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How fortuitous or how planned that I have taken up the topic of reincarnation and sent out a survey to my dear readers to share their beliefs as to whether our souls are implanted in a new body after the death of our old one and given a chance to live a new embodied life.

Well, this week, on the occasion of his 90th birthday, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th reincarnation of the first Dalai Lama, and my friend, declared that he would be reincarnated after his death into the 15th Dalai Lama. I need to explain just how this branch of Tibetan Buddhism imagines this spiritual bait and switch will occur.

The first belief that makes the reincarnation of the Dail Lama possible is called bodhisattva. A bodhisattva is a reincarnated Buddha. He has achieved nibbana, which is total enlightenment as a Buddha and so is released from the cycle of death and reincarnation, but as an act of love the bodhisattva decides to return to the world of samsara, which is our world of suffering (dukkha), in order to teach people how to gain enlightenment and live a life of kindness and compassion. The Dalai Lama is a returned Buddha.

When the Dalai Lama dies the process of finding a new one is more a process of discovery than a process of choosing. His Holiness was chosen as a child after the death of the 13th Dalai Lama. There must be signs and omens pointing to who the new Dalai Lama will be. I was told that one sign was to call all potential child-candidates into a room one by one. In the room is a table filled with different objects and among the objects is one that was owned by the previous Dalai Lama. If the child selects the pre-owned objects he (or she) will be the one. There is also a tradition of the golden urn in which all the potential Buddhas’ names are included on pieces of paper and the winner is drawn out of the golden urn. At the moment there is a disagreement as to how much the Chinese government can intrude on this Tibetan sacred rite of succession. However, it is clear this week that the present Dalai Lama will someday soon (I hope not too soon) be reincarnated into a new form.

I want to say a word about the moral implications of this unique Buddhist belief in reincarnation. We of the Abrahamic religions look at the eastern view of reincarnation as an opportunity for a person to have new personal experiences in a new reborn life, but the concept of the bodhisattva is much more directed to the good of others. The bodhisattva chooses to return in a way that is different but similar to the way that Christians believe Jesus came to earth to suffer and die to atone for the sins of humanity. A completely pure and enlightened life is sacrificed for the good of an unenlightened world. This is an act of love and service and sacrifice. Reincarnation is not a tool to achieve more personal earthly pleasures but is a tool to enable wisdom to take root in cultures that suffer in ignorance.

One of the many lessons I learned from His Holiness the Dalai Lama is that he did not believe there was just one way up the mountain. As I have quoted before, in his forward to our book “How Do You Spell God?” he wrote that there are many religions for the same reasons there are many different kinds of food:

“All the world’s religious traditions are similar because they help us become better human beings. For centuries, millions of people have found peace of mind in their own religious tradition. Today, the world over, we can find followers of many faiths giving up their own welfare in order to help others. I believe that this wish to work for the happiness of others is the most important goal of all religious practice. Human beings naturally possess different interests. So, it is not surprising that we have many different religious traditions with different ways of thinking and behaving. But this variety is a way for everyone to be happy. If we have a great variety of food, we will be able to satisfy different tastes and needs. When we only have bread, the people who eat rice are left out. And the reason those people eat rice is that rice is what grows best where they live.”

What I pray for is that this Dalai Lama has many more years ahead of him before he decides to disappear and reappear. I also pray that the 15th Dalai Lama is just as kind and has the same healing smile.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

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