Dalai Lama says he will have successor after his death
EXILED Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said on Wednesday that the 600-year-old institution will continue after his death. He said the “institution of the Dalai Lama will continue”, and the Gaden Phodrang trust has the sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation.
The Dalai Lama recalled making a statement on whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue during a meeting of the heads of Tibetan spiritual traditions on 24 September 2011.
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“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” he said in a video broadcast at the start of a meeting of religious leaders in the Indian Himalayan town where he has lived for decades.
The Dalai Lama noted that he had not made any public statements on the issue over the past 14 years. However, leaders of Tibet's spiritual traditions have written to him with reasons, earnestly requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama continue.
Future Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama said in a statement posted on X that the process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognised has been clearly established in the 24 September 2011 statement.
It “states that responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” the spiritual leader said.
He said the members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust should consult the various heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas.
“They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition,” he added.
The decision to continue the institution of Dalai Lama ended years of waiting by followers of the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader for details about his succession.
Besides, the Wednesday announcement will have a profound impact on his Buddhist followers, AFP news agency reported.
