I want to revisit the recently-released statement by His Holiness the Dalai Lama that he, not the government of China, will determine his rebirth. I wrote about this recently in "The Dalai Lama and the Golden Urn."
Didi Tatlow in the New York Times brought up a point I had overlooked, which is that His Holiness has said future Dalai Lamas could be emanations and not reincarnations. The advantage to emanations is that he would be able to choose his successor while still alive.
Now, if this leaves you scratching your head, you are not alone. I'm struggling to understand it myself.
The Tibetan understanding of rebirth is somewhat different from Zen, and as a Zen student I don't feel entirely comfortable trying to explain the Tibetan view. This is not so much because I disagree with it but that I'm not sure I understand it. It has been patiently explained to me, but the explanations don't stick.
People have also tried to explain calculus to me, to no avail. I'm a bit thick about some things.
Anyway -- an emanation is something that radiates or is emitted. I can "see" individuals as emanations of the dharmadatu, for example. But I can sorta kinda see rebirth in the same way. I would be grateful for any clarifications.
BTW, my series on the lives of Dalai Lamas continues with a biography of the 7th Dalai Lama. Actually it's not so much about the Seventh as about the slice of Tibetan history he inhabited and the role he played in it. Soon I hope to go on to the Eighth and Thirteenth, although I need a short break from Tibet. I need to write about soft and fluffy things for a while.
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