The Dalai Lama...

[Indian]

Since there is no clear successor chosen , what direction will the tibetan movement take , in the event of his sudden death ?

Since lot of the young tibetans are radical ( as evidenced from the demonstrations in India and other places during olympic torch relay and visit of chinese officials ), do you think tibetan movement will take a violent turn ?

[purple cow]

I'll assume you know that successors aren't chosen, the lama is reincarnated and the correct child is found some time down the road. It would completely depend on those who train/raise him on how things will proceed from there, but i'm pretty sure it's not young radicals who will be doing the training. Let's just hope the Tibetans learned from the Panchen Lama incident where the reincarnated child was "taken into custody" by the Chinese and hasn't really been heard from since (IIRC).

[MLS]

Just to clarify: The Panchen Lama is not the reincarnated Dalai Lama.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchen_Lama
He is the second highest ranking Lama. He is supposed to be training under the current Dalai Lama now so that when the DL dies and is reincarnated, the Panchen Lama can supervise his upbringing and education. As purple cow says, this is a little difficult since the Chinese kidnapped him years ago.

I am not a Buddhist, nor do I play one on TV.

A friend of mine who does practice Buddhism says that the DL was quoted as having said something to the effect of "Maybe I won't reincarnate at all. Or will reincarnate outside of Tibet, or as a woman."

[Tom Tildrum]

Could there be two claimants to being Dalai Lama after the current one passes away? One propounded by the Chinese, and one by the expatriate Tibetan Buddhist community?

[BurnMeUp]

I do believe there was a news story some years back about the Chinese forbidding the Dalai Lama from reincarnating in China. Sounds like something from the Onion but it wasn't.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2007/08/...8741186183580/

[MLS]

Originally Posted by Tom Tildrum

Could there be two claimants to being Dalai Lama after the current one passes away? One propounded by the Chinese, and one by the expatriate Tibetan Buddhist community?

My guess is quite possibly yes. The Tibetans, of course, would have to hide theirs thoroughly or he would suffer the same fate as the Tibetan Panchen Lama.

[China Guy]

Originally Posted by BurnMeUp

I do believe there was a news story some years back about the Chinese forbidding the Dalai Lama from reincarnating in China. Sounds like something from the Onion but it wasn't.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2007/08/...8741186183580/

If you read that link, it's pretty clear that the Chinese government wants to be the one that recognizes the reincarnation. Interesting take for a godless country....

The new regulations, which go into effect September 1, 2007, will make it illegal to identify the child reincarnation of the Dalai Lama without the approval of Chinese authorities.

[Simplicio]

The current Dali Lama has said he won't reincarnate (apparently, that's an option), so there may not necessarily be a 15th Dali Lama (cite, courtesy of coremelt in another thread).

[China Guy]

He's said at times he may not reincarnate. As the human incarnation of Chenrensig (sp?) and a bodhisatva (one who has reached enlightenment but chose to return to the cycle of life-death-human incarnation in order to show others the path) the DL absolutely should be able to reincarnate and/or go or to nirvana depending on what he wishes. Should the big guy decide to reincarnate, one would think he would do so outside of Tibet and the Chinese sphere of control. He wouldn't be the first incarnate lama to do so.

FYI. there are about 1,000 "recognized" incarnations or tulkus in Tibetan buddhism and bonpoism. I've met a half dozen and all have been quite remarkable people.

[Mahaloth]

Originally Posted by Simplicio

The current Dali Lama has said he won't reincarnate (apparently, that's an option), so there may not necessarily be a 15th Dali Lama (cite, courtesy of coremelt in another thread).

I believe he has discussed it, but not settled entirely on not being reincarnated.

I don't believe in reincarnation anyway, but still.