China bans Buddhist monks from reincarnating

[Pekka]

Whaaaat? do we have other sources confirming this? I mean this seems a bit extreme even for Chinese bullying Tibetians. Permission for reincarnation.. x 10000.

[Blake]

Originally posted by MarkG
ok so lets get this straight (and a bit more serious)

so when Dalai Lama will reincarnate without the proper papers filled in(!) what will the Chinese government do? Refuse to recognize his reincarnation as the new Dalai Lama? So? What will be the effect of that? The article isnt very helpfull (while providing valuable information like that an american-born Dalai Lama will be welcomed by 20% of US citizens...)

I think it means the Dalai Lama is considered a criminal if he reincarnates in China. It's a catch-22, a Dalai Lama in China has to either have sold his soul to China, or be a criminal. It doesn't need to be enforceable in the supernatural sense, China is perfectly happy as long as no-one claims (a person) to be a reincarnated Buddhist monk, OR if said monks have sold their soul to China, OR if they can legally disappear such monks. Despite the absurdity it actually works for China's purposes.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Elok
One wonders how they would enforce this...

The death penalty maybe? --Naw, that wouldn't work.

[Alexander I]

This is up there on the list of stupidest things I've ever heard. Wow.

[Elok]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
The death penalty maybe? --Naw, that wouldn't work.

Yeah, Buddhists are like the Terminator in super-slow-motion. It might take a generation for them to grow up, but they'll be back.

[Arrian]

Priceless.

-Arrian

[PLATO]

When Lhamo Thondup was barely three years old, a search party that had been sent out by the Tibetan government to find the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama arrived at Kumbum monastery. It had been led there by a number of signs. One of these concerned the embalmed body of his predecessor, Thupten Gyatso, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, who had died aged fifty-seven in 1933. During its period of sitting in state, the head was discovered to have turned from facing south to northeast. Shortly after that the Regent, himself a senior lama, had a vision. Looking into the waters of the sacred lake, Lhamo Lhatso, in southern Tibet, he clearly saw the Tibetan letters Ah, Ka and Ma float into view. These were followed by the image of a three-storied monastery with a turquoise and gold roof and a path running from it to a hill. Finally, he saw a small house with strangely shaped guttering. He was sure that the letter Ah referred to Amdo, the northeastern province, so it was there that the search party was sent.

By the time they reached Kumbum, the members of the search party felt that they were on the right track. It seemed likely that if the letter Ah referred to Amdo, then Ka must indicate the monastery at Kumbum, which was indeed three-storied and turquoise-roofed. They now only needed to locate a hill and a house with peculiar guttering. So they began to search the neighbouring villages. When they saw the gnarled branches of juniper wood on the roof of the His Holiness’ parent’s house, they were certain that the new Dalai Lama would not be far away. Nevertheless, rather than reveal the purpose of their visit, the group asked only to stay the night. The leader of the party, Kewtsang Rinpoche, then pretended to be a servant and spent much of the evening observing and playing with the youngest child in the house.

The child recognised him and called out ‘Sera lama, Sera lama’. Sera was Kewtsang Rinpoche's monastery. The next day they left only to return a few days later as a formal deputation. This time they brought with them a number of things that had belonged to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, together with several similar items that did not. In every case, the infant correctly identified those belonging to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama saying, “It’s mine. It’s mine.” This more or less convinced the search party that they had found the new incarnation. It was not long before the boy from Taktser was acknowledged to be the new Dalai Lama. The boy Lhamo Thondup was first taken to Kumbum monastery. “There now began a somewhat unhappy period of my life,” His Holiness was to write later, reflecting on his separation from his parents and the unfamiliar surroundings. “However, there were two consolations to life at the monastery.” First, His Holiness’ immediate elder brother Lobsang Samten was already there. The second consolation was the fact that his teacher was a very kind old monk, who often held his young disciple inside his gown.

http://www.dalailama.com/page.4.htm

This all seems rather random and subject to interpretation. Who's to stop China from having there own "search party"?

[Lord Avalon]

Yeah, they could introduce their own People's Dalai Lama*.

*approved by the Communist Party of China

[Shrapnel12]

What next? Will they ban Christians from going to heaven when they die?

[ZEE]

as silly as all this is, this is all a political move for China wanting to select their own Dalai Lama for some twisted, evil, monopolistic reason...

[DaShi]

Originally posted by Lord Avalon
Yeah, they could introduce their own People's Dalai Lama*.

*approved by the Communist Party of China

The Chinese have named their own Dalai Lama. He's just not recognized by anyone outside the CCP. And they can't have religious affiliations.

[Lord Avalon]

So they have a secular Dalai Lama?

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Lord Avalon
So they have a secular Dalai Lama?

Well...it seems that besides being the head of the religion that he is also head of the government...

[Cort Haus]

Reality imitating satire.

[dannubis]

In the mean time they are still occupying Tibet

And we still do business with these guys...