Korean Job Discussion Forums

[igotthisguitar]

China Slaps Ban On Reincarnation
Tibetan monks must seek permission for rebirth

By Lester Haines
Wednesday 29th August 2007 14:04 GMT

China has rather brilliantly declared that, from next month, Tibetan Buddhist monks must have official permission to reincarnate, Newsweek reports.

The new legislation lays down strict guidelines for making a reappearance and is, according to a statement from the State Administration for Religious Affairs, "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation". The penalty for illicit reincarnation is not noted (100 consecutive life sentences without parole?), but there is method in the Chinese authorities' madness.

As Newsweek points out, the law will effectively prevent any Buddhist monk living outside Tibet* from seeking reincarnation. Accordingly, it also "effectively gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next Dalai Lama".

The exiled 72-year-old Dalai Lama is currently in India pondering his successor. Since he's refused to reincarnate in Tibet while it's under Chinese control, there is the provocative possibility of a Chinese-sponsored Dalai Lama going head-to-head with a new young chum for Richard Gere.

Paul Harrison, a Buddhism scholar at Stanford, explained: "It will be a very hot issue. The Dalai Lama has been the prime symbol of unity and national identity in Tibet, and so it's quite likely the battle for his incarnation will be a lot more important than the others."

Harison and other Buddhism scholars are agreed the next Dalai Lama's Dalai Lama will "will likely be from within the 130,000 Tibetan exiles spread throughout India, Europe and North America", while China is evidently preparing the ground for a Tibetan resident rival.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/29/reincarnation_ban/

[Komichi]

I've been saying for years, this is exactly what China needs to do.

[Tiger Beer]

Funny...and interesting.

[Kuros]

That's funny, because I believe the Dalai Lama's official position is that his reincarnation is conditional on the will of the Tibetan people. Amazing how China's toppling of the repressive Yellow-Hat Buddhist regime there has allowed Tibetan self-determination over the Dalai's reincarnation.

Remember, the Dalai Lama is only one of two influential positions in the Yellow Hat hierarchy. The current Panchen Lama is a Chinese puppet.

[Ya-ta Boy]

The title is misleading. The Chinese haven't banned reincarnation; they've just said that

[twg]

China, that poor, misunderstood cultural utopia...

[bacasper]

I just want to go on record as opposed to any and all government regulation of reincarnation, and I don't care who knows it!

[Rockmonanoff]

All hail the Chinese, the world's soon-to-be richest country and true superpower.

[igotthisguitar]