Reincarnation Licenses
By Mona
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Via James Randi, we learn that China’s notions of government power and purview are truly extraordinary:
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.”
As the article Randi quotes goes on to note, this law is actually aimed at making sure China can control who is chosen as the next Dalai Lama. But in the meantime, will the Chinese also require state permission for turning bread and vino into the body and blood of a god? One also wonders how a person proves that s/he didn’t reincarnate absent “permission.”
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Comment by Thoreau —
August 30, 2007 @ 6:50 pm
What if a Tibetan reincarnates in the US without permission from our government? Is he an illegal immigrant then?
Comment by Jon H —
August 30, 2007 @ 6:56 pm
Not to mention, it offers a wonderful opportunity for a real Spartacus moment:
“I’m Spartacus!” “No I’m Spartacus” “I’M Spartacus!”
Comment by Mona —
August 30, 2007 @ 7:17 pm
And Jon, don’t forget if you did it without permission in China, you fearfully insist: “I am NOT Spartacus!” But if you look too much like Kirk Douglas, have that cleft in the chin ‘n all, you’re up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
Thoreau: No, he is illegal reincarnant. But same difference.
Comment by DonBoy —
August 30, 2007 @ 7:51 pm
The saying “A prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich” seems unsually on-point here.
Comment by ajay —
August 31, 2007 @ 4:46 am
A-ha. So if the Chinese pick the boy they want to be the next Dalai Lama, and the monks say “No, actually, the real one is over here”, the Chinese grab the monks’ candidate and lock him up for reincarnating without a licence. And then, presumably, he gets deincarnated. By accident.
Comment by John Emerson —
August 31, 2007 @ 8:31 am
Some people around here should be interested in Samuel’s book “Civilized Shamans”. He argues that during much of history Tibet was a stateless society — Chinese control was only nominal before 1950. One outcome was that Tibetan religion had an enormous proliferation ofsects, practices, holy men, magicians, and so on, including many freelancers with no institutional affiliation. There’s a real convergence between state control and religious orthodoxy; institutional religion is the application of a state form to practices which could exist and flurish without the institution. Direct-experience religion is always a threat to institutional religion. (In fairness, direct-experience religion is often batshit crazy).
Comment by just sayin —
August 31, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
But in the meantime, will the Chinese also require state permission for turning bread and vino into the body and blood of a god?
Actually, they already do. Chinese efforts to establish a Catholic hierarchy under CP control and suppress the hierarchy associated with Rome are pretty vigorous.