For six hundred years, the discovery of a Dalai Lama involved divine oracles, prophetic visions in Tibet’s sacred lakes, mystical cloud formations and many other supernatural elements. It would be a revolutionary break with that past if the 14th Dalai Lama’s idea of choosing his successor through a “democratic election” comes to fruition. But then, history is made by such men of destiny. History-making should easily be part of the legacy of the 14th Dalai Lama, whose life in exile from communist China marks the beginning of a new chapter in Tibetan history. What he does will be of immense significance to the future of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. His idea of how to choose his successor is not just a question of the survival of the institution of the Dalai Lama; it will have a profound impact on every aspect of life for Tibetans living in Tibet and elsewhere in the world. And the impact may not be confined to the community belonging to his own Gelukpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. There have been other greats among his predecessors, especially the fifth and the eighth Dalai Lamas. But the burden of history that the 14th Dalai Lama carries is unique in its spiritual as well as political significance.

The Dalai Lama has used the half-century of his exile from Tibet to open the mystical world of Tibetan Buddhism to influences of modern science and education. At the same time, his has been a hard and bitter struggle to preserve Tibetan religion and culture. It would be preposterous to suggest that he would put all that aside in search of a “democratic” way to keep the tradition alive. This is not the first time he has spoken of the need for ushering in changes for the institution of the Dalai Lama. He has often spoken of himself as the “last” of the line. “The new Dalai Lama does not necessarily have to be my own reincarnation,” he told Michael Harris Goodman, the author of The Last Dalai Lama, more than 20 years ago. He has also hinted at some new, democratic procedure to choose his successor several times in the past. His latest remarks do not elaborate on the nature of the democratic selection of his successor. He has given no hint as to whether it would be restricted to his own sect or to the entire Tibetan Buddhist community, what the electorate will be like or, most important, how he will deal with the Chinese response to such a choice. It is almost certain that China will do everything it can to scuttle the process in Tibet.

But it can be reasonably assumed that his ideas for change are also an agenda for continuity that takes into account the complexities of the modern world. They go hand-in-hand with attempts to marry a monastic tradition with modernity. His exile has given Tibetans a new idea of nationhood. More than ever before, the future of this nation rests on his testament.