True or False?
Read the phrases below from the video. Are they true or false? If they are false, correct them to make them true.
1. The Dalai Lama has decided there will be no more successors after him.
→ False
The Dalai Lama has announced that there will be a successor after him.
2. The search for a new Dalai Lama will be led by Chinese officials.
→ False
The Dalai Lama has chosen his own team of monks and religious leaders to search for the next Dalai Lama.
3. The Dalai Lama has lived in Tibet since 1959.
→ False
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in the north of India since 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist China.
4. The Dalai Lama was recognized as a reincarnation when he was two years old.
→ True
5. The process for selecting a new Dalai Lama is a political decision taken by Tibetan politicians.
→ False
The process for selecting a new Dalai Lama involves Buddhist rituals and divination.
6. China sees the Dalai Lama as a peaceful religious figure.
→ False
China sees him as a political threat rather than just a spiritual leader. They have called him a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
7. The Dalai Lama made his final decision about succession in 2011.
→ False
He said in 2011 he would decide at age 90.
Why is it important that the Dalai Lama says there will be a new Dalai Lama after him?
Because it ends speculation about whether he would be the last Dalai Lama and affirms that the spiritual leadership will continue after him, which is especially significant for his followers and Tibetan Buddhism.
How do China and the Dalai Lama differ on how to choose the next Dalai Lama?
China believes it has the authority to select the next Dalai Lama based on tradition, while the Dalai Lama insists only his chosen religious group has the right to identify his reincarnation.
Where does the Dalai Lama say his reincarnation must happen?
He has stated that his successor must be born in a free country, not under Chinese control.
How has China treated Tibetan Buddhism over the past 60 years, according to Lobsang Sangay?
Sangay says China has criticized the Dalai Lama, destroyed monasteries, repressed monks and nuns, and called religion “poison,” showing long-standing hostility toward Tibetan Buddhism.
How is the next Dalai Lama found in the Buddhist tradition?
A search party of monks looks for possible boys who might be his reincarnation, narrows them down, and uses religious rituals and divination to identify the true successor.
Why does the Dalai Lama live outside Tibet?
In 1959, after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, the Dalai Lama fled to India and has lived in exile ever since.
Why does Lobsang Sangay say people would not follow a Dalai Lama chosen by China?
He compares it to China trying to appoint a Catholic pope or a Muslim imam—saying that just as those followers wouldn’t accept it, Buddhists won’t accept a Dalai Lama chosen by the Chinese government.