"I Will Serve as Much as I Can"
The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama (religious name Tenzin Gyatso), has expressed his wish to live beyond the age of 130 as he approaches his 90th birthday.
The Dalai Lama is attending a longevity prayer ceremony held on the 5th at the main temple of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Dharamsala. Photo by AFP Yonhap News
On the 5th, major international media outlets including AFP reported that the Dalai Lama attended a prayer ceremony in Dharamsala, a highland region in the Himalayas of India, on the eve of his 90th birthday. He told his followers, "I have done my best to live my life until now, and under the protection of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, I wish to live for another 30 to 40 years or more."
The Dalai Lama also stated, "Although we lost our homeland and are living in exile in India, we have been able to bring great benefit to sentient beings," and added, "I will remain in Dharamsala and continue to serve as much as I can for sentient beings and for the Dharma."
After the Chinese suppression of the anti-annexation uprising in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, in 1959, the Dalai Lama went into exile in India, where he established a government-in-exile in Dharamsala and has led a nonviolent independence movement. However, as he nears the age of 90, there is growing attention on the issue of his succession. According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, when the Dalai Lama dies, his soul is believed to reincarnate in the body of a child. The current Dalai Lama was also identified as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama at the age of two.
Earlier, from July 2nd, he attended a three-day high-level Tibetan Buddhist religious conference, where he emphasized, "I confirm that the Dalai Lama institution will continue." In the past, he once suggested that he might be the last Dalai Lama, which led to various speculations, but he has now made it clear that the institution will persist. In addition, the Dalai Lama has repeatedly stressed that his successor will reincarnate in the free world, not in China, and that any individual designated by China should be rejected.
However, the Chinese government, which regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist, does not recognize this. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the Dalai Lama's statement by asserting, "The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama as a child must be recognized through the Golden Urn lottery system and must receive approval from the central government."
Previously, in 1995, China also intervened in the selection of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest ranking figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama, and unilaterally appointed the 11th Panchen Lama. After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1989, the boy Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was declared by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation, disappeared shortly after being named and is known to be living under de facto house arrest by Chinese authorities.
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