Gravitas Plus: The battle for Dalai Lama's soul

on the 17th of march 1959 a 23-year-old monk disguised himself as a soldier and escaped from his palace in lhasa a place that he'd never see again this monk was the dalai lama the spiritual and political leader of tibet he was joined by an entourage of followers ministers and soldiers and together they embarked on a dangerous journey to asylum with the chinese army following their tracks the group traveled like ghosts at night over the himalayas crossed the indian border and entered arunachal pradesh from here they sent a letter to the then prime minister of india jawaharlal nehru the message sought refuge the request was accepted india provided sanctuary to every single refugee it also allowed them to establish a government in exile with dharamshala as their new capital at that time it was called one of the most fantastic escapes in history but back in tibet a brutal crackdown had begun the people's liberation army was destroying monasteries and slaughtering tibetans thousands died fighting thousands more were executed tibbetts governing body was dissolved the region's autonomy was lost it's been 62 years and now china wants to dilute the cultural and religious identity of tibetans it wants to control the institution of the dalai lama by appointing a blind successor but does china atheist china have the authority to do this and would anybody accept its choice hello and welcome to gravitas plus i'm palki the institution of the dalai lama goes back centuries all the way to the 1400s what does it stand for the term dalai lama is a combination of the mongolian word dalai meaning ocean and the ancient tibetan word lama meaning a master or guru together it translates to an ocean of wisdom in the history of tibetan buddhism there have been a total of 14 dalai lamas they started off as spiritual leaders in the 15th century by the 17th century they became political leaders too you can think of them as a cross between a pope and a president only that they're more mystical or should i say awakened i will explain you see tibetan buddhists from the guleg tradition believe that the dalai lama can reincarnate that he has control over his rebirth and can even choose the body in which he will be reincarnated the previous dalai lama died in 1933 but instead of exiting the circle of life and death he's said to have been reborn as tenzin gyatso the 14th dalai lama he was born to a family of peasants and was ordained at the age of three that's four years after the thirteenth dalai lama passed away today he's 85 years old and he's become a global icon the world's most prominent political refugee that's because throughout his life the dalai lama has trodden a careful line one that has kept him spiritually pure but also politically relevant he is viewed differently by tibetans and the rest of the world 6.7 million tibetan buddhists around the world look to him for religious guidance 120 000 tibetans living in exile in india view him as a spiritual leader for the rest of the world he is just a genial religious figure a man who has dedicated himself to safeguarding the rights of tibetans and his exiled homeland they adore him for his humor and wit and look up to him for inspirational quotes but for the chinese regime the dalai lama is the exact opposite they call him a separatist an imposter a wolf in monk's robes and a secessionist chief who simple believers under the guise of religion in tibet any sign of loyalty to the dalai lama is met with arrests lengthy sentences even torture they've banned the dalai lama's speeches his books his images they even banned lady gaga after she met him in minneapolis to discuss yoga it's incredible how much china hates him and much of this hatred stems from the dalai lama's advocacy on tibet this region it's larger than you think according to china this is tibet but tibetans in exile will tell you that this is tibet an area that has spread over a quarter of china and for much of its history tibet was a forbidden land concealed behind the himalayas unseen unvisited completely shrouded in mystery it was out of bounds even for the colonizers the unveiling only began in 1949 when mao zedong founded the people's republic of china and he decided to enforce a long-held claim on tibet and since then china has hammered tibet's unique identity altered tibetan buddhism killed countless monks attacked countless monasteries pushed endless propaganda and sent thousands of han chinese into the region to erase the tibetan way of life the human rights violations continue to this day so does the resistance against the chinese rule according to a united nations report since february 2009 154 tibetans self-immolated intimate this includes 128 men and 26 women they burned themselves alive to protest against chinese rule and tibetans around the world have also kept up pressure on china time and again they've carried out large-scale demonstrations and exposed china's cultural genocide at various global platforms a simple reason why this resistance persists is the dalai lama he gave up political life in 2011 but tibetan still revere him as a spiritual leader they view him as a unifying force a symbol of tibetan nationhood but the dalai lama's age is advancing he will turn 86 in july this year he's still in good health yes but the question of who will succeed him has become more pressing than ever and china is already building its case to choose his successor last week the chinese communist party released a policy paper which all but ruled out the scope for the dalai lama to choose his own successor the paper cites historical evidence it says that all reincarnations have been subjected to the approval of the central government in china it's like the italian government saying that they are going to replace pope francis with a new one and all catholics will have to follow plus look at the contradiction here an atheist government that does not even believe in the concept of religion wants to play a role in the afterlife and reincarnation of a religious figure the hypocrisy is astounding china's actions even more you must know this when the dalai lama dies he is set to reincarnate as a child somewhere on earth a key person responsible for finding this child is known as the panchalama the second most important figure in tibetan buddhism that's punch and lama it is the dalai lama who appoints the panchan lama the current dalai lama chose this six-year-old boy as the punch and llama in may 1995 and this is where things get murky because this boy has not been seen for the last 26 years what happened to him he was kidnapped by the chinese regime that's right china kidnapped a six-year-old it rejected his appointment took the boy into custody appointed its own punch and lama through a lottery look at how bizarre this is china counterfeited a religious figure as if counterfeiting products was not enough they want to do the same with the dalai lama they want to appoint a duplicate who is favorable to them the dalai lama says he will not let this happen so who is it going to be the dalai lama has floated a number of options a number of scenarios for his reincarnation number one picking a new successor in india where he has lived all his life he has often stated it himself that he should be reincarnated in india the second option is the idea of a woman taking over the role the dalai lama once said that if the circumstances require a female dalai lama a female dalai lama it will be but he also said that she should be attractive a statement that he later apologized for calling it a joke lost in translation the third and final scenario is that he will not reincarnate at all he believes the tradition could cease because there's no guarantee that some stupid dalai lama won't come next who will disgrace himself or herself exact words spoken now whatever happens the broad consensus is that china should have no role to play in the dalai lama's reincarnation succession and this has become an international political issue now the us congress has even passed an act the tibetan policy and support act which reaffirms the right of tibetans to choose the next dalai lama but the question is will china respect this law the answer is does china respect any law for china to acknowledge it it has to first understand the aspirations of tibetan people understand that they do not want to be under chinese rule that they are culturally distinct but china forces itself and its ways on them on the other hand is india a country that protected tibetan buddhists a country where tibetan culture has thrived a country the dalai lama now calls home it makes sense for him to be reincarnated here and i'm not saying this this is what many tibetan buddhists believe but then belief is another thing that china does not acknowledge so what's it going to be will there be two dalai lamas or will there be no dalai lama the fight over his inheritance has begun and it is turning into a geopolitical battle if only a prophecy could tell us the outcome

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Keywords: dalai, dalai lama, dalai lama exiled, who is the dalai lama, dalai lama interview, tibet dalai lama, dalai lama china, dalai lama speech, dalai lama on india, dalai lama on anger, dalai lama routine, interview dalai lama, gravitas plus, gravitas, gravitas plus latest, gravitas plus today, gravitas plus palki, gravitas plus latest episode, gravitas plus with palki sharma, palki gravitas plus, gravitas plus palki sharma upadhyay, explained, wion, gravitas plus live

Id: 2K74vT-q8bc

Length: 9min 35sec (575 seconds)

Published: Sat May 29 2021