The Dalai Lama’s reincarnation is undoubtedly political. On 2 July 2025, days before his 90th birthday, the 14th Dalai Lama confirmed that he will reincarnate and the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue, and that his private office, the Gaden Phodrang Trust, alone has the authority to recognise his successor. Beijing responded within hours, insisting that the reincarnation must comply with Chinese law, follow a Golden Urn ritual and receive central Chinese government approval.
At issue is who has the authority to recognise the next Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, a refugee since 1959, says his rebirth is his and his community’s to determine, while the state that occupies and rules his homeland asserts sole authority to license it. This is a contest between self-determination and a claim of sovereignty that would absorb the community’s authority into the state’s apparatus.
The Chinese Communist Party is officially atheist and requires its members to be atheist too. Yet it maintains a database of approved ‘living buddhas’, adjudicates which child is the true return of a deceased master and denounces recognitions made by the Dalai Lama — the tradition’s most senior teacher — as illegitimate. The Buddhist Association of China, which is considered the legitimate body within China to manage reincarnation, is neither neutral nor autonomous — it is subservient to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department.
