The Dalai Lama will announce his reincarnation on his 90th birthday.
The future Tibetan spiritual leader will have the challenge of maintaining leadership in exile of a nation that sees its return to its homeland increasingly distant.
BarcelonaTibetan tradition holds that the soul of a Buddhist monk is reincarnated after his death. Now that the Dalai Lama is about to turn 90 – this Sunday – Tibetans are anxious to know who will replace him., charged with sustaining the nation in exile. The 14th spiritual and political leader of Tibetan Buddhists turns 14 on July 6, and is expected to announce his reincarnation during his birthday ceremony. The announcement has generated excitement, not only among followers of his religion, but also in countries with interests: the United States, India, and, above all, China.
In a speech on Monday, the Nobel Peace Prize winner maintained his commitment to "serving humanity" and defended the continuity of his "institution," in a clear sign of his intention to reveal his successor in the coming days. The birthday ceremony, which all faithful will be able to attend, will be held in Dharamsala, India, where the spiritual leader has lived since his exile from Tibet in 1959, following a failed popular uprising against Chinese occupation.
"The Dalai Lama is 90 years old, but we know he'll live at least 110. In fact, there's a prophecy that says he'll live to 113. In any case, he's in very good health and clearer-headed than all of us," says Thubten Wangchen, founder of the House of Tibet in Barcelona. This Buddhist monk explains to ARA that the Dalai Lama said some time ago that, when his 90th birthday approached, he would outline the roadmap for the institution's future. This announcement is expected to take place on Sunday morning via a video message.
The future Dalai Lama will have the challenge of maintaining his leadership of the Tibetan people in exile, at a time when this stateless nation is in decline (the Tibetan community in exile is increasingly smaller) and the goal of returning to their homeland is increasingly distant.
The possible successor
Although authorities have given few details so far about how the new leader will be chosen, the Dalai Lama himself has given some clues about what it should be like. In his book Voice for the voiceless [Voice for the Voiceless], published in March 2025, the Dalai Lama explains that his successor will be someone born outside of China, so it could be one of the 140,000 Tibetan exiles, half of whom live in India. He can announce his family, name, or even the date, Wangchen explains.
What happens when the new spiritual leader is younger? Learning is very fast. At 15 or 16, he can already be a master,” Wangchen remarks. when he was only 2 years old. At the time, a research team sent by the Tibetan government made the decision based on a vision of a monk. interference
But now Tibetans live in fear—justifiably—that the tentacles of China, which considers the Dalai Lama a separatist leader "without any right to represent the Tibetan people," will interfere in this decision. In fact, Beijing believes it has the right to decide his successor. Precedents do not inspire optimism. When the last Panchen Lama—the second most important figure in Tibet—died in 1989, the child chosen to succeed him disappeared at the age of 6 at the hands of Beijing. And he has not been seen since.
China has been working for years to decisively crush the Tibetan independence movement, through arbitrary arrests, torture, and even murder. Although in public view the Tibetan authorities appear loyal to the Chinese Communist Party. (Earlier this month, the Dalai Lama's deputy met with Chinese President Xi Jinping), in practice the institution aims to avoid Beijing's control over this and all other decisions in order to have the greatest possible autonomy. pressured Beijing to respond to Tibet's demands for more autonomy, the Trump administration proclaims itself to be less expansionist and, in any case, has avoided setting itself up as a defender of human rights and democracy around the world. to quote the Dalai Lama himself.
At the same time, the Tibetan community in exile is shrinking: of the 150,000 Tibetans living in exile, a large percentage—mainly young people—have left Tibet to go to Western countries. always. Xi Jinping will leave at one time or another."