Will The Dalai Lama Reincarnate?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2015
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Who has authority in Tibet? Many Tibetans revere the Dalai Lama and support his goal of greater autonomy from Beijing. But officials there hold the opposite view. For them, he is a villainous traitor. Both sides agree that the role of Dalai Lama has been filled for centuries through reincarnation. The current one will turn 80 this year and Beijing is keen to control the process of finding his reincarnation. But he has said that the role will one day end. Better to have no Dalai Lama than “a stupid one,” he said. His comments sparked a furious reaction from Beijing this month. So, will the Dalai Lama reincarnate? Guests include a spokesman for His Holiness and a Chinese analyst in Beijing.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
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| 0:35.4 | Sounds. |
| 0:36.4 | Hi, thanks for downloading the inquiry from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:40.9 | We're a weekly program. |
| 0:42.4 | Our job is to add in-depth analysis to one question from the news. |
| 0:47.0 | We hope you like it. |
| 0:49.0 | BBC World Service, this is Joe Fijon with The Inquiry. |
| 0:54.1 | This week, will the Dalai Lama reincarnate. China. China's officially |
| 1:05.0 | China's officially atheist government is taking a keen interest in the afterlife. |
| 1:10.0 | He is taking a keen interest in the afterlife. |
| 1:13.0 | He is a top advisor, |
| 1:15.0 | Jou Wei Chun, telling a crowded news conference in Beijing this month |
| 1:19.0 | about reincarnation. nation. of Tibetan Buddhists. They believe the position has been filled for centuries |
| 1:34.0 | through reincarnation, but the current Dalai Lama, the 14th, has said he might be |
| 1:39.6 | the last. The Chinese authorities are furious and insist he will reincarnate. |
| 1:46.0 | The reincarnation of Dalai Lama rests with the central government, says Mr. Jew, not with any |
| 1:57.2 | individual, not with the Dalai Lama himself. |
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