Chinese Tycoon Buys Shanghai Island in Dubai
Tiger Woods Nears $1 Billion Mark with Namesake Gatorade
Japan's Smoking Rate Declines to New Low
LeBron James Comes Up Big in China for Nike, NBA
New, Bizarre Marine Life Discovered South of Philippines
China Insists It Has Final Authority to Name Living Buddhas
atcheting up its control over Tibetan Buddhism, China on Friday asserted the sole right to recognize living Buddhas, reincarnations of famous lamas that form the backbone of the religion's clergy.
All future incarnations of living Buddhas related to Tibetan Buddhism ``must get government approval,'' the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the State Administration for Religious Affairs.
China's officially atheistic communist government has increasingly sought to direct Tibetan Buddhism, for centuries the basis of Tibet's civil, religious, cultural and political life. Reincarnate lamas, known as tulkus, often lead religious communities and oversee the training of monks, giving them enormous influence over religious life in Tibet.
China already insists that only the government can approve the appointments of the best-known reincarnates, including the Dalai and Panchen Lamas, the No. 1 and No. 2 figures in Tibetan Buddhism.
A copy of the new rules posted to the administration's Web site said the selection of reincarnates ``must preserve national unity and solidarity of all ethnic groups.''
``The process cannot be influenced by any group or individual from outside the country,'' it said in an apparent reference to the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
The Dalai Lama, 71, fled to India in 1959 amid an aborted uprising against Chinese rule and Beijing has said it will pick his successor when he dies.
China in 1992 rejected the exiled Dalai Lama's choice for the latest reincarnation of the Panchen, seizing the boy and appointing another boy in his stead.
| < |
Fri August 3, 2007 09:28 EDT
BEIJING (AP)