Tibetans find hope — and uncertainty — as the Dalai Lama turns 90

Australia Broadcast Center

a day ago

When Lhagyari Namgyal Dolkar recalls her father's years in a Chinese prison, she speaks not just of his suffering but of his unshakable faith.
Faith in the dream of a free Tibet, and in the man who embodied it.
"For every fight, we need that figure who will continue to remind us of who we are, and the courage that we hold," said Ms Dolkar, a member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.
"The [Dalai Lama] has been doing that for generations."
This week in McLeodganj, the hill town in the Indian Himalayas where the Dalai Lama has lived for more than six decades, thousands of Tibetans gathered to celebrate his 90th birthday, according to a Tibetan calendar.
On Sunday, he will hit the milestone, based on the widely used Gregorian calendar.
The streets around his temple were draped in prayer flags, echoing with chants and lined with posters of the leader who has become synonymous with their identity.
But amid the celebrations was a quiet sense of apprehension.
The Dalai Lama reassured his followers that the institution of the Dalai Lama would endure after him, declaring that only his charitable foundation, the Gaden Phodrang, has the authority to recognise his successor.
The announcement brought relief to many, and served as a sharp rebuke to Beijing, but also underscored the uncertain future of a succession process that China is determined to control.
Ms Dolkar told the ABC there was a mix of hope and resolve at the celebrations for the Dalai Lama's birthday.
"It is certainly a momentous day for the Tibetan community, especially for Tibetans inside Tibet," she said.
Many, she said, spoke of their desire to one day celebrate his 100th birthday in Lhasa, the capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, rather than in exile.
"That is the Tibetan spirit in action … it's paramount for that to continue," she said.
Ms Dolkar's family story echoes the broader struggle.
Her father spent a decade in prison for his role in resisting Chinese rule in 1959 — the same year the Dalai Lama sought refuge in India.
Since then, the Dalai Lama has established a government-in-exile, unified Tibetans across the diaspora, and brought their plight to the global stage.
The administration he established continues to run schools, clinics, monasteries, and homes for the elderly in refugee settlements across India.
"We can never be as magnificent as his holiness," she said.
"[But] faith in that legacy and the vision of a free Tibet that his holiness placed has been handed over to our generation."
The man who has long personified the Tibetan cause is now 90, visibly frail, and no closer to seeing his homeland free from Chinese control.
His statement this week left no doubt about his intention to protect the reincarnation process from Beijing.
"When all the followers have unanimously said that the reincarnation should continue, then it is obvious that it will come," he said in a video message on Wednesday.
"I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation; no-one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter."
Just hours after the Dalai Lama's announcement, China made its position clear.
"The reincarnated children of major living Buddhas such as the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama need to be identified through evaluation and approval by the central government," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
Tibetan writer and activist Tenzin Tsundue said the statement was a direct attack on Tibetan identity, and proof of the threat the Dalai Lama still poses to Chinese control.
"China is scared of the Dalai Lama," he said.
"Even though between the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans, we don't even have a single gun within us, but they know that it is the Dalai Lama who rules the hearts of every Tibetan in Tibet, which is a quarter of China."
For years, the Dalai Lama had hinted that the institution might end with him, saying that Tibet's democratic institutions should take the lead instead.
"For him, having the Tibetan community trained in culture of democracy was more important than the dependency on the Dalai Lama, Mr Tsundue said.
But the announcement that the reincarnation process will take place, and that his foundation can alone recognise the successor, is seen by many as an effort to safeguard Tibet's legitimacy at a time when the issue remains unresolved and China is increasingly assertive.
"This step today is an indication that this 14th Dalai Lama's work is not complete," Mr Tsundue said.
By tradition, the search for the Dalai Lama's reincarnation begins only after his death.
Monks interpret signs, visions, and omens to identify a child believed to carry his spirit, a process that can take years, even decades.
"Dalai Lama will issue instructions for the process of search when time comes. These instructions will be in private," senior monk and member of trust tasked with recognising next Dalai Lama, Samdhong Rinpoche said.
In his statement, the Dalai Lama affirmed that his trust "should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition" — meaning, after his death.
But the Dalai Lama has already signalled he may up-end that tradition to thwart Beijing's influence.
He has suggested his successor will be born in a free country, outside Chinese control.
He has also said the next Dalai Lama might not be a child but an adult ready to lead, and could even be a woman.
This week, Professor Rinpoche emphasised that there is no contradiction between past tradition and the Dalai Lama's stated wishes.