His place, in a free world

Dalai Lama's remarks about his reincarnation has given a new twist to the succession issue — and to the Tibetan movement for freedom

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The 14th Dalai Lama has declared in a new book that his reincarnation would be born in the free world, both to serve as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and to embody the aspirations of the Tibetan people. This is a more definitive assertion than his previous comments on the matter. In the past, he has suggested the reincarnation could occur in exile from Tibet, or that the next Dalai Lama could be a woman. He has even suggested that the institution of the Dalai Lama could end, if the Tibetan people felt no further need for it.