China Moves Against Tibetan Buddhists: No Reincarnation Without Express Government Permission

It's real.

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.

EricA. links this to the DUI citation of one Bill "Carl Spackler" Murray, wondering if he still has "that going for him."

Drew made that joke earlier when he sent me the Bill Murray story. I didn't know how to work it in. I still don't, really. Odd coincidence, though.

posted by Ace at 03:51 PM

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