The Dalai Lama

Shimla, July 13: The Dalai Lama today hinted that his successor might not be an incarnation but a democratically elected spiritual leader of the Tibetans. This was the first time he had mentioned such a possibility.

“There are a number of spiritual leaders in the Tibetan community. A female (too) can be a Dalai Lama. It will depend on the decision of the Tibetan people, whether they decide to select their spiritual leader by continuing with the conventional method or adopting a democratic method,” Tenzin Gyatso, the current and 14th Dalai Lama, said while consecrating a new monastery in Kaza, 420km from Shimla.

He did not elaborate on the kind of democratic system that could be used for the “selection”. But community leaders believe that the Tibetan government in exile — based in Himachal Pradesh’s Dharamsala — could reach an agreement or the Tibetans could make their choice in a vote.

The talk of a successor is significant because the Dalai Lama has hinted at retirement several times over the past few months as well as at the possibility of a woman taking his place. The Tibetan spiritual leader, who celebrated his 74th birthday on July 7, has been insisting that he is already in “semi-retirement”.

Gyatso has been the leader of the Tibetans since November 17, 1950, when he was anointed at the age of 15, a month after China’s invasion of Tibet on October 7.

Like others in the past, the current Dalai Lama is believed to be a reincarnation of his predecessor.

Senior Buddhist monks are supposed to get to know, through meditation and spiritual training, an incarnation when one is born. They have secret rules to determine whether the child they have tracked down is indeed the incarnation.

One test is to have the baby recognise one of the possessions of the previous Dalai Lama. The search for the reincarnation typically requires a couple of years.

The current Dalai Lama was proclaimed the reincarnation of the 13th leader at the age of two by senior monks using the same set of rules.