In No Hurry To Go, Chinese Will Have to Wait for 30–40 Years for Reincarnation: Dalai Lama
Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh:
The Chinese have to wait for at least 30–40 years on the question of reincarnation as he is no hurry to go, the 14th Dalai Lama said in response to a question in his interaction with the students and faculty of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, at his residence in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
Responding to the question on reincarnation, the Dalai Lama recalled an incident, “Few years ago, someone asked me about reincarnation. Then I took off my glasses. [As he was] Judging my face, I asked him, “Hurry or no hurry?”. Then he said, “Oh! No hurry!”
The Dalai Lama added, “Some Chinese hardliners express [views] about the 15th Dalai Lama. They have to wait at least another 30–40 years.”
On the institution of the Dalai Lama, he said, “The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the future of the Dalai Lama, is ultimately in my own hands. At the time of my death, I will write some will. So my rebirth, I think, will somewhere [be in the] Buddhist community. As early as 1969, I made clear even [that whether] the institution of Dalai Lama should continue or not [is] up to Tibetan people. Reincarnation is not important. It’s important that Buddha’s teachings remain.”
Emphasising that it’s the message and not the messenger, the Dalai Lama said that the knowledge of the Nalanda masters is still there despite no officially recognised reincarnation. About his own teachings, the Dalai Lama said, “I have written a number of books, and there are a number of books that have recorded my teachings. After my death, these will remain. So these teachings do not totally depend on individual person but the text of the teaching.”
Madhur Sharma is a student of journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, and a graduate in history from the Delhi University. He tweets at @madhur_mrt.
This is his second story on Tibet. The first one:
