Soon, Tibetan Buddhism will face an unfamiliar era, devoid of its current spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. He has guided the sect since his selection as an infant over eight decades ago. However, the Dalai Lama is now 90 years old and is openly discussing the process of choosing his successor.
Significant changes have occurred since his discovery in a village in northwest Tibet by senior Buddhist monks in 1937. Most notably, the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950s led to the exile of the region’s Buddhist leadership to India.
As Hannah Ellis-Petersen, our south Asia correspondent, explains, this development has transformed the identity of the next Lama and the method of finding them into a contentious issue, with the Chinese government in opposition to Buddhist monks.
Furthermore, Lhadon Tethong from the Tibet Action Institute shares the long-standing sense of exile among Tibetans and their feelings regarding Chinese efforts to meddle in their affairs.
A photograph shows monks attaching a microphone to the Dalai Lama.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/jul/28/the-hunt-for-the-next-dalai-lama-podcast
