Context: India raised a strong objection to China's demand that Beijing must approve the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, asserting that no one except the Tibetan spiritual leader himself has the authority to decide on his successor.
Relevance of the Topic Prelims- Key facts about Dalai Lama.
Who is Dalai Lama?
- “Dalai Lama” is a title which is a combination of the Mongolic word dalai ('ocean') and the Tibetan word lama ('master, guru').
- This title was first conferred in 1578 upon Sonam Gyatso, the leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, by Altan Khan, the first Shunyi King of Ming China.
- The first two Dalai Lamas were offered this title posthumously. The Third Dalai Lama was a living leader to receive this title (Sonam Gyatso).
The Dalai Lama Lineage:
- The institution of the Dalai Lama is part of the tulku concept in Tibetan Buddhism, in which spiritual masters are reincarnated upon their death, so that their teachings can be preserved and carried forward.
- All tulkus in the lineage of the Dalai Lamas are considered manifestations of the Buddha Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.
- The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) escaped from Lhasa in 1959 during the Tibetan diaspora and lives in exile in Dharamsala, India. He was recognised as the reincarnation of the previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso at the age of two. Bodhisattvas are persons who are on the path to becoming a Buddha, but who put the liberation of other sentient beings ahead of entering nirvana themselves.
- The first Dalai Lama, Gedun Drupa, was born in 1391. Beginning with Lobsang Gyatso (1617-82), the fifth of the line, the Dalai Lama became both the spiritual and political leader of Tibetan Buddhists.
Significance:
- The Dalai Lama is the symbol of unification of Tibet.
- He represents Buddhist values and traditions not tied to a specific school.
- From the 5th Dalai Lama onwards, the lineage was enjoined with the secular role of governing Tibet.
14th Dalai Lama and Tibetan government-in-exile
- The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) was born in the hamlet of Taktser in north-eastern Tibet, now Qinghai province of China, on July 6, 1935. He was identified at age 2 as the reincarnation of Thubten Gyatso, the 13th Dalai Lama.
- 1951: Tibet was annexed by China.
- 1959: Tibetan national uprising was crushed by Chinese troops. The 14th Dalai Lama escaped from Lhasa along with a group of his followers, and crossed into India at Khenzimane in Arunachal Pradesh.
- 1960: Jawaharlal Nehru’s government settled him in McLeodganj, Dharamshala, where the Tibetan government-in-exile was established.
- 2011: Dalai Lama wrote to the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies, known as the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, asking to be relieved of his temporal authority. Formal transfer of political power to the democratically elected leader of Tibetans living in exile took place, ending a 368-year-old tradition in which the Dalai Lama was both the spiritual and political head of Tibetans.
Dalai Lama & China:
- China denounces the 14th Dalai Lama as a “splittist”, “traitor”, and an exile with “no right to represent the Tibetan people”, and prohibits any public show of devotion towards him.
- In his 2011 statement, the Dalai Lama had said that his reincarnation should be found in a free country, not under Chinese control. No recognition should be given to a reincarnation selected for political purposes by the Chinese government.
- Tibetans fear that as the Dalai Lama grows older, Beijing could announce a successor of its choice, and use it to tighten its control over the Tibetan Buddhist religion and culture.
15th Dalai Lama:
- 2025: 14th Dalai Lama announced that the 600-year-old institution of the Dalai Lama would continue and the Gaden Phodrang Trust (the official office of the Dalai Lama) shall be the sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation.
Gaden Phodrang:
- Gaden Phodrang refers to the residential quarters of the Dalai Lama lineage from the second Dalai Lama onward at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet.
- After the Potala Palace was built (by a decree of the fifth Dalai Lama), the Dalai Lamas moved away from these quarters, and stayed at Potala Palace in winter and Norbulingka (built by the seventh Dalai Lama about 100 years after Potala) in summer. This tradition was followed until the 14th Dalai Lama’s escape from Lhasa to India in March 1959.
There are three institutions associated with Dalai Lama:
1. Gaden Phodrang Trust:
- Registered in 2011 in Dharamshala with the aim of recognising the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
- It is based in the office of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama heads the trust, whose members include some other aides of the spiritual leader.
2. Gaden Phodrang Foundation:
- Tax-exempt Swiss nonprofit with its registered office in Zurich, and is supervised by the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs.
- It is funded by charitable contributions made by the founder and the public.
- The Dalai Lama is the founder and president of the foundation.
- Aim: To maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama, preserve Tibetan culture, promote basic human values, mutual understanding among religions, peace and non-violence, and protection of the environment.
3. Dalai Lama Trust:
- Non-profit charitable organisation founded by the 14th Dalai Lama in 2009, headquartered in New Delhi.
Aim: To support the welfare of the Tibetan people and to promote human values, interfaith harmony, and world peace. Support Tibetan students and scholars and fund schools and educational institutions.
Key Facts:
- The 14th Dalai Lama was conferred the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
- Books authored by him: Freedom in Exile (autobiography); Voice for the Voiceless.