Following the news that Jacob Zuma's government has bowed to Chinese pressure and barred the Dalai Lama from South Africa comes the news that China has called on the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader to respect what it said was the historic tradition of reincarnation. This coming from an atheist, communist government!
"The reincarnation of living Buddhas is a form of succession special to Tibetan Buddhism, and the policies of freedom of religious belief observed by China naturally include respecting and protecting this form of succession in Tibetan Buddhism," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular briefing.
"There has never been the case of a previous Dalai determining the next Dalai. At the same time, the Chinese government has already issued rules about religious affairs and the administration of reincarnation of living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism," he added. "The reincarnation of any living Buddha, including the Dalai Lama, should respect the religious rules, historical standards and state laws and regulations."
Traditionally, high lamas, Buddhist priests, can take years to identify a child deemed to be a reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, a search usually limited to Tibet, now ruled by Beijing which regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist.
Tibetans fear that China will use the thorny issue of the Dalai Lama's religious succession to split the movement, with one new Lama named by exiles and one by China after his death.
The Chinese government says it has to approve all reincarnations of living Buddhas, or senior religious figures in Tibetan Buddhism. It also says China has to sign off on the choosing of the next Dalai Lama.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu had invited the Dalai Lama to deliver the inaugural Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture today at the University of Cape Town as part of Tutu's 80th birthday celebrations this weekend.
"ironically, the Dalai Lama's message for peace and compassion might reach more people than if he had been allowed to come here," chairman of the Trust Dumisa Ntsebeza said as the body prepared to link up by video with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader at his Dharamsala home in India.
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