Dalai Lama Approaching 90th Birthday Seeks Successor Outside China

First revealed in new book
Will be born in the "free world outside of China"
Successor plans to be announced on 90th birthday in July

The 14th Dalai Lama (84), the spiritual leader of Tibet, is giving a sermon at an interfaith gathering commemorating the 70th anniversary of independence in Mumbai, India, on August 13, 2017. / Photo by AFP and Yonhap News

The "spiritual leader of Tibet," the 89-year-old Dalai Lama, revealed in a new book that his successor will be born in the "free world outside of China." This is the first time he has publicly expressed his intention to find a successor outside of China.

According to U.S. Reuters and other media on the 11th (local time), the Dalai Lama stated in his newly published book, Voice for the Voiceless, that he wishes the tradition of the Dalai Lama to continue even after his death.

The Dalai Lama explained, "The purpose of reincarnation is to carry on the achievements of the predecessors, so the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world," adding, "Only then can he become the voice of universal compassion, the traditional mission of the Dalai Lama, and continue to represent the aspirations of the Tibetan people as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism." He also announced that he plans to reveal specific plans regarding his successor around his 90th birthday in July.

The current 14th Dalai Lama ascended in 1940 and, opposing Chinese rule, established the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, northern India, in 1959, leading a nonviolent independence movement. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, but the Chinese government has criticized him as a "separatist." Even after handing over the position of government head to the president of the Tibetan government elected in August 2011, he is still regarded as the de facto head of the Tibetan state.

According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, when the Dalai Lama dies, his soul is believed to reincarnate into the body of a child. The current Dalai Lama was also identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor at the age of two. Although he has previously suggested the possibility that his successor might be born in India rather than Tibet, this is the first time he has definitively stated that the successor will be born outside of China.

The Chinese government claims it will directly decide the Dalai Lama’s successor, but the Dalai Lama urged in his book that Tibetans must reject any successor appointed by China. He also emphasized that Tibet remains under the oppressive rule of the Chinese Communist Party, and that the struggle for Tibetan freedom will continue after his death, stating, "The right of Tibetans to protect their land can never be denied. Oppression can never crush the aspiration for freedom forever."

He added, "The clear lesson history teaches us is that a society can never be stable if its people continue to suffer." However, considering his age, he expressed regret that the possibility of returning to Tibet is becoming increasingly slim.