Volksrepublik China ist wunderbar!

Newsweek, Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue:
In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."

Now this is quite interesting. I don't think I've seen a dictatorship reach into the afterlife like this before. The funny thing is, though, that by trying to control who reincarnates how, China has officially, although unintentionally admitted, that reincarnation is possible. Whoops! :-)

Of course, the true motive of very materialistic Communist Party is to strengthen its hold on Tibet. Fully abusing this law by Chinese government could effectively mean, that China would choose who gets to be the next Dalai Lama, the next symbol of resistance against the occupation. Just a quick history note, we've seen them meddle with Buddhist officials before, when some dozen years ago, or so, the Panchen Lama disappeared and wasn't heard from since.

Meanwhile, the current Dalai Lama proves his wits by proclaiming that he is not going to reincarnate in Tibet, as long as it's occupied, so his successor will probably be born in exile. I have to admit am a little jealous of his powers over his own reincarnation. ;-) Anyway, I'm rather curious to see this story unfold.

Edited to add: As my friend has remarked, we are quite curious about the methods used by the Chinese government to monitor reincarnations. Unless, of course, people brag about them, just like the Dalai Lama needs to. Also, we'd like to know if you have to pay the administration fees and fill out the reincarnation permits before you die. And what if you cannot actually control your own reincarnation process? Oh aye, China seems to have screwed up big time with this one.