Amid skepticism among Tibetan Buddhist adherents concerned about the Dalai Lama approaching his 90th birthday, the 14th Dalai Lama has affirmed: “The institution of the Dalai Lama will continue.” 

According to Tibetan Buddhists’ beliefs, the “spirit of the Dalai Lama” reincarnates into the body of a child who is chosen at an early age. The 14th Dalai Lama, born Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, was discovered in a farming village in 1937 when he was only two years old. By the age of six, he was declared the next Dalai Lama.

Somehow, monks were led to the child’s location in the village of Amdo (a Chinese frontier district), spoke to Gyatso’s parents and began instructions to secure the Dalai Lama. As the Dalai Lama becomes a nonagenarian on July 6, many devoted followers are concerned that a “succession plan” hasn’t been announced. 

Much to his reputation, the Dalai Lama has shared few words but spoke volumes when he addressed the world recently. From closed-circuit television in Dharamsala, the Himalayan town where he has lived in exile, fulfilling his spiritual office, he laid down the law regarding who will be the 15th Dalai Lama. 

Tibetan Buddhists regard the Dalai Lama as Avalokiteshvara’s earthly incarnation, a bodhisattva of compassion who directs others toward enlightenment. Conventionally, the identification of his successor is exclusively conducted by the Dalai Lama or his designated appointee, utilizing visions, omens, and consultations with senior lamas and protectors.

In his address, he said that only the trust he founded and has been imbued could appoint his successor, and that “no one else has any authority to interfere in this matter.” 

This was a sub-underscoring to Chinese officials who have been trying to insert themselves into the conversation. Understanding the country’s proclivities for impatience, this statement was most likely directed toward them. Naturally, the Chinese government had a tort reply to the Nobel Peace Prize winner, as a Foreign Ministry spokesperson shared that “any succession planning must comply with laws and regulations.” 

This isn’t his first skirmish with China. Following his recognition in 1937, the Dalai Lama began serving as the temporal leader of Tibet in 1950, which is about the same time when China started annexing the region. For nine years, China invaded the Tibetan region and parcelled out the land. 

Finally, in 1959, the Dalai Lama escaped to India, where he continues to live, and established the independent Tibetan government-in-exile. Since that day, monks and nuns have strenuously protested their independence from the Chinese government. 

The protests began turning violent in 2009. Since that year, nearly 140 instances of self-immolation have occurred (i.e., setting themselves on fire, as seen in central China’s Tiananmen Square in 2001). Understanding how volatile debates can get about Tibetan independence and Chinese intrusion, the Dalai Lama took a stand. 

“I think His Holiness feels the need to reassure people by basically letting them know that he is thinking about the succession,” Thupten Jinpa, his English translator of four decades, said in a phone interview from India last week.

In 2011, the Dalai Lama insinuated that said institution did not “necessarily have to continue at all.” Since then, cooler heads have prevailed, and followers will have their spiritual leader, but maybe not in the way they considered. 

One of the most controversial statements from the Dalai Lama’ came from his March 2025 book “Voice of the Voiceless,” when he wrote that his successor would be “born in the free world,” which is to say, “outside China.” While he has never backed down from that statement, he did say from the pre-recorded address inside Potala Palace in Lhasa (the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region in China) that “our Dalai Lama will be reborn, and the institution will carry on.” 

Although China believes that a “political exile” has “no right to represent the Tibetan people at all,” no country is telling the Dalai Lama how to think or follow tradition. 

Ironically, the Dalai Lama used the term “live on” to describe the Lamas’ code because when he is reincarnated, his spirit will go wherever it needs. And the people will follow.