Dalai Lama says high priests to discuss adult successor
The 14th Dalai Lama on Monday said a committee of high priests are deliberating over the selection of his successor. The spiritual leader of the Tibetan people also hinted at terminating the traditional practice of finding an infant reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. In an interview with Nikkei and other news organizations, the 83-year-old said his successor will be "a high lama or high scholar," or a person "around 20 years old."
At least 130,000 Tibetans live in exile, including 85,000 in India. Most of the world's 6 million Tibetans live in the autonomous Tibetan region of western China and regard the Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader. Though the Dalai Lama did not spell out his intentions, the plan he described is seen as a strategy to keep China from interfering in Tibetan affairs by nominating an infant successor favorable to China.
