China Bans Reincarnation - Without Permission

[Jabberwonky]

I'd like to see the form for that...

According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."

Full article.

[zachariah]

I'd like to see the form for that...

The Huffington Post article"]According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation.

The form is a waste of time and only a political move. Once the spirit enters the Bardo it is entirely up to the spirit in how it makes it through tot he wheel. The Dali Lama has mastered the route and attained enlightenment and passes most of the small things. The chineese just want to name their own Dali Lama. Won't work. The task of identifying the next one is not easy and there are indicators that are used to positively identify the next one. These keys are based upon the current one and memories carried over. Only the monks attending the Dali will know what some of them are. Somehow I cannot think of how it can be faked so it will be believed. Being born outside Tibet actually gives good odds they will never find him either. For more about it read the Tibetan Book of the Dead, a good translation, not one of the popular fiction copies out there.

[Atomic]

The old Actuary was reviewing his funeral plans with his wife, for he liked to plan ahead.

"But why, oh why," she asked, "do you want to be buried in Jerusalem? We've lived here for 60 years -- isn't that good enough?"

"Yes, my love, that's true, but Jerusalem has the highest resurrection rate in the world!"

[Fairportfan]

Sounds like a specialised law designed to attack the Dalai Lama in his next life.

[Dave]

Sounds like a specialised law designed to attack the Dalai Lama in his next life.

In effect, yes.

The Chinese authorities have never been happy (to put it very lightly) with the fact that the Dalai Lama is (1) not under their control and (2) is highly respected as a moral authority by the traditional Tibetan culture and people (both those Tibetans still residing in Tibet, and Tibetan expatriates living in India and elsewhere). The same is true for the other Tulkus (the recognized reincarnated lamas who lead various branches of the traditional Tibetan religious system).

China has been trying for decades to gain control over the Tibetan religious structure, by appointing "approved" religious leaders or influencing the selection of same. From what I recall, this hasn't worked at all well for them... their appointed leaders haven't been accepted by observant Tibetan Buddhists. Similar tactics have been used to try to control Christian worship and belief in China - there are "approved" Christian churches and congregations (legal but essentially under the control of the Chinese bureaucracy) and "illegal" churches. If I recall correctly, being a member of an "illegal" church is a potentially punishable offense.

This new law sounds like another step in this process. They're looking ahead to the time when the present Dalai Lama passes on, and his next incarnation is recognized and declared. They want to be the ones who control the identity of the boy declared to be the next Dalai Lama. Presumably they'll choose one living in their own territory, in a position where they can control his upbringing and religious training, in order to shape the subsequent policies of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to be more obedient to China's political wishes. I'm sure they don't want to have a Dalai Lama incarnation declared outside their jurisdiction (e.g. in India) as this will continue to give encouragement to the Tibetan separatist/nativist movement.

By writing a law which purports to control what reincarnations are "legitimate" they're probably trying to give themselves legal authority to declare that any such incarnation is "illegal" and thus not legitimate, and have legal grounds (on paper at least) to punish anyone in their jurisdiction who supports such a leader.

[shadowinthelight]

I'm getting the mental image of the Chinese army standing around waiting for the Dalai Lama to respawn like campers in a first-person shooter.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I'm getting the mental image of the Chinese army standing around waiting for the Dalai Lama to respawn like campers in a first-person shooter.

Dali R Camped! GTFO n00bz b4 i tra1nz j00.

[Julie]

Similar tactics have been used to try to control Christian worship and belief in China - there are "approved" Christian churches and congregations (legal but essentially under the control of the Chinese bureaucracy) and "illegal" churches. If I recall correctly, being a member of an "illegal" church is a potentially punishable offense.

If what I learned in the class I took last semester is on point (History of East Asian Philosophy and Religion), then there have been recent improvements in the Christian situation in China. Apparently the control exerted by the government over the Three Self churches waxes and wanes, and during the waning periods, the churches shift towards more traditional Christian messages. Also, the House Churches in China go through the same kind of cyclical periods of persecution and tolerance. As of last Fall, China seemed to be moving into a new period of tolerance (as per the information provided to my class...and given that the university I've been attending is über-right-wing-conservative-Christian, I'm inclined to think they'd blast any government that was currently being hard on the church). Here's hoping that such moves towards religious tolerance continue and don't swing back to radical intolerance as they have in the past.

That said, I doubt they'd ever be tolerant of a Dalai Lama outside of their control. There's too much politically riding on that whole issue for them to ever be okay with it.

[DinkyInky]

I'm getting the mental image of the Chinese army standing around waiting for the Dalai Lama to respawn like campers in a first-person shooter.

Dali R Camped! GTFO n00bz b4 i tra1nz j00.

http://www.wtfcomics.com/archive.html?405_20