New Chinese law to control rebirth

The Mad Hatter

So now the Chinese are demanding that Lamas ask permission to be reborn.

The article is here. I know it's the Times, so it should be taken with a pinch of salt, but it's still worrying.

maitri

It is sad reading.:(
Especially reading about those people who have disappeared.

BTW, if I remember correctly the Dalai Lama once said that in the future he thinks there will not be a need for a Dalai Lama because the world and Tibet has changed so much since the first Dalai Lama. He also said that he himself would probably choose rebirth in a free country.

Fallen Seraph

oh it's certainly excessively draconian, silly and oppressive, but I find it hard not to see the lighter side of it.

I mean, the government's official position is atheist. And adding such red tape to something so inherently religious? Imagine requiring planning permission for judgement day? Or having to fill out form 23c in order to register your religious revelation?

Anyway, it's not as if either trying to eradicate religions or oppress Tibet is a huge change of form for China...

The Mad Hatter

Yes, as the blog where I found this put it, 'that trick never works'.

And I know it's not a major change, but I still find it beyond belief what they'll actually try to legislate.