Official development blog for the PARANOIA roleplaying game. No description is available at your security clearance. The Computer is your friend.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

PARANOIA in the Real World: Reincarnation licenses 

Via Shanghaist: Jane Macartney of The Times (London) reports that the Chinese government, in an effort to limit the influence in Tibet of the Dalai Lama, has banned reincarnation without government permission.

“The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,” according to the order, which comes into effect on September 1.

The 14-part regulation issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs is aimed at limiting the influence of Tibet’s exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, and at preventing the re-incarnation of the 72-year-old monk without approval from Beijing.

It is the latest in a series of measures by the Communist authorities to tighten their grip over Tibet. Reincarnate lamas, known as tulkus, often lead religious communities and oversee the training of monks, giving them enormous influence over religious life in the Himalayan region. Anyone outside China is banned from taking part in the process of seeking and recognising a living Buddha, effectively excluding the Dalai Lama, who traditionally can play an important role in giving recognition to candidate reincarnates.

For the first time China has given the Government the power to ensure that no new living Buddha can be identified, sounding a possible death knell to a mystical system that dates back at least as far as the 12th century.

In 1995, the Dalai Lama identified a young Tibetan boy as the 11th reincarnation of another high official, the Panchen Lama. The Chinese government promptly disappeared the boy, appointed a replacement, and promulgated several sets of restrictions on locating "soul boys."

China Daily reports that all requests to reincarnate must first be submitted to the religious affairs department of the provincial-level government, then the provincial-level government, then the State Administration for Religious Affairs, and finally the State Council.

In the comments appended to the Times story, Max Reeder asks, "What happens if you reincarnate while you're waiting in a long, slow-moving line at the Post Office?"
Posted by: Allen Varney / 5:44 AM

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