How the next Dalai Lama will be chosen — and where India stands

The matter of the Dalai Lama’s succession is inextricably tied to the Tibetan struggle for freedom from Chinese occupation and over seven decades of human rights violations in Tibet—and bears huge geopolitical significance. The Dalai Lama is the face of Tibetan identity, known for his non-violent approach to resolving the Tibetan cause. (Image: Reuters)

Anushka Saxena, research analyst specialising in China at the Takshashila Institution, interprets India’s stance as keeping the territorial issue of Tibet separate from matters of Tibetan Buddhism within the country. As far as Tibet’s sovereignty is concerned, India officially recognised it as part of China during a meeting between then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in 2003. (Image: Reuters)

“Similarly, while there may not be a documented policy on the approach to Tibetans-in-exile or the Dalai Lama, the fact is that India has given the Dalai Lama the freedom to hold gatherings, allowed foreign believers to flock to Dharamshala, and even let officials such as former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visit the religious leader. So, in that sense, India has adopted a stance of keeping the territorial issue of Tibet separate from the issue of allowing religious freedom to prosper in India,” Saxena told CNBC-TV18. (Image: Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama)

Saxena believes complexities could arise if the 15th Dalai Lama were to be born in India. The Dalai Lama has stated that his successor will be born in a free world. He also said that he would live to serve the Tibetan cause for another four decades, during a prayer ceremony in Dharamshala on the eve of his 90th birthday. (Image: Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama)

How will the next Dalai Lama be recognised? Members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, established in 2011 to support the institution of the Dalai Lama, will lead the search and recognition process in accordance with Tibetan Buddhist tradition. (Reuters)

The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the 14th in the line of succession. Born as Lhamo Thondup to a farming family in Taktser village in traditional Amdo region of Tibet (present day Qinghai province), he was recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama after a combination of signs of the previous Dalai Lama and specific visions of high lamas.

A key aspect of recognising him included identifying objects that once belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama, among many other observations by search party that arrived in Amdo from Tibet’s capital Lhasa. Raised in Potala Palce in Lhasa, he was enthroned as the leader of Tibet at the age of 15 in 1950 at the advice of Tibet’s state oracle as Chinese forces began advancing into eastern Tibet. (Image: Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama)

The Nobel Peace laureate has since led Tibetan struggle for freedom and looked after the well-being of Tibetans in exile for the last 70 years. The Chinese government has repeatedly labelled the Dalai Lama a ‘separatist,’ banned his image in Tibet and China, and claimed authority over recognising the leader’s successor. The country insists that incarnations of Tibetan Buddhist leaders must be done by drawing lots from a golden urn as enshrined into law of the Chinese government. The Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh made clear China has no say in the matter.

Tibetans fear that China will install their own Dalai Lama and wield its influence in the world to recognise their candidate as the 15th Dalai Lama. “China would of course appoint its own 15th Dalai Lama, and the world, including India, would have to decide upon what’s in their best interest – to recognise the legitimacy of the CTA’s candidate, or that of China,” Saxena said.

China’s interference in the Dalai Lama’s succession would not be its first in Tibetan Buddhist leadership. It previously intervened in recognition of the successor of the 10th Panchen Lama (L), regarded the second highest spiritual leader of Tibet. (Image: Reuters)

After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, the Dalai Lama recognised six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as his reincarnation on May 14, 1995. Within three days, Chinese authorities kidnapped the boy and his parents. Their whereabouts remain unknown. China instead installed its own candidate, Gyaltsen Norbu, as the 11th Panchen Lama. (Image: The Tibet Museum)