Who Gets to Pick the Next Dalai Lama?

(Hint: Not a Monk)

Only the Chinese Communist Party could look at reincarnation and say, “We should regulate that.”

Beijing has made it very clear: they will decide who the next Dalai Lama is, not the actual Dalai Lama. That’s right, an atheist state wants veto power over a centuries-old Buddhist tradition of finding spiritual successors via dreams, visions, and rituals. If that sounds ridiculous, it’s because it is. But it’s also deadly serious.

Photo by jony Y on Unsplash. The former residence of the Dalai Lama, the Potola Palace, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a state-run museum.