(Corrects typo in paragraph 1)

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING, March 9 (Reuters) - Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is profaning Buddhism by suggesting that he will not be reincarnated when he dies, the Chinese-appointed governor of Tibet said on Monday, in some of China's strongest comments to date on the subject.

Tibetan Buddhism holds that the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. China says the tradition must continue and it must approve the next Dalai Lama.

But the Nobel peace laureate, who fled his homeland in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, has said he thinks the title could end when he dies.

He has also stated that he will not be reborn in China if Tibet is not free and that no one, including China, has the right to choose his successor "for political ends".

Speaking on the sidelines of the annual meeting of parliament, Tibet governor Padma Choling accused the Dalai Lama of flip-flopping with his various pronouncements on the issue, and of hypocrisy seeing as he himself was reincarnated.

"If the central government had not approved it, how could he have become the 14th Dalai Lama? He couldn't. It has a serious procedure," Padma Choling, an ethnic Tibetan himself, told reporters.

"I think that, in fact, he is profaning religion and Tibetan Buddhism," he said, adding that the Dalai Lama was trying to usurp Beijing's right to decide.

"If he says no reincarnation then no reincarnation? Impossible. Nobody in Tibetan Buddhism would agree to that," he added. "We must respect history, respect and not profane Tibetan Buddhism."

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REFILE-China says Dalai Lama "profanes" Buddhism by doubting his reincarnation

BEIJING

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is profaning Buddhism by suggesting that he will not be reincarnated when he dies, the Chinese-appointed governor of Tibet said on Monday, in some of China's strongest comments to date on the subject.

Tibetan Buddhism holds that the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. China says the tradition must continue and it must approve the next Dalai Lama.

But the Nobel peace laureate, who fled his homeland in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, has said he thinks the title could end when he dies.

He has also stated that he will not be reborn in China if Tibet is not free and that no one, including China, has the right to choose his successor for political ends.

Speaking on the sidelines of the annual meeting of parliament, Tibet governor Padma Choling accused the Dalai Lama of flip-flopping with his various pronouncements on the issue, and of hypocrisy seeing as he himself was reincarnated.

If the central government had not approved it, how could he have become the 14th Dalai Lama? He couldn't. It has a serious procedure, Padma Choling, an ethnic Tibetan himself, told reporters.

I think that, in fact, he is profaning religion and Tibetan Buddhism, he said, adding that the Dalai Lama was trying to usurp Beijing's right to decide.

If he says no reincarnation then no reincarnation? Impossible. Nobody in Tibetan Buddhism would agree to that, he added. We must respect history, respect and not profane Tibetan Buddhism.

Exiles worry that China might just simply appoint their own successor. In 1995, after the Dalai Lama named a boy in Tibet as the reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama, the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, China put that boy under house arrest and installed another in his place.

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China: Dalai Lama 'Profanes' Buddhism by Doubting his Reincarnation

A bizarre dispute involving the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Communist Party has broken out at China's annual meeting of parliament.

Tibetan Buddhists believe the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death.

But the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has suggested he will not be reincarnated when he dies, prompting atheists of the Communist party to demand the tradition must continue.

The message was conveyed at a meeting on the sidelines of the China's National People's Congress in Beijing.

The head of Tibet's regional congress, Padma Choling, said that the Dalai Lama has to return, just as he has done for generations.

"Whether [the Dalai Lama] wants to cease reincarnation or not ... this decision is not up to him," Mr Padma said.

"When he became the 14th Dalai Lama, it was not his decision.

"He was chosen following a strict system dictated by religious rules and historical tradition and also with the approval of the central government.

"Can he decide when to stop reincarnating? That is impossible. What he wants is to distort reality. It's impossible in my view. Tibetan Buddhism follows tradition. If he goes ahead with this there will be division."

This debate has nothing to do with Buddhism and everything to do with power.

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China accuses Dalai Lama of 'profaning' Buddhism by signalling end to reincarnation

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A senior Tibetan official on Monday slammed the Dalai Lama's recent claim that the Tibetan Buddhism tradition of reincarnation should cease with his death, saying that the religion and history should be respected.

Padma Choling, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress, also stressed that door for dialogue with the 14th Dalai Lama is "always open."

But he added that as to how the dialogue would be held and what to discuss totally depend on the Dalai Lama's attitude.

To regain his waning influence, the monk said in December that his traditional religious role should cease with his death, a claim that is against the Tibetan Buddhism tradition as the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death.

The move is expected to upset the reincarnation system that has been honored for hundreds of years in Tibet and destabilize the Buddhist region.

The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should follow strict historical conventions and required religious rituals of the Tibetan Buddhism and should also be approved by the central government, Padma Choling said.

"It's not up to the Dalai Lama," he noted.

"What he said is blasphemy against the Tibetan Buddhism," the official said after a panel discussion with other Tibetan lawmakers at China's annual parliamentary session in Beijing.

The year of 2015 is expected to be eventful for the southwestern Chinese autonomous region, as it ushers in crucial anniversaries and strives for development.

In September, China will observe the 50th anniversary of the founding of Tibet Autonomous Region.

