The Dalai Lama has formally affirmed that the 600-year-old institution of the Dalai Lama will continue after his death, issuing a definitive assertion on Wednesday (July 2, 2025) that ends years of uncertainty about the way forward for one in every of Tibet’s most sacred traditions. The announcement comes simply days earlier than the exiled Tibetan religious chief’s ninetieth birthday on July 6.
“In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the 14th Dalai Lama declared in a complete assertion dated May 21 that was launched on X.
The determination follows overwhelming appeals from Tibetan religious leaders, Buddhist communities worldwide, and crucially, Tibetans residing inside Tibet.
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The determination represents a big shift from the Dalai Lama’s earlier place. “As far back as 1969, I made clear that concerned people should decide whether the Dalai Lama’s reincarnations should continue in the future,” he acknowledged, referencing his long-standing uncertainty in regards to the institution’s future. He had additionally beforehand mentioned, “When I am about ninety, I will consult the high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public, and other concerned people who follow Tibetan Buddhism, to re-evaluate whether or not the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue.”
Despite having “no public discussions on this issue” over the previous 14 years, the Dalai Lama revealed he acquired constant appeals from various teams. “Leaders of Tibet’s spiritual traditions, members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, participants in a Special General Body Meeting, members of the Central Tibetan Administration, NGOs, Buddhists from the Himalayan region, Mongolia, Buddhist republics of the Russian Federation and Buddhists in Asia including mainland China, have written to me with reasons, earnestly requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama continue,” he acknowledged.
Particularly vital had been appeals from inside Tibet itself. “In particular, I have received messages through various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal,” the Dalai Lama famous. This assist from Tibetans residing beneath Chinese rule carries particular weight, given Beijing’s makes an attempt to manage Tibetan spiritual practices and its claims of authority over the reincarnation course of.
Succession course of
The assertion additionally definitively establishes the succession course of. The Dalai Lama has insisted that his successor can be born exterior China. Beijing, which regards him as a separatist, has mentioned it alone has the authority to search out the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
“The process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognised has been clearly established in the 24 September 2011 statement which states that responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” he defined. The Dalai Lama emphasised that “the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”
The announcement follows current birthday celebrations the place the Dalai Lama joined hundreds of Buddhist followers in prayer ceremonies within the Himalayan city the place he has lived in exile since 1959. He and hundreds of different Tibetans fled to India after Chinese troops crushed an rebellion within the Tibetan capital Lhasa, establishing a government-in-exile that continues to this present day.
