to an elected leader of the Tibetan people, breaking historical bonds between sovereign, leader, and spiritual teacher that date back over 360 years.
It seems ludicrous looking from a modern western and democratic society that any political group could dictate the religious leaders of its people. However throughout western history books, religious leaders have been manipulated to gain power over the people. Not least in England when King Henry VIII announced himself as Supreme Head of the Church of England so he could retain the riches, being sent to Rome via English monasteries.
This attempt to dismantle a sacred ritual that identifies the next Dalai Lama and move it into a governmental office does feel wrong. From a modern perspective, this political and religious power struggle reads like historical fiction and the history books may reflect on this as the dark ages for the gentle Tibetan nation.
[Image Credit/Martin Hunter/Getty]
