reincarnation now subject to government regulation

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By Matthew Philips
Newsweek

Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue - In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation." But beyond the irony lies China's true motive: to cut off the influence of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, and to quell the region's Buddhist religious establishment more than 50 years after China invaded the small Himalayan country. By barring any Buddhist monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation, the law effectively gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next Dalai Lama, whose soul, by tradition, is reborn as a new human to continue the work of relieving suffering.
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At 72, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since 1959, is beginning to plan his succession, saying that he refuses to be reborn in Tibet so long as it's under Chinese control. Assuming he's able to master the feat of controlling his rebirth, as Dalai Lamas supposedly have for the last 600 years, the situation is shaping up in which there could be two Dalai Lamas: one picked by the Chinese government, the other by Buddhist monks. "It will be a very hot issue," says Paul Harrison, a Buddhism scholar at Stanford. "The Dalai Lama has been the prime symbol of unity and national identity in Tibet, and so it's quite likely the battle for his incarnation will be a lot more important than the others."

So where in the world will the next Dalai Lama be born? Harrison and other Buddhism scholars agree that it will likely be from within the 130,000 Tibetan exiles spread throughout India, Europe and North America. With an estimated 8,000 Tibetans living in the United States, could the next Dalai Lama be American-born? "You'll have to ask him," says Harrison. If so, he'll likely be welcomed into a culture that has increasingly embraced reincarnation over the years. According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 20 percent of all U.S. adults believe in reincarnation. Recent surveys by the Barna Group, a Christian research nonprofit, have found that a quarter of U.S. Christians, including 10 percent of all born-again Christians, embrace it as their favored end-of-life view. A non-Tibetan Dalai Lama, experts say, is probably out of the question.
© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.

The will of God surely transcends government.

Yeah, I saw that.
I loved it, laughed quite a bit, actually

hubris is overwhealming arrogance and I think this is a time when hubris is the right word.

Merle

The Chinese argument, like most of their philosophies since Chairman Mao, is severely flawed for plenty of reasons; some of which are i) they cannot physically control the soul of a Buddhist upon death, and thus the soul can reincarnate to whomever it chooses. Basic Buddhist teachings point this out; ii) any 'leader' they pick as Dalai Lama will not be recognized by the majority of Buddhists as their spiritual leader because he did not go through the rite of passage that all previous Dalais Lama have and iii) religions have never been subject to secular rulings, and to rule in such a way precludes that they would be in charge of the whole Buddhist population, which they are not. Being a pagan myself, I also believe in reincarnation, as well as Wicca, Celtic and Norse traditions etc, and even if I was a Tibetan monk planning my succession and reincarnation, no government authority would be able to stop me, because my belief and subsequent transcending after death is not part of their jurisdiction. They can make as many laws as they like, they have no control over someone's soul. It's all a political load of crap anyway, and I hope that Karma comes around and bites them on the bum for trying to interfere.

This whole BS between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese is a farce. A farce should be funny, but until now, I hadn't laughed.

You know what the two most stupid countries on the face of the earth are? China and the USA. They both have the same military objective, to crush smaller nations and make everyone subject to their philosophies and their way of life, and they are two of the biggest financial and trade powers as well. Why then would America be kicking the sh*t out of Iraq, apart from the oil they would benefit from, if not to subjugate them into their way of thinking, and why are the Chinese doing the same to Tibet, a nation which really has no way to defend itself anyway? The only problem is, no-one else is game enough to tell these imbeciles to pull their heads in, because they'll just invade whoever complains and wipe them out. Bloody arrogant little turds, if you ask me.

Surely the best idea the Dalai Lama could possibly have, is to be re-incarnated as the next chinese head of state. Problem solved.

Sadly my machiavellian achievements go unsung. Possibly my habit of using my name has brought me grave misfortune? Mayhaps I should refer to myself as "The Scottish Me." or some such.

A tragic hero driven to insanity and brought to ruin by the machinations of evil, selfish, crazed and insane women. Its so very me. (DO NOT tell LadyM I said that. Is terrible trying to get blood off the crockery, especially invisible crazy blood.)

You said what? I didn't hear anything....

I'd love to know how they exactly plan to enforce that law.