Tensions high in Himalayas as China demands Indian troop withdrawal

[The Minsky Moment]

What's the point of modern armies engaging in melee?

Spell combat is too easy to interrupt.

[Razgovory]

I rather like the idea of modern armies fighting each other with clubs in the middle of a mountainous wasteland.  Not nearly as much collateral damage.  They won't need camouflage either, so armies can go back to wearing ridiculous costumes.  After the battle they can say "Good War" to their foes and have their moms take them out for pizza.

[Jacob]

Modi calls the Dalai Lama to wish him a happy birthday. Obviously a bit of a symbolic finger in China's eye.

Indian PM Modi greets Dalai Lama on birthday in rare phone call

The Indian prime minister has publicly wished the Dalai Lama a happy 86th birthday, demonstratively disregarding China. Beijing sees Tibet's spiritual leader as a dangerous separatist.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced on Twitter that he had called Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to congratulate him on his birthday.

"Spoke on phone to His Holiness the @DalaiLama to convey greetings on his 86th birthday. We wish him a long and healthy life," Modi said in his tweet.

Modi's call comes as relations are at a low ebb with neighboring China, which generally disapproves of any show of support for the Dalai Lama, whom it considers a subversive "splittist" working for Tibet's independence.

Indian leaders have generally deferred to China, with Modi's government, for example, in 2019 asking Tibetans in India not to hold a rally to mark the anniversary of a failed uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule.

...

https://www.dw.com/en/indian-pm-modi-greets-dalai-lama-on-birthday-in-rare-phone-call/a-58177885

[Legbiter]

The Chinese already have a system in place to pick who he'll reincarnate as. If the Indians really want to fuck with the Chinese they'll sponsor a counter-Dalai Lama on their side of the border.

[Jacob]

The Chinese already have a system in place to pick who he'll reincarnate as. If the Indians really want to fuck with the Chinese they'll sponsor a counter-Dalai Lama on their side of the border.

I would absolutely do that, were I the Indians. But then again, I'm pretty anti-PRC-regime these days.

[Habbaku]

The Chinese already have a system in place to pick who he'll reincarnate as. If the Indians really want to fuck with the Chinese they'll sponsor a counter-Dalai Lama on their side of the border.

I would absolutely do that, were I the Indians. But then again, I'm pretty anti-PRC-regime these days.

Anyone with half a brain should be these days.

[Barrister]

The Chinese already have a system in place to pick who he'll reincarnate as. If the Indians really want to fuck with the Chinese they'll sponsor a counter-Dalai Lama on their side of the border.

I would absolutely do that, were I the Indians. But then again, I'm pretty anti-PRC-regime these days.

PRC of course will do whatever the fuck they want.  As seen with the Catholic Church in China they have no shame in having an avowedly atheist government appointing religious leaders.

But India?  Doesn't the Dalai Lama have a system in place to determine his successor?  Shouldn't India just support that process?

[Legbiter]

But India?  Doesn't the Dalai Lama have a system in place to determine his successor?  Shouldn't India just support that process?

He could decide that his next reincarnation will be born far away in India. He could even decide that he'll be the final reincarnation for a while.

But the Chinese have their own database on potential lamas as well as their own pliable monks. The Chinese have had a deeply vested interest in the reincarnation ever since the Manchu absorbed Tibet into their domains in 1720.

[grumbler]

PRC of course will do whatever the fuck they want.  As seen with the Catholic Church in China they have no shame in having an avowedly atheist government appointing religious leaders.

But India?  Doesn't the Dalai Lama have a system in place to determine his successor?  Shouldn't India just support that process?

The Dalai Lama isn't appointed. He is born (reincarnated from the last DL) and merely recognized when he comes to exhibit the signs that show that he is the Dalai Lama, years after the end of his "previous incarnation."  The reason the Chinese kidnapped (and probably murdered) the 11th Panchen Lama is because the Panchen Lama is one of the key figures that is supposed to recognize the reincarnated Dalai Lama (as the Dalai Lama recognizes the Panchen Lama when he is reincarnated).  The Chinese appointed a stooge as the new 11th Panchen Lama, but no one outside of the CCP and Mono believe them.

[Barrister]

PRC of course will do whatever the fuck they want.  As seen with the Catholic Church in China they have no shame in having an avowedly atheist government appointing religious leaders.

But India?  Doesn't the Dalai Lama have a system in place to determine his successor?  Shouldn't India just support that process?

The Dalai Lama isn't appointed. He is born (reincarnated from the last DL) and merely recognized when he comes to exhibit the signs that show that he is the Dalai Lama, years after the end of his "previous incarnation."  The reason the Chinese kidnapped (and probably murdered) the 11th Panchen Lama is because the Panchen Lama is one of the key figures that is supposed to recognize the reincarnated Dalai Lama (as the Dalai Lama recognizes the Panchen Lama when he is reincarnated).  The Chinese appointed a stooge as the new 11th Panchen Lama, but no one outside of the CCP and Mono believe them.

All of which is why I used the word "determine", and not "appoint".

[grumbler]

PRC of course will do whatever the fuck they want.  As seen with the Catholic Church in China they have no shame in having an avowedly atheist government appointing religious leaders.

But India?  Doesn't the Dalai Lama have a system in place to determine his successor?  Shouldn't India just support that process?

The Dalai Lama isn't appointed. He is born (reincarnated from the last DL) and merely recognized when he comes to exhibit the signs that show that he is the Dalai Lama, years after the end of his "previous incarnation."  The reason the Chinese kidnapped (and probably murdered) the 11th Panchen Lama is because the Panchen Lama is one of the key figures that is supposed to recognize the reincarnated Dalai Lama (as the Dalai Lama recognizes the Panchen Lama when he is reincarnated).  The Chinese appointed a stooge as the new 11th Panchen Lama, but no one outside of the CCP and Mono believe them.

All of which is why I used the word "determine", and not "appoint".

The process does not "determine" the next Dalai Lama, it identifies him (or her).

The Dalai Lama is a bodhisattva who can chose when and in whom he/she is reincarnated.

[Eddie Teach]

Don't they have to be newborns?

[Sheilbh]

Modi calls the Dalai Lama to wish him a happy birthday. Obviously a bit of a symbolic finger in China's eye.

Multiple BJP ministers and state Chief Ministers also sending congratulations on Twitter - all with a very similar message

There are lineages of Tibetan buddhism already with a conflict already between a PRC endorsed and non-PRC endorsed leaders. I can't see how it can be avoided after the death of the Dalai Lama.

[The Brain]

More importantly, who will Hollywood stars be photographed with while in awe of profound platitudes?

[Tonitrus]

The Chinese already have a system in place to pick who he'll reincarnate as. If the Indians really want to fuck with the Chinese they'll sponsor a counter-Dalai Lama on their side of the border.

I propose we borrow from the Catholic tradition, and dub such a person the "antiDalai Lama".