By NEERAJ SANTOSHI
JAMMU – Lamas in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region are up in arms against the Chinese authorities for having issued a regulation that requires all reincarnations, including that of Dalai Lama, to be approved by the Chinese Government.
Asserting that this amounts to interference in the religious matters of the Buddhists and a ploy to undermine Tibetan Buddhism and the very institution of Dalai Lama, the Buddhists in Ladakh, also called Little Tibet, have urged the Prime Minister of India and international bodies to take up the issue with the Chinese authorities.
All Ladakh Gompa Association (LGA) leader Lama Lobzang Angchuk and Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) leader Sonam Dawa have expressed deep concern over the Chinese directives, adding that in no way will the same be acceptable to the Buddhists globally, who revere Dalai Lama as a living Buddha.
Lama Lobzang Angchuk, who is representative of nearly 5000 Lamas across Ladakh’s nearly 700 monasteries, said it was ridiculous that China should issue a directive on the very spiritual process of reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, who is central to the very ethos of Tibetan Buddhism.
He stressed that given the fact that the holy land of India is the birthland of Buddhism, India has the moral responsibility to speak out for the Buddhists and take up the issue with the Chinese authorities.
Angchuk said the Tibetan Administration in exile had already rejected the Chinese directive intended to choose Tibetan spiritual leaders. He said the so-called order no. 5, containing 14 articles on Management Measures for the Reincarnation of ‘Living Buddhas’ in Tibetan Buddhism by China’s State Administration of Religious Affairs is against the very concept of religious freedom, universally accepted, which lays special stress on the fact that there should be no political interference in the religious affairs.
“Though China claims that it is an atheist state, at the same time it has also included freedom of religious belief among the fundamental rights in its constitution,” he added.
Buddhists in Ladakh worship Dalai Lama as a living manifestation of Buddha. It may be noted that in August this year, Dalai Lama was in Ladakh for a fortnight where he conferred Avalokiteshvera initiation, a special religious ceremony seeking buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Angchuk said Dalai Lamas were manifestations of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet. He said that Avalokiteshvara was the earthly manifestation of the self born, eternal Buddha, Amitabha and is said to be guarding this world in the interval between the historical Sakyamuni Buddha, and the next Buddha of the Future Maitreya.
Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.
Thousands of Tibetans led by the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, nine years after China’s Communist army overtook Tibet. The Dalai Lama also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for advocating a non-violent campaign for genuine autonomy to preserve Tibetan language and culture.
