Aug30 China bans unauthorized reincarnation?
I stumbled upon a very strange news story the other day and was quite perplexed:
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.” [source]
Now, I’m no reincarnation expert here, but… how is that even possible?
Reading further, this apparently is an attempt by China to regulate the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, who can supposedly control his rebirth. Though I wouldn’t put it past China to pass this law just so they could randomly arrest babies, but there wouldn’t seem to be much point in that.
$10 says that if my site is not already banned in China, it soon will be.
This post is 156 words long and is part of ERULYNSKY Blogathon 3000
View the score so far!
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2007 at 7:44 am in Politics. You can subscribe to the comment feed to follow replies or leave a trackback from your own site.
Brittney says...
That is so odd! I’m not a reincarnation expert, either, but it seems to me that they could never know which newborn baby possesses the soul of which dead person. Then again, I’m not an expert on the Chinese judicial system, either. Maybe they could arrest and prosecute a baby without proof that he is really Dalai Lama.
BTW, this is your old hostee, Brittney. Sorry, I’m really not trying to shamelessly plug myself, but I thought you might like some identification.
Aug. 30th, 2007
Menelya says...
Huh that sounds very odd, I’m not an expert either but this doesn’t make any sense to me.
Aug. 30th, 2007
Mallory says...
Wow, that is odd. How could they even regulate that? Test all children and then arrest ones they think may be illegally reincarnated? Unless they have some new technology that we don’t know about. Which I doubt from the number of product recalls we’ve been having. XD
Aug. 30th, 2007
Nat Marie says...
Wow…dang. What the hell? I’m no expert either, but what if they don’t want to…not reincarnate? Some countries are just strange.
Aug. 30th, 2007
Crystal says...
I heard about reincarnation before this article, it’s weird, how they’re regulating who the Dalai Lama is choosing.
My parents told me about this other form of reincarnation in Tibet… at first I thought the government was referring to that. Don’t hold me against this though, as I’m not absolutely sure and can’t find the reference source (and this might not necessarily apply to the Dalai Lama)
When my parents went to work in Tibet back in the 1990s, some the tour guides took them to a field where “diao zang” was taking place. Apparently the people there believed unless they had this burial ritual, their soul won’t be reincarnated. Diao zang involved leaving the bodies of the dead on the field and waiting for the vultures (”diao”) to come and consume the corpses. My dad said he couldn’t watch it so turned back before they started the ritual.
Again, I don’t know how much things have changed since then. I guess more research is in order.
Aug. 30th, 2007
Crystal says...
Hi again. Wow, it’s nice how your posts get me to research more. The custom is called Celestial Burial. I think by banning reincarnation, this custom would be banned too? Here’s more info.
Aug. 30th, 2007
Kiera says...
Haha, wow, that’s……weird. I had email that to my friend.
Aug. 31st, 2007
Exene says...
You won your ten bucks.
I think I read about that too and it sounds really stupid. I’m no reincarnation expert myself but how could the government control that? I do know that they don’t like the Dalai Lama but he can reincarnate as much as he wants to. I don’t think that they will ever figure it out. How are they suppose to be apprehended?
Aug. 31st, 2007
Lucy says...
I find that rather funny.. I mean, I don’t believe reincarnation takes place and I’m no expert either, but even if it does, how can you stop it from happening?
Sep. 1st, 2007
Lene says...
This is probably the weirdest law, ever. How is the government going to control reincarnation? They cannot not know if someone reincarnates or not, how are they going to proof so? Or how can they tell that someone that claims so, really hasn’t? Oh sheesh, st00pehd.
Sep. 1st, 2007
Amber says...
Surely that defies logic? Obviously I’m not an expert on the intricacies of reincarnation but isn’t that impossible? I think the China government might have gone just a little overboard with this one.
Sep. 2nd, 2007
Cindy says...
3 letters:
LOL
That is the funniest thing I’ve heard all day, thank you for sharing XD
Sep. 3rd, 2007