Kyodo World Service, August 3rd, 2007
The Chinese government announced new regulations Friday to
strengthen its control over Buddhism in Tibet.
The State Administration of Religious Affairs said in a
statement that all reincarnated lamas will have to be officially
approved by the government. Those not registered after the new
regulations are introduced next month will be considered ''illegal''
and ''invalid,'' it said.
Reincarnated lamas are usually monks considered by monasteries
or other Buddhist religious authorities to be highly spiritual and
worthy of veneration.
There are no exact figures for the number of the spiritually
influential lamas in Tibet, but there are thought to be several
hundred.
The administration said, ''The selection of reincarnates must
preserve national unity and solidarity of all ethnic groups and the
selection process cannot be influenced by any group or individual
from outside the country. It is an important move to institutionalize
management on reincarnation of living Buddhas.''
Thubten Samphel, a spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile
led by the Dalai Lama in India, said, ''For the government to tell
Tibetans who can be regarded as a reincarnated lama is something
which will not go down well.''
''The recognition of who is a lama is something which can only
be given by a religious authority -- and the ultimate religious
authority in Tibet is the Dalai Lama,'' he said.
The Dalai Lama fled from Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising
against Chinese rule. Many Tibetans regard him as both their
spiritual and political leader.
He wants China to give Tibet greater autonomy to preserve its
language, religion and way of life, which he says are under threat
because of the influx of ethnic-Chinese immigrants and Chinese
culture.
