The tulku system will probably not survive because the Dalai Lama has far less influence than he used to have. This is primarily the result of the People’s Republic of China’s aggressive political maneuverings in Tibet and the resulting weakened state of Tibetan Buddhist culture. The current Dalai Lamai cannot even fully act as head of the Tibetan state because of the state’s fragmentation and his exile. The People’s Republic of China has caused irreversible damage to the tulku system. By picking the eleventh Panchen Lama, the PRC has desecrated the sacred tradition of selecting the next Dalai Lama. The present Dalai Lama understands the crime’s severity and even concedes, “If in twenty years’ time they [the people of Tibet] feel it is irrelevant…
