Dalai Lama has no authority over reincarnation system: Chinese envoy to India

China’s Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, said on Sunday that the Dalai Lama does not have the authority to decide whether the Tibetan Buddhist reincarnation system should continue.

Feihong stated that the 14th Dalai Lama has already affirmed that the tradition of Dalai Lama succession will go on. The practice, known as the Living Buddha reincarnation, has been a part of Tibetan Buddhism for over 700 years.

“Currently, there are over 1000 reincarnation systems of Living Buddhas in Xizang and Tibetan-inhabited prefectures/counties of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces,” Xu Feihong said in a post on X.

“The 14th Dalai Lama is part of this long-standing historical tradition and religious succession, not otherwise. The reincarnation of Dalai Lamas neither began from him nor will end due to him. He has no authority to decide whether the reincarnation system shall continue or be abolished,” he added.

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