new Delhi: For the first time, an Indian Buddhist organization on Tuesday (December 20, 2022) passed a resolution calling for non-interference in the matter of the succession of the 14th Dalai Lama and the appointment of the next (15th) Dalai Lama.
The Indian Himalayan Council of the Nalanda Buddhist Tradition (IHCNBT) said in a resolution, “If the government of the People’s Republic of China chooses a candidate for the Dalai Lama for political purposes, the people of the Himalayas will never accept it.” Never bow down reverently to such a political appointee and never publicly condemn such a move by anyone.”
The one-page resolution states, “The system of recognizing reincarnated spiritual beings is a religious practice unique to the philosophy of Nalanda Buddhism and the doctrine of life after death.”
It added, “No government or any individual has the right to interfere in this matter.”
The proposal stated that the institution of the Ganden Phodang has the sole authority over the reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
It added that no one, including China, should interfere in such a sacred and religious process.
The Indian Himalayan Council of the Nalanda Buddhist Tradition (IHCNBT), a body of top Buddhist leaders meets in Delhi to pass a resolution on the succession of the Dalai Lama. It is said that China will not accept the appointed Dalai Lama. https://t.co/YkYT6pT4Us pic.twitter.com/k0g9fbip8z— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) December 20, 2022
Noting that China’s Communist government could intervene in the tradition and appoint its own Dalai Lama makes the resolution passed Tuesday at the organization’s second Governing Council meeting all the more significant.
When asked about Beijing’s eagerness to appoint the next Dalai Lama, the organization’s president, Lochen Rimpoche, told Zee News, “Don’t worry about the Chinese government, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is not only the Himalayan region, but all Buddhists.” He is the supreme spiritual leader of the U.S. but other countries”.
Venerable Chuchep Choeden, vice president of the organization, highlighted that “China is preparing a lot of things to handle the agenda”.
“For us, Himalayan Buddhists, His Holiness, his institution, and the continuation of this institution is a very important point. His Holiness is very strongly connected to the Himalayan region,” he said.
The council’s secretary-general, Maling Gombo, said “the issue of reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is a purely religious and cultural issue, no other authority has any role to interfere in the process”.
Unlike China, the Indian government has so far not commented on the appointment of the next Dalai Lama.
The IHCNBT was formed in 2018 and has top Buddhist leadership from the Indian Union Territory of Ladakh and states such as Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. These states and union territories border the Chinese-administered Tibet.
The name of the organization was given by the Dalai Lama.
Tibetan Buddhism is seen as the successor to the Nalanda tradition of Buddhism in India.
IHCNBT was first conceived by the strategic think tank body The Tawang Foundation during a national conference held in June 2018 in Gurugram, Haryana.
The organization works to preserve the Indian Himalayan Nalanda Buddhist tradition and develop educational institutions among all traditions of Nalanda Buddhism in the Indian Himalayan region.
It has also been organizing several Buddhist conferences in Ladakh, Himachal, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.