Today I’m over seventy, seventy-two exactly. So obviously … I am the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, and aside from the First,10 I’m the one who has lived the longest. All the other Dalai Lamas stopped before seventy. So … (laughs) I’m very lucky! (Laughs.)
At the same time, as a Buddhist practitioner, I meditate constantly on impermanence. Now, in my own case, impermanence is becoming a reality. A reality that’s closer and closer….
In 1969 I had already anticipated that and made arrangements, making it clear that it would depend entirely on the Tibetan people to decide if the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not. At that time, some Tibetans expressed their concerns about what would happen after me and in the period following my death. I expressed the opinion that if a majority of Tibetans wanted to preserve the institution of the Dalai Lamas, they should consider several options.
Things are constantly changing. We must act according to a new reality where Tibet is concerned and take into consideration, today, not only the Tibetans but also the Mongolians, who have traditionally been closely connected with the institution of the Dalai Lamas. If these peoples want to keep the Dalai Lamas, they should adhere to the custom of looking for my new incarnation according to ritual. Given that the obvious aim of a reincarnation is to continue the task that hasn’t been finished by his predecessor, then logically, if my death occurs while I am outside of Tibet, my reincarnation will manifest abroad in order to complete what I have left unfinished.
But there are also other possibilities. Many years ago I explained that, according to Tibetan tradition, the process of succession can be determined in a different way.
My Dalailamaship
IT WAS MY WISH that temporal authority be handed over to a prime minister, the Kalon Tripa, and he was elected for the first time in 2001. So now I’m part-time, and I’m sometimes asked if I plan on retiring. Is that possible? Can my Dalailamaship retire?
No, I cannot become a retiree (laughs). Unless a majority no longer regards me as the Dalai Lama—then I’ll be able to go into retirement! (laughs). I’m joking!
Since 2001, we have had a leader of the executive branch elected by vote every five years. That is how I could go into semi-retirement in politics. In Tibet, in 1952, I initiated changes that were the preliminaries for democratization. But we weren’t able to set in motion our modernization program, since so many upheavals happened.
Then, when we arrived in India as refugees, we were all favorable to democracy. Since 2001, the main decisions have been made by people who were elected, and not by me. In fact, I act as an experienced adviser. In 2006, Samdhong Rinpoche was reelected, and the rule is that one can only serve for two terms.11 So in four years a new person will be chosen by election.
I don’t think it is important to preserve the institution of the Dalai Lama. We should make a clear distinction between safeguarding Tibetan culture and Tibetan Buddhism, on the one hand, and preserving the office of the Dalai Lama, on the other. This institution, like others, appears at a given moment in time and then disappears; Tibetan Buddhism and its cultural heritage, however, will remain as long as the Tibetan people.
That is why in 1992 I declared that, when the time has come for us to go back to our homeland, to Tibet—that is, when we have won a real autonomy—then I will hand over all my legitimate authority as Dalai Lama to the Tibetan government.12
Why shouldn’t a very beautiful woman be my next incarnation?
IN THE PAST, certain reincarnations were recognized before the death of their predecessors, who chose qualified successors. In my generation, this sort of occurrence may come about, depending on the particular circumstances at a given time.
Westerners are fascinated by the idea that the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama could be a woman. Theoretically, yes, that is possible. The profound reason for reincarnation is to carry out the task that wasn’t completed in the previous life. Logically, if my death occurs during exile, my reincarnation will come from abroad in order to finish what I began.
The very goal of reincarnation is to serve the Buddha Dharma. In Buddhist teaching, men and women have the same basic rights. But in reality, two thousand five hundred years ago Indian tradition posited the preeminence of monks. Although higher ordinations are theoretically accessible to nuns in the Buddhist community, in Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Thailand nuns were prevented from receiving the highest ordinations. In Tibet this type of ordination was conferred on monks by Shantarakshita, while nuns were excluded.13 Fortunately, in China the tradition of higher ordination for nuns was maintained to this day. There are discussions today about reintroducing higher ordination for women.
Even so, in Tibetan tradition there are lineages of female high reincarnations, like Dorje Phagmo, a lineage that is over six hundred years old. I don’t know if these reincarnate women are all nuns or not, but in most cases I think they have taken vows. Consequently, according to circumstances, if a Dalai Lama in a female form can help beings better serve the Buddha Dharma, why deprive ourselves of that?
Beauty is one of the eight qualities of a precious human body on the physical level. It is obvious that if a female Dalai Lama is ugly to look at, she will attract fewer people. The aim of a female reincarnation is to transmit the Buddhist teachings to the public in a convincing way. That would not be to spend twenty-four hours a day meditating and chanting prayers. From this point of view, the question of appearance has its importance. Consequently, I sometimes tell people, half-joking, that if I reincarnate as a woman, naturally I will be a very beautiful woman physically.
I don’t know if I will appoint the
