The reincarnation of living Buddhas is a major original feature of Tibetan Buddhism, and it also serves as a basic symbol of how Buddhism became localized in Xizang and developed in the Chinese context. In fact, when people talk about the phenomenon of living Buddha reincarnation, they tend to discuss it as a feature that distinguishes Tibetan Buddhism from other Buddhist traditions, which leads many to habitually emphasize only its uniqueness. What they often don’t realize is that behind this feature, there are actually some universal Buddhist teachings, important trajectories in Xizang’s historical development, and the close relationship between Xizang and the motherland. 

Many friends who aren’t familiar with Tibetan culture may naturally feel a sense of mystery about the system of living Buddha reincarnation. However, with any cultural phenomenon, as long as you approach and try to understand it, you’ll gradually grasp its core logic and essential characteristics, and its mysterious veil will naturally be lifted. On this point, Tibetologists and religious scholars, through long-term research on living Buddha reincarnation, have established a complete set of research theories and produced objective and authoritative conclusions. Their research fully reveals the complete relationships in Tibetan Buddhist living Buddha reincarnation regarding individuality and commonality, doctrine and ritual, sacred and secular, mystery and common sense, religion and politics, and so on.   

Although the research results on living Buddha reincarnation are abundant and the discussion angles are diverse and complex, they can generally be summarized as reaching a consensus on its religious, historical, and political aspects. This categorization has also led to a summary of the three major principles for handling Tibetan Buddhist living Buddha reincarnation: it should follow established religious rituals, rigorous historical conventions and rules, and government approval. 

These three major principles of the Tibetan Buddhist living Buddha reincarnation system were formed through the accumulation of experience and summarization of rules in the process of its emergence and development. The formation of these principles itself reflects the internal laws of historical development of the reincarnation system—from nonexistence to prevalence, simplicity to complexity, and disorder to standardization. It has become the most effective guideline for addressing complex issues surrounding Living Buddha reincarnation and safeguarding the sound inheritance of Tibetan Buddhism. 

Against the backdrop of these three principles, this article offers targeted reflections to refute fallacies hyped up by the 14th Dalai Lama, the Dalai group, and Western anti-China forces, such as the so-called “Dalai Lama’s right to decide his own reincarnation”. 

1. Following religious traditions and rituals isn’t about emphasizing personal will; it’s about reflecting the core teachings of Buddhism. From a historical perspective, the appearance of living Buddha reincarnations in Xizang fully demonstrates an innovative wisdom in Buddhism. To understand this unique culture, we must start with its core theoretical foundation. First, we need to recognize that the creator of the living Buddha reincarnation emphasized the doctrinal basis to the world. In other words, concepts like the indestructibility of the soul, the law of cause and effect, the six realms of samsara‌, and the Bodhisattva’s salvation were cleverly utilized in establishing the reincarnation logic of living Buddhas, which provides believers with credibility and a foundational faith.   

According to Buddhism’s own logic, living Buddha reincarnation essentially reflects the continuation of the previous life’s soul into the next life’s body. The core lies in the certainty and accuracy of this soul’s continuity from the previous life to the next. To ensure this, Tibetan Buddhism has created various religious rituals and traditional practices for living Buddha reincarnation, such as holding prayer ceremonies, observing lakes, interpreting dreams, divination, tsampa ball drawing lots, and identifying personal relics. Although there are many specific practices, their essence is to use Buddhist doctrines to verify that the next life’s soul is indeed the previous one. 

Here, a fundamental question may arise: who actually decides the fate of the so-called soul? Strictly speaking, in determining which path a soul takes in the six realms of samsara‌, Buddhism considers the most decisive factor to be 'karma,' with cause and effect serving as the means through which karma manifests. Buddhism further states that 'karma' is an objective force that is not influenced by human will; it is the inevitable result of all the karma accumulated over an individual’s current and countless past lives. It’s important to emphasize that although Buddhism acknowledges that a practitioner’s meditations, prayers, or personal wishes may have some influence on the soul’s fate after death, this influence is not decisive—karma is the truly irreversible, determining force. However, the most mysterious and scientifically unprovable aspect in Buddhism is how exactly this 'karma' manifests, which is why so many rituals were created to verify the authenticity and objectivity of this mystical force.   

Owing to the profound mystery and complexity of this core process, virtually all monastic practitioners and Living Buddhas throughout history refrained from publicly stating personal wishes regarding their own reincarnation during their lifetimes, fully acknowledging the established religious rituals governing reincarnation. By contrast, the 14th Dalai Lama has repeatedly put forward outlandish claims such as the "theory of terminating reincarnation", "statements on reincarnating as a different gender", and the "butterfly reincarnation metaphor". Meanwhile, the Dalai clique and Western forces hype the fallacy of the "Dalai Lama’s right to independently decide his reincarnation". All these assertions deliberately negate the rationality of reincarnation rituals, undermine the core doctrinal foundations and age-old traditions upon which the Living Buddha reincarnation system relies for survival and development, and inflict severe harm on the sound inheritance of Tibetan Buddhism. 

2. Adhering to Historical Conventions is not about being conservative, but about respecting tradition and promoting the sound inheritance of Tibetan Buddhism. 

