Chinese regulate re-incarnation

The State Administration for Religious Affairs says that monks will not be able to re-incarnate without permission from the government.

In what it calls an an important move to "institutionalise management of reincarnation" the law lays down the strict procedures by which one is supposed to re-incarnate.

Daft though this may sound, it is all a cunning plan to end the influence of the Dalai Lama. Basically it prevents any Buddhist monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation, and thus means that the Chinese authorities have the power to choose the next Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since 1959 refuses to be reborn in Tibet so long as it's under Chinese control.

If this took place in any other country it would open a minefield of legal problems. By allowing re-incarnation to be a government acknowledged process, it would open the way for people to claim the property of their past lives. Of course monks are not supposed to have any property.

More here. µ