Dalai Lama succession talks highlight U.S.-based Karmapa Ugyen Trinley Dorje

Presence of Karmapa in India is increasingly being viewed as a necessary component to ensure a smooth deliberation to determine next Dalai Lama

The ongoing discussion in the Tibetan and Indian quarters about the Dalai Lama succession plan has brought the spotlight back on the 17th Karmapa, Ugyen Trinley Dorje, who has been based in the U.S. since 2017. Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamangthat India was “positively considering” the return of the Karmapa from the U.S. He claimed the initiative was blessed by the Dalai Lama.

Presence of the Karmapa in India is increasingly being viewed as a necessary component for ensuring a smooth deliberation to determine the next Dalai Lama. The current Dalai Lama who has been residing in Dharmasala for some time because of the ongoing pandemic though he has been meeting guests, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recently. There have been frequent health concerns over the octogenarian, who is the undisputed spiritual leader of the Tibetan community.

In March 2011, the Dalai Lama handed over political power to Lobsang Sangay who took over as the first Kalon Tripa or political leader. He, however, did not leave the spiritual authority that can only be transferred following his physical demise through a complex process of selection of a successor that involves reincarnation and subsequent examination of the reincarnated Dalai Lama.