Succession Stakes on Roof of the World

Nobody can disagree that the world is in turmoil today. Time seems to have accelerated and violence has reached every corner of the planet.

- CLAUDE ARPI

In the midst of all this, one man is preaching ahimsa and karuna, love and compassion, to other human beings. This man is Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. He is also the leader of one million followers from the Indian Himalaya—from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh—as well as several million Buddhists the world over. Today, this man turns 90.

On October 7, 1950, after Chinese troops crossed the Upper Yangtze, they began their occupation of Eastern Tibet. Hardly three weeks later, in Lhasa, the gods are said to have spoken through the Nechung oracle—'Make him king', referring to the young Dalai Lama. Thus, Tenzin Gyatso was enthroned at the young age of 15. The 'god king' became the temporal and religious leader of Tibet.

In May 2011, the Dalai Lama decided to relinquish his secular power and offer it to the people of Tibet, who could thereafter elect their own political leader. Today, a sikyong or president runs the Tibetan administration from Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama has lived since 1960.

In September 2012, he released a long statement about his succession, mentioning two options: a traditional reincarnation (leaving written instructions on how to find the reincarnation) or an emanation, which means transfer of his consciousness and knowledge into a selected young boy or girl.