Chinese Government Regulates Reincarnation

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betagold

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What the hell.

Just what in Arceus's name are they thinking? Banning an influential religious leader. Not only did they just lose thousands of Buddhists who will probably leave the country after this, and tons of government money to put this law in the books, if reincarnatioin is real, these guys are ants for the next million years.
 
Does it matter? The Chinese government chose who the 2nd most important person to the Dalai Lama is. The Chinese government decides who the Catholic bishops and cardinals are. Unless other countries take action, things will remain the same. Somehow, I don't really think other countries will think it's worth getting upset about.
 
Read about this in TIME Magazine some time back, and as a Buddhist, to say I'm outraged is an understatement.

For those who don't know, reincarnation figures largely in Buddhism, and we believe that through a cycle of death and rebirth, we will eventually reach nirvana, where we are finally free from all forms of suffering (the concept is more complicated than how I put it; you may want to do some research on Buddhist web sites for that). By banning Buddhist monks from reincarnating, China is effectively putting a ban on nirvana.

Of course, we Buddhists, being intelligent and peaceful people, won't play shoot-them-up with China over this; by engaging them in violence, we are ourselves setting up for a violent retribution (Buddhists believe that every action creates an equal and opposite reaction, in a concept known as Cause-and-Effect). Our solution is to literally sit back and watch; for doing something as absurd as this, they are going to get their just desserts sooner or later, without our interventon.
 
China's assumption they have the power to change how the cosmos works is positively laughable.
 
In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission.
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Sorry, I just can't help but laugh.
 
Wow, what the heck, China.

I couldn't help it either.
 
the gadfly said:
The Chinese government chose who the 2nd most important person to the Dalai Lama is.
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What I should have said is the Chinese government decided who the reincarnated person was. The Dalai Lama disagreed. Wish I remembered what the number 2 was named.
 
This seems more like a stunt by the CPC to give themselves the authority to appoint who they want as the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. The words Tibet, assert, and sovereignty come readily to mind.
 
I thought the only legal religion in China was communism. o.o I'm not making a joke, either. I remember reading it in a history book in high school. Might've been propaganda, but meh.
 
Shuko said:
I thought the only legal religion in China was communism. o.o I'm not making a joke, either. I remember reading it in a history book in high school. Might've been propaganda, but meh.
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Depends on the history book and how old it is. If it was published about ten years prior (ie when I was in high school), it would definitely have been Cold War propaganda (horror stories about all religion being banned in China and the USSR and so forth). Religion is practised, but under the watch of the CPC, who, as the_gadfly has pointed out, appoints the local religious leaders.
 
I'm lucky I'm a Christian. I don't reincarnate, so I don't need any permission and won't have any problems with law (if I decide to live in China which is, well... highly unlikely). Yeah! Yeah! :lol:
 
betagold said:
What the hell.

Just what in Arceus's name are they thinking? Banning an influential religious leader. Not only did they just lose thousands of Buddhists who will probably leave the country after this, and tons of government money to put this law in the books, if reincarnatioin is real, these guys are ants for the next million years.
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How the hell do they plan to pull that off?
 
Through pure brute force. People are surprisingly compliant when they face the possibility of imprisonment or death.
 
They, die and come back to life as something else. Unless they have managed to take over the afterlife, they aren't controlling anything.
 
Maxim said:
I'm lucky I'm a Christian. I don't reincarnate, so I don't need any permission and won't have any problems with law (if I decide to live in China which is, well... highly unlikely). Yeah! Yeah! :lol:
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Well, the way China's acting, they'll soon announce that Jesus will need their permission to come back to Earth. :p
 
I always thought communist politicians wanted to make people think they were God, but this is ridiculous. XP
 
I'm not a buddhist but I can really say that this is both unfair and idiotic for China to do. First if they actually think they can stop well I don't know how to term it but they are assuming the role of a supernatural being and that's incredibly sad, and if they truly believe that they can stop people then why the heck are they doing this?
 
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