Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has confirmed that he will have a successor after his death, the BBC reports.
He said only the Gaden Phodrang Trust, which he founded, had the authority to recognize his future reincarnation – “no one else has any such authority to interfere.”
He made the long-awaited announcement in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala, where he lives in exile from Chinese rule.
Hundreds of followers have gathered in Dharamshala to celebrate his 90th birthday this week.
Tibetan Buddhists believe their senior monks are reincarnated after death and a Dalai Lama is chosen by Buddhist officials if they are convinced that the one they are choosing harbours the soul of his predecessor.
The current Dalai Lama, the 14th, was identified as the reincarnation when he was two years old.
In March, he’d announced his successor would be born outside China and he would release more details around his 90th birthday – which is this week. This was significant as he had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him.
He’s now reiterated that the Gaden Phodrang Foundation – an organisation he founded in 2015 to maintain and support the Dalai Lama’s religious duties – will choose his successor.
The group’s senior officers, which include his aides, will carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition, according to his website, external.
“I shall leave clear written instructions about this. Bear in mind that apart from the reincarnation recognized through such legitimate methods, no recognition or acceptance should be given to a candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, including those in the People’s Republic of China.”
China regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist. It says it has the right to choose his successor.
