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The 14th Dalai Lama announced on Wednesday (July 2) “that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue” and that the Gaden Phodrang Trust shall be the “sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation”.
“No one else has any…authority to interfere in this matter,” he said.
The “Statement Affirming the Continuation of the Institution of Dalai Lama” came four days before the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists turns 90. It is consistent with the statement that he made on September 24, 2011, that if it was decided at a future date “that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should continue and there is a need for the Fifteenth Dalai Lama to be recognized, responsibility for doing so will primarily rest on the concerned officers of the Dalai Lama’s Gaden Phodrang Trust”.
What is the Gaden Phodrang Trust, and what is its mandate?
The term Gaden Phodrang refers to the residential quarters of the Dalai Lama lineage from the second Dalai Lama onward at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa.
After the Potala Palace was built (by a decree of the fifth Dalai Lama), the Dalai Lamas moved away from these quarters, and stayed at Potala Palace in winter and Norbulingka (built by the seventh Dalai Lama about 100 years after Potala) in summer. This tradition was followed until the 14th Dalai Lama’s escape from Lhasa to India in March 1959.
One of three institutions
The Gaden Phodrang Trust is one of three institutions associated with the Dalai Lama. Penpa Tsering, Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), said:
“There are three registered institutions that are related to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. There is Gaden Phodrang Trust, which is a registered body in India and operates from the office of His Holiness, there is another Dalai Lama Trust, which [too] is a non-profit organisation, and the third is Gaden Phodrang Foundation, which is registered in Zurich.”
The Gaden Phodrang Trust was registered in 2011 in Dharamshala with the aim of recognising the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. It is based in the office of the Dalai Lama, and is managed by the former Kalon Tripa (head of the CTA) Prof Samdhong Rinpoche, a senior monk and a close confidant of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama heads the trust, whose members include some other aides of the spiritual leader.
“What His Holiness reiterated today is that the institution of the Dalai Lama shall continue as per the traditions and practices of Tibetan Buddhism. There will be a 15th Dalai Lama, a 16th Dalai Lama and so on,” Rinpoche said.
Gaden Phodrang Foundation
The foundation is a tax-exempt Swiss nonprofit with its registered office in Zurich, and is supervised by the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs. It is funded by charitable contributions made by the founder and the public.
The Dalai Lama is the founder and president of the foundation, and Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa (India), Kelsang Gyaltsen (Switzerland), and Jamphel Lhundup (India), are its co-vice presidents.
The foundation says on its website that its aim is to maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama, and to promote basic human values, mutual understanding among religions, peace and non-violence, and protection of the environment.
While it works to preserve Tibetan culture and support the Tibetan people, the foundation also helps others in need, regardless of nationality or religion.
It seeks to promote better understanding between science and religion, supports efforts to provide access to knowledge from Buddhist science and philosophy, and funds a wide range of publications and translations.
The Dalai Lama Trust
The Dalai Lama Trust is a non-profit charitable organisation founded by the 14th Dalai Lama in 2009. It is headquartered in New Delhi but works with a range of partners internationally, too.
The purpose of the trust is to support the welfare of the Tibetan people and to promote human values, interfaith harmony, and world peace, which have been key elements of the Dalai Lama’s lifelong mission.
The objectives of the trust are to support Tibetan students and scholars and fund schools and educational institutions, particularly those that preserve Tibetan culture and language, and to encourage secular ethics and compassion through global programs and initiatives.
