Before long, Tibetan Buddhism will enter an unknown world – one without its current Dalai Lama. He has been the leader since he was chosen as a toddler more than 80 years ago. But the Dalai Lama is now 90, and talking openly about the process to pick his successor. Much has changed, however, since he was discovered by senior Buddhist monks in a village in north-west Tibet in 1937. Most pertinently, the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950s and the subsequent exile of the region’s Buddhist leadership to…
Tag: Tibet
China begins building mega-dam in Tibet
China has started to build a massive dam on Tibet’s longest river, a move approved by the central government in December despite concerns by India, Bangladesh and Tibetan rights groups about its impacts on residents and the environment. The structure is expected to cost more than 1 trillion yuan (US$137 billion). Once completed, it would be the world’s largest hydropower dam, generating 300 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually, about three times the power of China’s Three Gorges Dam, Xinhua, a state-run news agency, reported last year. Operations are expected to…
China starts building world’s biggest hydropower dam
Construction of the world’s biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China’s premier has said, calling it the “project of the century”. The huge structure is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory. Li Qiang made the comments on Saturday, at a ceremony in the region to mark the start of the build, leading Chinese markets to rise on the expectation of the long-planned megaproject, first announced in 2020 as part of China’s 14th five-year plan. The dam has drawn criticism from India and Bangladesh, through which the river…
PHOTOS: Dalai Lama celebrates 90th birthday, says he hopes to live beyond 130 years
Updated at 11:02 p.m. ET DHARAMSALA, India — Amid the sound of drums, music, and applause, the Dalai Lama stepped into Dharamsala’s main temple courtyard on Sunday, his 90th birthday. Welcomed by Tibetan cultural performers, the Tibetan spiritual leader was greeted by schoolchildren dressed in uniforms, monks, and residents, both young and old, in their finest traditional attire. Video: The Dalai Lama celebrates his 90th birthday with thousands at his home-in-exile.The stage featured a backdrop proclaiming a “Year of Compassion” with images of Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.,…
Dalai Lama celebrates his 90th birthday, triggering geopolitical questions for the future
Leaders from India, the United States and Taiwan offered their support to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on his 90th birthday on Sunday, a landmark anniversary raising geopolitical questions for the future. Tibetans fear China will eventually name a rival successor to the Dalai Lama, bolstering Beijing’s control over Tibet, the territory it poured troops into in 1950 and has ruled ever since. The man who calls himself a “simple Buddhist monk” celebrated in India, where he has lived since he and thousands of other Tibetans fled Chinese…
Buddhist rebirth v Chinese control: the battle to choose the Dalai Lama’s successor
Few celebrations have the hills of Dharamshala abuzz like the birthday of the Dalai Lama. But this year, as monks and devotees flooded into the mountainous Indian city before the Tibetan spiritual leader turns 90 on Sunday, the mood of anticipation has been palpable. For years, the Dalai Lama had promised that around his 90th birthday he would make a long-awaited announcement about his reincarnation. Finally, in a video broadcast to Tibetan monks and leaders on Wednesday, he laid out what the future would hold. It came amid fears of…
Dalai Lama succession: China warns India against interfering in Tibet-related matters
China warned India on Friday against interfering in Tibet-related matters after an Indian minister supported the Dalai Lama’s statement that his successor should be chosen by a Tibetan nonprofit group, rejecting moves by China to steer his succession. Video: China warns India against interfering in Tibet-related matters“No one has the right to interfere or decide who the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be,” said Kiren Rijiju, India’s minister for minority affairs. China’s foreign ministry urged India to be prudent in its words and actions. “We hope the…
At 90, Dalai Lama still charts an uncertain future
The Dalai Lama turns 90 years old on Sunday, a milestone birthday for the spiritual leader who transformed from humble origins in the then-remote, inaccessible “Roof of the World” to global statesman and Buddhist leader helming one of history’s longest non-violent resistance movements. As he had promised more than a decade ago, the Dalai Lama announced ahead of his 90th birthday that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue on to a successor — one that he said would be selected by his non-profit, not the Chinese government. Beijing,…
Dalai Lama says he will have a successor who won’t be picked by China
DHARAMSALA, India — The Dalai Lama on Wednesday affirmed that he should have a successor and said the next Dalai Lama should be chosen by the Gaden Phodrang Trust, a non-profit group that he set up — rejecting moves by China to steer his succession. The decision, he said in a statement that he read aloud during the opening day of a three-day conference of spiritual leaders in Dharamsala, came after years of appeals from Tibetan religious and secular leaders, as well as people and organizations from around the world.…
Dalai Lama outlines process for choosing his successor after he dies – video
The Dalai Lama has said the centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist institution will continue after his death, ending years of speculation after he previously suggested he might be the last person to hold the role. In a video broadcast before his 90th birthday on Sunday, he said ‘all the followers have unanimously said that the reincarnation should continue’ The Guardian