Dalai Lama, who recently estimated that he could live until 110, will reveal his successor plans this week. Why is China careful

The Dalai Lama, the longest religious leader in the world, will speak this week, before 90 years old, during an important three -day meeting of Buddhist religious leaders, while his followers are waiting for the Tibetan spiritual leader to provide details on his succession, a gesture that could irritate China.

China considers Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed revolt against the Chinese occupation, as a separatist and states that she will decide who will follow them. Dalai Lama said instead that his successor will be born outside China and urged his followers to reject any person designated by Beijing.

Tibetan buddists believe that enlightened monks reincarnate to continue their spiritual inheritance. The 14th Dalai Lama will turn 90 on Sunday and said that important monks will be consulted with other people during this period to provide possible clues on the place where his successor could be found, whether a boy or a girl, after his death.

“I will dedicate the rest of my life for the good of others, as long as I can, as long as possible,” the Dalai Lama of his followers told them, while they were praying for his longevity.

“There will be a kind of framework in which we will be able to discuss the continuation of the Dalai Lama institution,” he added, without giving more details.

He also said that he could reincarnate in India, where he lives in exile, near the city of Dharamshala in northern Himalaya. The current Dalai Lama was identified when he was only two years old as the reincarnation of his predecessor.

Unusual discussions about the next Dalai Lama

Dolma Tsering Teykhang, the vice-president of the Tibetan Parliament in Dharamshala, said it is important for the world to hear directly from the Dalai Lama on this topic because, although China “tries to demonize it every time it has the opportunity … She also tries to impose rules and regulations to control Dalai”.

“China is trying to get her hands on this institution … for political reasons,” she says.

“We want the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama to be born not only for the survival of Tibet as a culture, religion and a distinct nation, but also for the good of all mankind,” she said.

Thupten Ngodup, the State Oracle of Tibet, said that, as a rule, such discussions about reincarnation do not take place as long as a monk is still alive, but the situation is different now, mainly due to the “Chinese government's intervention.”

Beijing said in March that the Dalai Lama is a political exile that “has no right to represent the Tibetan people.” China said that she is willing to discuss her future only if he recognizes that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China, a proposal rejected by the Tibetan government.

Dalai Lama will address the Buddhist leaders in Tibet

The religious conference this week, organized for the first time in 2019, will bring together over 100 Tibetan Buddhist leaders and will include a video statement by Dalai Lama.

The organizers said that the American actor Richard Gere, an old follower of Tibetan Buddhism, will be among the participants.

The Dalai Lama will participate in the prayers organized by the Tibetan government on July 5 and the festivities dedicated to his birthday, one day later, according to a program published by the organizers.

He will hold a speech of about half an hour in these festivities. Indian Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, as well as other Indian officials are expected to participate.

The Tibetans are praying for his health, especially from the knee operation last year in the United States, although the Dalai Lama told Reuters, in December, that he could live until the age of 110. The previous Dalai Lama died earlier than expected at 58.

Dalai Lama has given up the role of Tibet's political leader

Dalai Lama and Tibetan officials say there is a system prepared for the exile government to continue their political activity, while the representatives of the Gaden Phodrang of Dalai Lama will look for and recognize the next Dalai Lama.

The current Dalai Lama set up this foundation in 2015, and in its leadership there are several of its close counselors.

Teykhang and other Tibetan officials said that the Dalai Lama has prepared its people for the moment it will no longer be present, especially by the 2011 decision to transfer its political role to a democratic government, ending a 368-year tradition by which the Dalai Lama was both a spiritual and political leader.

“Since he came in the form of a man, we must accept that there will be a time when he will no longer be among us,” says Teykhang. “His sanctity really prepared us for that day, it made us act as if they were not here,” she points out.