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Tibetan official defends reincarnation system, slams Dalai Lama

THE CHAIRMAN of the reform committee on the protection of Buddhism has said the purpose of his committee is to seek an answer on whether monks can spend money, so the matter can be regulated with sincerity.

"We are focusing on the case of Phra Dhammachayo, the abbot of Dhammakaya Temple, because there was a report indicating he has been involved with money matters, including the source of the money, that has been handled without transparency," Paiboon Nititawan told The Nation.

Paiboon, whose committee was set up earlier by the National Reform Council, sparked uproar when he said at a recent meeting of the committee that according to a 1999 statement by the then-Supreme Patriarch, Phra Dhammachayo had been automatically defrocked.

This created tension between the NRC panel, the monk and Buddhist groups.

Dhammakaya Temple is believed to be the wealthiest temple in Thailand, but some Buddhists view it as a temple that has distorted Lord Buddha's teachings in relation to money matters.

"Our goal is to protect religion by scrutinising the temple's budget or financial status, with Dhammakaya Temple the main case study we have to look into," Paiboon said.

He said the study's findings could result in the public realising what the real problems were and how they could be regulated.

He said that along with investigating whether monks could spend money, his panel wanted to determine if monks can collect money if they are allowed to spend it.

If they were, it needed to be determined how much they could collect and whether they had to declare assets like non-monks had to.

"All these questions have been frequently asked by many people, and if the monks can use and collect money do they have to pay taxes too? This is one of the important questions we have to search for facts [to reach a conclusion]," he said.

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NRC panel focused on monks and money

A LARGE number of monks have threatened to rally on March 12 in an attempt to have the National Reform Council panel on the protection of Buddhism disbanded due to its perceived hostility towards the order.

In a statement issued yesterday, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University deputy rector Phra Maythee Thammajarn said his call for the rally was not meant to favour any particular temple but to protect Buddhism overall.

The NRC panel is chaired by Paiboon Nititawan, who has labelled Dhammakaya Temple the source of ongoing disputes and has said its abbot Phra Dhammachayo should be defrocked as a result of a 1999 statement by the late supreme patriarch.

Phra Maythee Thammajarn last week submitted a petition to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and NRC president Thienchay Kiranandana demanding that the NRC panel be scrapped.

"If the call to disband the NRC panel is disregarded by the government or the NRC, I can confirm that there will be more activities by various Buddhist bodies, especially by a large number of monks, on March 12," he said. The deadline has been set by the Association of Academics for Buddhism, a lay body that is an ally of Mahachula-longkornrajavidyalaya University. The location of the march has not yet been determined.

A group of followers of late revered monk Luang Ta Maha Bua on Friday submitted an open letter to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and NRC president Thienchay Kiranandana that said an ongoing draft on religions in the new constitution must clearly stipulate that it was the King's sole authority to appoint the supreme patriarch. They also said the seniority of monks should be based on the number of years they had been monks and not by their ecclesiastical rank.

Led by Prof Rattana Siriphanich, they are also opposed to any future issuance of a monastic law that is against the Buddha's rules on the discipline of monks, which they said could lead to divisions among monks - a deadly sin. The group said giving the King the authority to appoint the supreme patriarch could minimise or prevent the "money-driven chase" for a higher ecclesiastical rank among senior monks.

The late supreme patriarch said the abbot's monk status was invalidated after he allegedly committed one of the five deadly sins as a Buddhist monk by embezzling money and land donated to the Pathum Thani-based temple. Public prosecutors dropped the case.

Meanwhile, a National Institute of Development Administration poll found that 52 per cent of respondents said that reform of Buddhism in Thailand was urgent and important, 24 per cent said it was important but not urgent and 19 per cent said it was not needed. Of 1,249 Buddhist respondents across the country, 10 per cent viewed the Supreme Sangha Council's performance as being highly effective, 25 per cent said rather effective, 33 per cent said lowly effective and 19 per cent found it completely ineffective.

Asked about frequency of monk walks in Bangkok, which has drawn criticism due to their impact on traffic, 77 per cent said they were inappropriate, 13 per cent said they were appropriate and 3 per cent had no problems.

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Monks to rally if NRC panel is not scrapped

Asia News Network Saturday 7th March, 2015

"I must say I ban any march. I will order police to prevent such activities. To the venerable, please go back to the temples," the prime minister said as the divide among monks deepens.

"Conflicts among monks are monks' own affairs. The government will step in only to do laymen's work," added Prayut, who also heads the National Council for Peace and Order.

Martial law is still in place in most parts of the country. It prohibits gatherings of five people or more. Many monks, however, have openly vowed to stage rallies after the committee on the protection of Buddhism placed Dhammakaya Temple, its abbot Phra Dhammachayo and the Sangha Supreme Council under intense public scrutiny.

Several groups of monks and Buddhists warned that they would stage big rallies on March 12 if the committee were not scrapped.

After rocking the country's ecclesiastical circle, the committee decided to conclude its mission yesterday in the face of acute pressure.

"We're done," the committee's chairman Paiboon Nititawan announced at a press conference.

He said the committee had completed its study of Buddhism-related problems and submitted the report to NRC chairman Thienchay Kiranandana.

"We have also successfully raised public awareness of the need to protect Buddhism. So our mission is completed," Paiboon said.

He said altho...

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Thai PM warns monks against protest march