Now our topic can shift from the religious doctrines themselves to the historical realities. As the reincarnation of living Buddhas became a common inheritance model across Tibetan Buddhist sects, relying solely on the core Buddhist doctrines and the practice of religious rituals could not effectively regulate the various disputes arising during the reincarnation process of living Buddhas, nor eliminate the negative impact of these disputes on the historical development of Tibetan society. Therefore, there emerged an urgent need to establish a more complete and practical system, leading to the second major principle of the living Buddha reincarnation system: historical conventions. The historical conventions of living Buddha reincarnation is the experience summarized from the practical process of implementing doctrines and rituals related to reincarnation. In Tibetan history, especially the history of reincarnations across sects, many disputes arose because social and material conflicts of interest in the reincarnation process became apparent but no timely normative historical conventions was established. Some disputes escalated into disastrous historical events, like conflicts over the reincarnation of the Fifth Dalai Lama and the Sixth Panchen Lama, which even led to the Gorkha invasion of Xizang, greatly affecting social harmony and stability in Xizang. From the earliest Ming Yongle-era officials reviewing newly recognized Karmapa reincarnation Tönwa Donlan (mthong ba don ldan), to the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty establishing the Golden Urn system and issuing the Imperially Approved Ordinance for the Better Governance of Xizang (the 29-Article Ordinance), and throughout each step of living Buddha reincarnation, including searching, identifying, approving, and enthronement, practical and feasible fixed practices were gradually formed. Living Buddha reincarnation began to take shape as a standardized, institutionalized, and workable historical conventions, effectively preventing instances in Tibetan history where major lamas or their families embezzled, manipulated major living Buddha reincarnations, or colluded with external forces to disrupt Xizang. Specifically, for the reincarnation systems of major lamas like the Dalai and Panchen Lamas, in principle, the Golden Urn must be used to confirm their reincarnation. This has become the most important religious ritual and historical conventions, and after several centuries, it has become a system widely recognized by all Tibetan Buddhist monks and followers as a fair and just method for resolving reincarnation issues of the two major Gelugpa lamas.  

This historical conventions of living Buddha reincarnation must not be wantonly violated or destroyed by any individual or organization, including the 14th Dalai Lama himself. The reason is that the historical conventions of living Buddha reincarnation was not formed by chance, but through summarizing experiences and reaching consensus while correcting and regulating various disputes in history. It represents the wisdom of generations of Tibetan Buddhist masters and central authorities of different dynasties and has proven through practice to be the most effective way to resolve reincarnation issues. Rejecting the historical conventions is, in a sense, rejecting the development history of Tibetan Buddhism itself and denying the inheritance of its basic systems and rituals. The general populace would not accept this, nor would the Chinese government. Therefore, regarding the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama, religious rituals and historical conventions should be fully respected, implementing the "Golden Urn" system rather than allowing the Dalai clique or the Western powers to manipulate it privately; resolutely enforcing the "Golden Urn" system is not about sticking to old ways, but about safeguarding the orderly and sound inheritance of Tibetan Buddhism. 

3. It needs government approval. This is not about abandoning the old for the new, nor is it about interfering with religious freedom—it's about regulating the management of religious affairs.  

The institution of Living Buddha reincarnation integrates both religious and political dimensions. Its emergence stems less from the need to pass down sectarian teachings than from the imperative to safeguard political interests under the theocratic system—exemplified vividly by the Karmapa Black Hat lineage of the Kagyu school, and the Dalai Lama and Panchen Erdeni lineages of the Gelug school. Given this dual nature, reincarnation affairs are never purely internal religious matters but fall within the scope of national governance. 

When governing Xizang, successive central dynasties recognized the secular dimensions of Living Buddha reincarnation and the social conflicts triggered by unregulated reincarnation disputes, gradually bringing reincarnation affairs under state administration and rolling out targeted institutional measures to standardize the system. These measures simultaneously maintained internal order within Tibetan Buddhism, fostered its healthy inheritance, and embodied the central government’s jurisdiction over all affairs in Xizang. 

The requirement for government approval of Living Buddha reincarnation is rooted in folk traditions and long-standing historical precedent. Today, there are more than 1,700 Living Buddha reincarnation lineages affiliated with over 3,700 monasteries across Tibetan-inhabited regions, monasteries that have historically been tied to villages, tribes and local communities. Every Living Buddha reincarnation required joint deliberation among the affiliated monastery, village or tribe prior to ritual search, identification and enthronement—granting secular stakeholders a voice in the process and laying the traditional groundwork for mandatory endorsement by competent authorities. Extending this logic, government approval became a binding historical convention for major Living Buddha reincarnations: from Emperor Yongle’s envoys verifying the Karmapa reincarnation candidate in the Ming Dynasty, to the mandatory submission of Dalai Lama and Panchen Erdeni reincarnation cases for review and approval by the Qing central government, this practice has endured for centuries. Vesting approval authority in the government defuses internal conflicts within Tibetan Buddhism over reincarnation, prevents malicious actors from exploiting the influence of Living Buddhas to stoke inter-sectarian, inter-village and inter-regional social strife, and protects the vital interests of Tibetan Buddhism and its believers. 

Following the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the state continued to respect and uphold traditional religious rituals and historical conventions for Living Buddha reincarnation, while advancing law-based administration of Tibetan Buddhist affairs through the enactment of multiple laws and regulations. The 2007 issuance of the Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism marked a milestone in the institutional evolution of Living Buddha reincarnation. This legislation codified the government approval procedure into formal law, specifying the prerequisites for conducting reincarnation procedures, mandatory application and approval formalities, and delineating the approval jurisdiction of government authorities for different tiers of Living Buddhas. 

In sum, history and facts fully attest to the legitimacy, necessity and importance of state approval power over Living Buddha reincarnation affairs. Government oversight, administration and approval of reincarnation do not constitute interference in internal Tibetan Buddhist affairs or citizens’ freedom of religious belief. As proven by centuries of history, such state governance preserves the standardization and authority of the Living Buddha reincarnation system and protects the fundamental interests of Tibetan Buddhism itself. 

(Laxianjia, Director and Research Fellow of the Institute of Religious Studies, China Tibetology Research Center) 

Editor：Bella Wu