‘Golden Urn’ at heart of row over Dalai Lama successor choice: Tibetan leader and China’s opposite stances, explained
Current Dalai Lama rejects Chinese authority over the process, while China claims control over selection via the urn. The row goes back to the Qing dynasty.
The ‘Golden Urn’ is at the heart of the ongoing controversy over how the next Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, will be chosen. While the 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has asserted that the temporal institution will continue but his “reincarnation” will “not be chosen by China”, the Chinese government has hit back saying any successor will have to be approved by Beijing.
Who mentioned the urn?
“The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and other great Buddhist figures must be chosen by drawing lots from a golden urn, and approved by the central government,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning at a press briefing. Mao was referring to a selection method introduced by the then emperor of the Tibetan region in the 18th century.
But the Dalai Lama has already reiterated his 2011 statement in which he dismissed the ‘urn’ tradition expressly. “The process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognized [and…] the responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” his latest statement read.
What’s the urn method?
{{/usCountry}}
What’s the urn method?
{{/usCountry}}The urn method originated in 1792 under the Qing dynasty, widely referred to as the rule of the Manchu ethnic group over the wider region of and around Tibet, now most of it in modern-day People’s Republic of China. The emperor had proclaimed a 29-point ordinance for “more effective government of Tibet”.
{{/usCountry}}The urn method originated in 1792 under the Qing dynasty, widely referred to as the rule of the Manchu ethnic group over the wider region of and around Tibet, now most of it in modern-day People’s Republic of China. The emperor had proclaimed a 29-point ordinance for “more effective government of Tibet”.
{{/usCountry}}Ostensibly because the Tibetans concentrated political power too in the temporal leaders, the very first article in this ordinance addressed the method of choosing these leaders. The Qing dynasty or Manchus wanted to make it more transparent, thus loosening the hold of the then elites over it.
{{/usCountry}}Ostensibly because the Tibetans concentrated political power too in the temporal leaders, the very first article in this ordinance addressed the method of choosing these leaders. The Qing dynasty or Manchus wanted to make it more transparent, thus loosening the hold of the then elites over it.
{{/usCountry}}
Where’s the urn?
{{/usCountry}}
Where’s the urn?
{{/usCountry}}Current “rules” by China, though contested, broadly say a number of “soul boys”, considered reincarnated living Buddhas, are to be named by authorised temples; and one of them will become the respective Lama after a draw of lots from the urn. One of these golden urns is believed to be housed in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan region in China now, for choosing the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, while another to select the Mongolian Lama is housed in Beijing.
{{/usCountry}}Current “rules” by China, though contested, broadly say a number of “soul boys”, considered reincarnated living Buddhas, are to be named by authorised temples; and one of them will become the respective Lama after a draw of lots from the urn. One of these golden urns is believed to be housed in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan region in China now, for choosing the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, while another to select the Mongolian Lama is housed in Beijing.
{{/usCountry}}How does the ‘reincarnation’ work?
The Tibetan Buddhist belief is that the lamas have the powers to choose the body into which they are reincarnated. In the lineage from 1587, the current Dalai Lama was recognised as the 14th in 1940, some years before the Chinese totally annexed Tibet. The Qing dynasty, which had established the urn method, had effectively ceased to exist by then, hence the 14th Dalai Lama was not chosen through the urn but considered nominated by his predecessor and other spiritual elders.
During these years, the China-Tibet relationship was in a flux until it reached a breaking point with the 1959 annexation. That is when the Dalai Lama, who’s to soon turn 90, fled Tibet and came to India, making Dharamshala (more specifically, the town of McLeodganj) in Himachal Pradesh his home and headquarters.
China wants to now choose the next Dalai Lama, using the urn in its possession, further asserting control over Tibet and its institutions.
How has current Dalai Lama rejected the urn?
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly referred to his 2011 statement, in which he gave detailed reasons for rejecting the urn method.
“During the conflict between Tibet and the Gurkhas (1791-93), the Tibetan Government had to call on Manchu military support. Consequently the Gurkha military was expelled from Tibet, but afterwards Manchu officials [‘Qing dynasty’] made a 29-point proposal on the pretext of making the Tibetan Government’s administration more efficient. This proposal included the suggestion of picking lots from a Golden Urn to decide on the recognition of the reincarnations,” the statement on the Dalai Lama’s website reads.
The system, it says, was “imposed” by the Manchus or the Qing dynasty, “but Tibetans had no faith in it because it lacked any spiritual quality”. It adds that the 9th, 13th and the current (14th) Dalai Lama were not chosen by this method.
“There has only been one occasion when a Dalai Lama was recognized by using this method,” the statement argues, and says that even in that case, of the 10th Dalai Lama, "in reality this procedure was not followed; but in order to humour the Manchus it was merely announced that this procedure had been observed”.
Urn or no urn, what happens now?
There is likely to be a protracted battle of traditions and perceptions over the choice of the next Dalai Lama.
While the Chinese have made further “rules”, continuing the urn method by claiming its historicity, the Dalai Lama has said it is “particularly inappropriate for Chinese Communists, who explicitly reject even the idea of past and future lives… to meddle in the system of reincarnation”.
The hypothetical situation can, however, be summed up rather curtly for now.
The Chinese are likely to name a Dalai Lama of their own, drawing the idea of legitimacy from the urn method. The Dharamshala-based Tibetan leadership, including of course the current Dalai Lama, is likely to claim the legitimate right to select the reincarnation. This dual choice will, therefore, extend the Tibet-China issue deeper into the temporal realm. India, which has been home to exiled Tibetans for decades and is the birthplace of the Buddhist religion, is likely to also be drawn further into it.
