To outsiders, the Dalai Lama affirming that someone will take his place when he dies might have felt like a mere confirmation of the status quo.
He is the 14th Dalai Lama — of course, there will be a 15th.
But that assumption misses the point, as well as the significance of his statement.
The Dalai Lama’s statement comforted millions of followers while also sending a message to political forces in Beijing that are expected to try and meddle with his succession.
He also sent a message to the world: Tibet’s struggle for identity is not over.
China calls him a ‘wolf in monk’s robes’
The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has become inseparable from Tibet’s identity and its decades-long struggle for autonomy under Beijing’s tightening grip.
After escaping Tibet in 1959, he has been as much a reformist as a spiritual leader.
From his adopted home in McLeodganj, Dharamshala, in northern India, he built a government-in-exile, unified Tibetans across the diaspora and brought their plight to the global stage.
For Beijing, he remains a thorn in the side, denounced as a dangerous separatist and a “wolf in monk’s robes”.
He had previously said that when he turned 90, he would consult the high lamas of Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan public to re-evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue at all.
This week, at an event to celebrate his birthday according to a Tibetan calender, he confirmed the way forward.
“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” he said in a statement.
And, he said, it would do so without the interference of the Chinese government.
Importantly, he said that only his foundation — the Gaden Phodrang Trust — can recognise his future reincarnation, and that he himself will issue instructions for the process when the time comes.
His followers responded with a mix of jubilation and relief.
The Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala hosted the first round of celebrations for the Dalia Lama’s 90th birthday. (AP: Ashwini Bhatia)
A question that hung over his followers
For decades, Tibetan Buddhists around the world have pleaded with the Dalai Lama to clarify his succession plans.
Their fear was twofold: that the institution might end with him, leaving a spiritual and political vacuum; or that China would install a puppet successor to undermine the Tibetan cause.
Those concerns are not unfounded.
In 1995, years after the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, Beijing installed its own Panchen Lama, rejecting the Dalai Lama’s chosen candidate — a six-year-old boy who has since vanished from public view.
Traditionally, the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas have played crucial roles in recognising each other’s reincarnations.
The Dalai Lama has moved to head off any attempts by China to hijack the recognition of the next Dalai Lama. (AP: Ashwini Bhatia)
Many experts believe Beijing is preparing to impose control over the Dalai Lama’s succession too.
On Wednesday — shortly after his statement — a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson reiterated Beijing’s position that any reincarnation must be selected and approved by China.
That could pave the way for the possibility of two Dalai Lamas: one revered by Tibetans and Buddhist followers across the world, the other installed by Beijing.
The Dalai Lama has long anticipated this scenario.
“It is particularly inappropriate for Chinese communists, who explicitly reject even the idea of past and future lives … to meddle in the system of reincarnation,” he said in 2011.
“Such brazen meddling contradicts their own political ideology and reveals their double standards.”
At the religious conference in Dharamshala this week, senior Tibetan Buddhist leaders issued a formal statement of gratitude to the Dalai Lama.
They too condemned China’s interference as political and illegitimate: “We strongly condemn the People’s Republic of China’s usage of the reincarnation subject for their political gain and will never accept it.”
Tibetan monks gathered at the Dalai Lama’s temple complex in India to pray for his long life. (Reuters: Anushree Fadnavis)
A message to Tibet, and beyond
Beijing, which annexed Tibet in 1951, has in recent years been accused of an intensified campaign to reshape Tibetan Buddhism into a tool of the state.
The atheist Chinese Communist Party has imposed surveillance inside monasteries, pushed monks through patriotic re-education, and installed its own religious figures, as part of a broader effort to assimilate ethnic and religious minorities, according to a report by the US Department of State.
Many of the tactics mirrors those reportedly used in Xinjiang against the Muslim Uyghur population.
Despite Beijing’s long shadow, Tibetan Buddhists have been celebrating and praying for their leader’s long life this week.
The Dalai Lama’s declaration is a strong reminder of the continuing struggle for Tibet’s identity. (Reuters: Anushree Fadnavis)
At 90, the Dalai Lama’s influence remains undiminished, but the road ahead is fraught.
His declaration this week reasserts his authority over the succession process and signals his determination to safeguard both the institution and the Tibetan cause beyond his lifetime.
It’s a strong reminder to his followers, and to Beijing, that the struggle for Tibet’s identity continues.
The Dalai Lama sent a strong message to his followers — and to China
