China Bans Reincarnation Without Government Permission

by Justitia Themis 5 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Justitia Themis

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/08/22/china-bans-reincarnation-_n_61444.html

  In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation." But beyond the irony lies China's true motive: to cut off the influence of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, and to quell the region's Buddhist religious establishment more than 50 years after China invaded the small Himalayan country. By barring any Buddhist monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation, the law effectively gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next Dalai Lama, whose soul, by tradition, is reborn as a new human to continue the work of relieving suffering.

  At 72, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since 1959, is beginning to plan his succession, saying that he refuses to be reborn in Tibet so long as it's under Chinese control. Assuming he's able to master the feat of controlling his rebirth, as Dalai Lamas supposedly have for the last 600 years, the situation is shaping up in which there could be two Dalai Lamas: one picked by the Chinese government, the other by Buddhist monks. "It will be a very hot issue," says Paul Harrison, a Buddhism scholar at Stanford. "The Dalai Lama has been the prime symbol of unity and national identity in Tibet, and so it's quite likely the battle for his incarnation will be a lot more important than the others."
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  Satanus

  The chinese govt knows no bounds in it's efforts at control inside it's domain. It has even initiated a dumbed down version of tai chi. This version is readily available here in canada. It uses the yinyang icon w its direction reversed.

  S
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  Pubsinger

  Yes and just so that no-one is seen to be making fun of the Government, this law is to be applied RETROSPECTIVELY.

  Anyone found to have re-incarnated in the last 50 years is gonna be in BIG trouble.
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  changeling

  How silly is that????

  changeling
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  Hortensia

  don't they already have the Panchen Lama locked up in China? Isn't he the one who traditionally picks the next Dalai Lama?
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  Gretchen956

  They might just as well ban the sun from rising tomorrow morning. They have just as much control over it.

  Sherry