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Who will identify the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama?
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Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia and a disputed territory, north of the Himalayas. It is home to the indigenous Tibetan people, and to some other ethnic groups such as Monpas and Lhobas, and is inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on earth, with an average elevation of 4,900 metres (16,000 ft). It is sometimes referred to as the roof of the world.
During Tibet’s history, it has existed as a region of separate sovereign areas, a single independent entity and as a vassal under Chinese suzerainty or sovereignty. Tibet was first unified under King Songtsän Gampo in the 7th century. At various times from the 1640s until the 1950s, a government nominally headed by the Dalai Lamas, a line of spiritual political leaders, ruled a large portion of the Tibetan region. During some of this period, the Tibetan administration was subordinate to the Qing Dynasty.
In 1913 the 13th Dalai Lama expelled Qing’s representatives and troops from what is now the Tibet Autonomous Region. While the expulsion was seen as an assertion of Tibetan autonomy, Tibet’s proclaimed independence was not accepted by the government of China, nor did Tibet receive foreign diplomatic recognition and in 1945 China’s sovereignty over Tibet was not questioned by the United Nations.
Following a decisive invasion and battle at Chamdo in 1950, the Communist Party of China gained control of the region of Kham to the West of the Upper Yangtze River. The next year the 14th Dalai Lama and his government signed the Seventeen Point Agreement. In 1959, after a failed uprising in the region, he together with a group of Tibetan leaders and followers fled to India and set up the Government of Tibet in Exile in Dharamshala. Beijing and the Government-in-exile disagree over when Tibet became a part of China, and whether the incorporation into China of Tibet is legitimate according to international law. Since what constitutes Tibet is a matter of much debate, neither its size nor population are simple matters of fact, due to various entities claiming differing areas as part of “Tibet”.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet
Tibetan Agrarian and Social System
Tibet as a country was very poor but content, with very little difference between rich and poor. The workers were not bonded to the aristocrats and could move on to work for other landowners if they felt they could improve their lives by doing so.
In “Tibet through dissident Chinese eyes”, Yiu Yung-chin and others express the sentiment that by contrast, China was a much more iniquitous society, where there were huge disparities of wealth, and widespread cruelty between the landowners and the peasants, with torture, beatings to death and rape of peasant tenants commonplace.
Gompo Tashi Andrugtsang, one of the main leaders of the Tibetan rebellion, commented on this in his memoirs by stating:
“Critics of the Tibetan agrarian and social system are apt to overlook some very relevant factors which countered its apparent faults. In spite of differences of status or material possessions, there was no great gulf between the rich and the poor. The landowner was more a patriarchal head of household than an exacting or oppressive master. The universal belief in the principles and teachings of Buddhism encouraged, on the one hand, generosity and desire to improve the lot of the less fortunate and, on the other, the absence of envy or resentment on the part of the poor.”
Source: http://one-just-world.blogspot.com/2010/07/han-chinese-racism-in-tibet.html
The Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist leader of religious officials of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word “Dalai” meaning “Ocean” and the Tibetan word “Blama” (with a silent b) meaning “chief” or “high priest.” ”Lama” is a general term referring to Tibetan Buddhist teachers. In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who descend from the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Traditionally, he is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the director of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who, in practice, exerts much influence.
Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas were the directors of the Tibetan Government, administering a large portion of the area from the capital Lhasa, although the extent of that lineage’s historical authority, legitimacy and claim to territory has been recently contested for political reasons. Since 1959, the Dalai Lama has been president of the Tibetan government-in-exile, or Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
Upon the death of the Dalai Lama and consultation with the Nechung Oracle, a search for the Lama’s reincarnation, or yangsi (yang srid), is conducted. Traditionally it has been the responsibility of the High Lamas of the Gelugpa Tradition and the Tibetan government to find his reincarnation.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama
The Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama is the highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa (Dge-lugs-pa) sect of Tibetan Buddhism (the sect which controlled western Tibet from the 16th century until the establishment of Chinese sovereignty in 1951). The successive Panchen lamas form a tulku reincarnation lineage which are said to be the incarnations of Amitabha Buddha. The name, meaning “great scholar”, is a Tibetan contraction of the Sanskrit paṇḍita (scholar) and the Tibetan chenpo (great).
Panchen Lama traditionally lived in the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse.
The Panchen Lama bears part of the responsibility or the monk-regent for finding the incarnation of the Dalai Lama and vice versa. Furthermore, the search for the late Panchen Lama’s reincarnation, or any reincarnation, is a philosophic matter. In the case of the Panchen Lama, the procedures traditionally involve a final selection process by the Dalai Lama.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchen_Lama
The Four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism
Nyingma is the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism. It claims as its founder Padmasambhava, also called Guru Rinpoche, “Beloved Master,” which places its beginning in the late 8th century. Padmasambhava is credited with building Samye, the first monastery in Tibet, in about 779 CE. Along with tantric practices, Nyingma emphasizes revealed teachings attributed to Padmasambhava plus the “great completion” or Dzogchen doctrines.
Some accounts name Marpa “The Translator” (1012-1099) as the founder of the Kagyu school, while other accounts name as the founder Gampopa (1084-1161), also known as Dagpo Lhaje, who was a student of Marpa’s disciple Milarepa. Kagyu is best known for its system of meditation and practice called Mahamudra. The head of the Kagyu school is called the Karmapa.
In 1073, Khon Konchok Gyelpo (1034-1102) built Sakya Monastery in southern Tibet. His son and successor, Sakya Kunga Nyingpo, founded the Sakya sect. Sakya teachers converted the Mongol leaders Godan Khan and Kublai Khan to Buddhism. Over time, the Sakya school gave rise expanded to two subsects called the Ngor lineage and the Tsar lineage. Sakya, Ngor and Tsar constitute the three schools (Sa-Ngor-Tsar-gsum) of the Sakya tradition. The central teaching and practice of the Sakyapa is called Lamdrey (Lam-’bras), or “the Path and Its Fruit.” The headquarters of the Sakya sect today are at Rajpur in Uttar Pradesh, India.
The Gelug school, sometimes called the “yellow hat” sect of Tibetan Buddhism, was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), one of Tibet’s greatest scholars. The first Gelug monastery, Ganden, was built by Tsongkhapa in 1409. The Dalai Lamas, who have been spiritual leaders of the Tibetan people since the 17th century, come from the Gelug school. The nominal head of Gelugpa is the Ganden Tripa, an appointed official.
Source: http://buddhism.about.com/od/vajrayanabuddhism/tp/Schools-of-Tibetan-Buddhism.htm
