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The Dalai Lama traveled to the Himalayan Indian town of Tawang this week to begin days of important teachings that some observers see as a message to China that he may not be reborn within China’s satellite of influence, diluting its control over the next Dalai Lama.
Aging lamas sometimes travel late in life to locations where they expect or hope to be reincarnated, The New York Times reported.
Traveling to Tawang now “is a way of getting under the skin of the Chinese, of probing them, and reminding them that they have no control over where the next reincarnation occurs,” historian Robert Barnett of Columbia University told the Times.
The place of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation might not be the only surprise in his rebirth. He may return as a female, he said.
He said in Tawang that he had no indication where his successor might be born. The Associated Press reported that when asked if he could be succeeded by a woman, he responded: “That might also happen.” (He said in 2015 that a female successor would have to be “attractive,” which ignited a firestorm of controversy. It wasn’t entirely clear then, however, if he was being serious that he could be succeeded by a woman.)
He said in Tawang that it’s up to the people to decide whether to preserve the reincarnation tradition for their leader.
But in an interview in March with comedian John Oliver, he said: “As far as my own rebirth is concerned, the final authority is my say, no one else’s — and obviously not Chinese communists.”
The Dalai Lama could turn to a less traditional method of choosing his successor, and pick a child — or an adult — before his death.
The Dalai Lama and his followers have been living in India in Dharamsala since fleeing Tibet after a failed 1959 uprising against the Chinese.
