Necessity For The Fourteenth Dalai Lama To Assume Religious And Political Authority Suddenly

Abstract

During this critical and savage time, the two oracles, Gadong and Nechung, were invoked in the private chambers of Norbu Lingkha Palace and their guidance was sought in the matter of the lost men and territory in Kham. At that time, the Gadong Oracle indicated that the time had come for Dalai Lama to assume religious and political authority. Tibetan National Assembly unanimously agreed that he should, and so, the Dalai Lama was beseeched to do so. Accordingly, the Regent Tutor Takdrak Rinpoche resigned on seventh day of tenth month of the Iron-Tiger year, after being Tibet's supreme ruler for ten years. A traditional ceremony, which had been cut short under these onerous and crucial circumstances, was held and although the fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was not yet sixteen years old, he assumed the religious and political leadership according to the wishes of all gods and people of Tibet. Keywords: fourteenth Dalai Lama; Kham; Norbu Lingkha Palace; political authority; Regent Tutor Takdrak Rinpoche; religious authority; Tenzin Gyatso; Tibetan National Assembly