The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, said on Wednesday that the Buddhist institution will continue after his death.

"I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," he said in a video broadcast in Tibetan language from the mountainous town of Dharamshala, India.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was speaking at the start of a meeting of religious leaders in the Himalayan town where he has lived for decades.

The Dalai Lama fled Lhasa, the capital of Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Since then, he has lived in India where the Tibetan government-in-exile was also established. 

Why is this an important decision

Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama since the institution began in 1587. Tibetan Buddhists belive him to be the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. They believe he can choose the body he is reincarnated as. 

In Buddhism a Bodhisattva means an enlightened being who has chosen to remain in the cycle of life to help others.

In his video message, he said he had received requests from Buddhists from Tibet and Tibetan diaspora, as well as followers from the Himalayan region, Mongolia as well as parts of Russia and China to ensure the continuation of the institution.

""In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," he said as per an official translation.

The Gaden Phodrang Trust founded by the Dalai Lama will have the sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation, he said. 

"They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition ... no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter," he said.

How the Dalai Lama is perceived worldwide

Worldwide, the Dalai Lama is seen as a symbol of non-violence, compassion and the Tibetan struggle against the Chinese rule. 

China views him as a separatist and rebel. Exiled Tibetans are afraid of China will name their own successor to the Dalai Lama in their bid to exert more control over the Tibet Autonomous Region. 

The Dalai Lama had earlier said his successor will be born outside China, and urged followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing.

Source: DW 

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