Week 9: Delek Hospital and Lama Reincarnation
This week was a bit...rough. I came down with some sort of illness over the weekend (again) and spent the whole of this week unable to eat or drink anything, with an exciting host of other symptoms. We went to the hospital (Tibetan-run Delek Hospital) a few times, but somehow even after six days I wasn’t dehydrated enough to need fluids. So, I got some anti-nausea meds and waited it out. As I don’t really have anything to write about this week beyond how my fever enabled me to enjoy my lack of hot water, I’ll explore a bit about what the inevitable passing of His Holiness the Dalai Lama could mean for the future of Tibet and its people.
Tibetan leaders have agreed that the reincarnation of His Holiness is an issue that only His Holiness himself has any authority over. But, of course, China disagrees. The Chinese government has gone so far as to enshrine China’s right to select the next Dalai Lama into the Chinese Constitution...a document that, at one time, also recognized the sovereignty of Tibet, demonstrating China’s knack for violating its agreements even at the constitutional level.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has reincarnated 13 times since 1391, when the first Dalai Lama was born. Traditionally, a centuries-old method is used to search for and identify the next Dalai Lama, but this method will be impossible to carry out under China’s present occupation of Tibet. This method would also not be used by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to appoint a CCP-selected Dalai Lama—the point of which would be to select a rendition of the most important religious figure in Tibet who will support the CCP and reinforce China’s rule over Tibet—further degrading the significance of the role the Dalai Lama plays in Tibet and in Buddhism, turning the role into a political sham.
The centuries-old method to search for the next Dalai Lama begins at the time of the passing of the previous Dalai Lama. Sometimes the previous Dalai Lama will leave signs to help identify the next Dalai Lama, and other times the search will begin with top lamas (teachers of Buddhism) of the Gelug sect traveling to Lhamo Latso (a lake in Tibet) to seek visions to guide the search. After, search parties are formed that travel across Tibet and border regions (such as Mongolia and Arunachal Pradesh, India, where the 4th and 6th Dalai Lamas were found, respectively) looking for children who are suitable candidates to be the next Dalai Lama, based on these meditative visions had at Lhamo Latso and on the previous Dalai Lama’s guiding signs left before passing, if there are any. There is no genetic or socio-economic criteria weighed in the selection process; any child born within a year of the passing of His Holiness can be a candidate. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (the current Dalai Lama) is the son of farmers, from a small hamlet where only 20 families farmed together. He was discovered at two years old when he recognized a senior lama in disguise and identified items that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama.
Because it will be impossible to carry out the traditional search, His Holiness has put upon the Gaden Phodrang Trust (an organization he founded in exile to preserve Tibetan culture) the responsibility for finding the best way to carry out the search, along with written instructions of his own that have not yet been revealed. In the 1990s, the Gaden Phodrang Trust was in contact with people in Tibet and carried out the search for the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama (the most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism after His Holiness the Dalai Lama). But, just three days after the selection of the next Panchen Lama, the child—Gedhun Choekyi Nyima—and his family were disappeared by the CCP (in direction violation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Personals from Enforced Disappearance, which of course China has not ratified). This leaves the selection of the next Dalai Lama in a precarious position, to say the least. It is expected that next year, after His 90th birthday, His Holiness will address the topic of his reincarnation. I will be paying close attention to Tibetan and Chinese media when he does. It is uncertain what India will do when His Holiness passes...whether India will push for the next Dalai Lama to be found in India, or what impact His passing will have on the future of Tibetans living in India. Maybe we can learn a little more about the anticipated actions of India in our interviews next week. We did have one interview over the phone this Friday, but I will refrain from writing anything about how that interview went until we have conducted more research and I can present whatever I am able to share in a more meaningful way.
To conclude my ninth week here in McLeod Ganj, as my fever waned and I started to feel better, I totaled up my hospital visits. For four visits with the doctor, a full panel of bloodwork, parasite tests, an anti-nausea shot, several days of anti-nausea meds, probiotics, antibiotics, and Tylenol (I think that’s the whole list!) my stack of receipts added up to a mere 2,286 rupees, or about 27 USD. Maybe I should go back for more bloodwork to take home to my primary care appointment in August...
As I enter my final week here, time seems both like it has flown by and crawled at the same time. I suspect the crawling sensation may have something to do with the number of bugs I have flicked away or accidentally smashed in my bed. Next week we will interview many (hopefully!) leaders of NGOs and leaders at the CTA, and start drafting a highly sensitive report that we are not to discuss. However I am able to share bits of our findings without revealing the nature of our work, I will.