Buddhism: the role of the Dalai Lama in the Buddhist religion
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is often referred to in the Western media as a "King-God". Westerners are told that the various Dalai Lamas who have ruled Tibet for centuries were reincarnations not only of each other, but also of the Tibetan god of compassion, Chenrezig.
Westerners with some knowledge of Buddhism find these Tibetan beliefs puzzling. First, Buddhism elsewhere in Asia is "non-theistic" in the sense that it does not depend on belief in the gods. Second, Buddhism teaches that nothing has an intrinsic self. So how can you "reincarnate"?
Buddhism and reincarnation
Reincarnation is usually defined as "rebirth of the soul or part of itself in another body". But Buddhism is based on the doctrine of the anatman, also called anatta, which denies the existence of a soul or permanent, individual self. See "What is the Self? ”For a more detailed explanation.
If there is no permanent individual soul or self, how can one reincarnate? And the answer is that no one can reincarnate because the word is normally understood by Westerners. Buddhism teaches that there is rebirth, but it is not the distinct individual who is reborn. See "Karma and Rebirth" for further discussion.
Powers and forces
Centuries ago, when Buddhism spread to Asia, pre-Buddhist beliefs in local gods often found a way in local Buddhist institutions. This is especially true of Tibet. Vast populations of mythical characters of the pre-Buddhist religion Bon live in the Tibetan Buddhist iconography.
Did Tibetans abandon Anatman's teaching? Not exactly. Tibetans regard all phenomena as mental creations. This is a teaching based on a philosophy called Yogacara and is found in many schools of Mahayana Buddhism, not only in Tibetan Buddhism.
Tibetans believe that if people and other phenomena are creations of the mind, and gods and demons are also creations of the mind, then the gods and demons are not more or less real than fish, birds and people. Mike Wilson explains: “Tibetan Buddhists nowadays pray to the gods and use oracles, just like the Bon, and believe that the invisible world is populated with all kinds of powers and forces that should not be underestimated, even if they are mental phenomena without an intrinsic self ".
Power less than divine
This brings us to the practical question of how much power the Dalai Lamas actually had before the Chinese invasion in 1950. Although in theory, the Dalai Lama had divine authority, in practice he had to hone sectarian rivalries and conflicts with the rich and as influential as any other politician. There is evidence that some Dalai Lamas were assassinated by sectarian enemies. For a variety of reasons, the only two Dalai Lamas before the current one that actually functioned as heads of state were the 5th Dalai Lama and the 13th Dalai Lama.
There are six main schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug, Jonang and Bonpo. The Dalai Lama is an ordained monk of one of these, the Gelug school. Although he is the highest-ranking lama in the Gelug school, he is not officially the leader. This honor belongs to an appointed official named Ganden Tripa. Although he is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, he does not have the authority to determine doctrines or practices outside of the Gellug school.
Everyone is a god, nobody is a god
If the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation or rebirth or manifestation of a god, wouldn't that make him more than human in the eyes of the Tibetans? It depends on how the word "god" is understood and applied.
Tibetan Buddhism makes extensive use of tantra yoga, which includes a wide range of rituals and practices. At its most basic level, tantra yoga in Buddhism is about identifying divinity. Through meditation, song and other practices, tantric internalizes the divine and becomes divinity, or at least manifests what divinity represents.
For example, practicing tantra with a god of compassion would awaken compassion in tantricka. In this case, it might be more accurate to think of the various deities as something similar to the Jungian archetypes rather than real beings.
Also, in Mahayana Buddhism all beings are reflections or aspects of all other beings and all beings are basically Buddha nature. Put another way, we are all one another - gods, buddhas, beings.
How the Dalai Lama became ruler of Tibet
It was the 5th Dalai Lama, Lobsang Gyatso (1617-1682), who first became ruler of all Tibet. The "Great Fifth" formed a military alliance with the Mongolian leader Gushri Khan. When two other Mongol leaders and the ruler of Kang, an ancient kingdom of Central Asia, invaded Tibet, Gushri Khan defeated them and declared himself king of Tibet. So Gushri Khan recognized the fifth Dalai Lama as Tibet's spiritual and temporal leader.
However, for a number of reasons, after the Great Fifth, the Dalai Lama's succession was mostly figurehead without real power until the 13th Dalai Lama took power in 1895.
In November 2007, the 14th Dalai Lama suggested that he may not be born again, or he could choose the next Dalai Lama while he is still alive. This would not be entirely unheard of, because in Buddhism linear time is considered a delusion and since rebirth is not actually an individual. I understand that there have been other circumstances in which a new high lama was born before the previous one died.
His Holiness is concerned that the Chinese will choose and install the 15th Dalai Lama, as they did with the Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is the second highest spiritual leader in Tibet.
On May 14, 1995, the Dalai Lama identified a six-year-old boy named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the eleventh reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. On May 17 the boy and his parents had been taken into Chinese custody. Since then they have never been seen or listened to. The Chinese government appointed another boy, Gyaltsen Norbu, as the eleventh official Panchen Lama and sent him to the throne in November 1995.
No decision has been made at the moment, but given the situation in Tibet, it is quite possible that the establishment of the Dalai Lama will end when the 14th Dalai Lama dies.