Atheists in religious raiment
CHINA'S VIOLENT crackdown on Tibetan Buddhists might give the appearance of a clash between an atheist regime and a traditionalist community of faith. But China's communist rulers seem to believe the only way they can extinguish the Tibetan spirit of resistance is to give themselves the spiritual authority to make the rules for Mahayana Buddhism, the religion of Tibetans.
Adherents believe the current Dalai Lama is the 14th incarnation of the Dalai Lama, who was the Buddha of compassion. But in an edict issued last August, Beijing decreed that it will henceforth be "illegal and invalid" for anyone to become "a living Buddha without government approval." There may not be a precise Chinese term for the mind-set that produces such a bald assertion of authority over another people's belief system. The old Greek word is hubris. The Yiddish word would be chutzpah.
The communist authorities in Beijing have a crude political motive for wanting to decide who can be recognized as the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama. When the time comes, they intend to select his successor, much as they did with a boy they designated as the Panchen Lama - after taking into custody a youth most Tibetans recognize as the true Panchen Lama.
The communists' game plan is simple, even simplistic. They assume Tibetan resistance will be dissipated once the current Dalai Lama dies and they get to choose - and control - the next one.
The Chinese rulers issued their presumptuous edict after the Dalai Lama broached the possibility that he might take part in selecting his successor while he was still alive. In that case, the Chinese strategy of trying to run out the clock by refusing to strike a deal on Tibetan autonomy with the Dalai Lama would be thwarted.
Somebody should tell the current Chinese rulers of the Middle Kingdom that their imperial mandate of heaven does not extend to the pure mountain air of Tibet. 