{"id":99,"date":"2007-08-10T11:23:14","date_gmt":"2007-08-10T11:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/2007\/08\/china-claims-control-over-rein.php"},"modified":"2007-08-10T11:23:14","modified_gmt":"2007-08-10T11:23:14","slug":"china-claims-control-over-rein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2007\/08\/china-claims-control-over-rein","title":{"rendered":"China to Approve Buddha Reincarnations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Jennifer Koons, Religion News Service<br \/>\nWASHINGTON (RNS) Against the backdrop of celebrations to mark the one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government has angered religious freedom activists by attempting to assert greater influence over the successor to the Dalai Lama.<br \/>\n&#8220;The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,&#8221; Beijing said in a 14-part order purporting to regulate the reincarnation of Tibet&#8217;s Buddhist leaders.<br \/>\nTibetan Buddhists believe their lamas are reincarnated from departed lamas dating back to the 12th Century.<br \/>\nThe Aug. 3 order implements a provision that was put in place as part of the Chinese government&#8217;s 2005 regulations on religion, said Scott Flipse, a senior policy analyst at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.<br \/>\n&#8220;The system of reincarnation is one of the core beliefs of the Tibetan religious tradition,&#8221; said Kate Saunders, spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet. &#8220;These new measures are nothing less than a violation of one of the fundamental tenets of Tibetan religious life. It is a source of deep resentment among Tibetans that an atheist state has claimed the legitimacy to preside over a centuries-old religious practice.&#8221;<br \/>\nThis is not the first time the Chinese government has involved itself in the theology of reincarnation.<br \/>\nIn 1995, Beijing rejected the Panchen Lama, believed to be the second-highest spiritual leader, chosen by the exiled Dalai Lama; Beijing later admitted to taking him away to an undisclosed location.<br \/>\nThe Chinese government then ordained its own Panchen Lama.<br \/>\n&#8220;What happened last time with the Panchen Lama is the catalyst for all of this,&#8221; Flipse said. &#8220;That&#8217;s why they have their own Panchen Lama, who will play an important role in selecting the next Dalai Lama.&#8221;<br \/>\nFlipse said the rules represent an attempt by the Chinese government to assert control over the search for the next Dalai Lama.<br \/>\n&#8220;The process cannot be influenced by any group or individual from outside the country,&#8221; the rules state, in a likely reference to comments that the present Dalai Lama had made about the possibility of finding a successor in India or elsewhere.<br \/>\n<em>Copyright 2007 Religion News Service.  All rights reserved.  No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.    <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jennifer Koons, Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) Against the backdrop of celebrations to mark the one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government has angered religious freedom activists by attempting to assert greater influence over the successor to the Dalai Lama. &#8220;The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":300,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - 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