I was surprised to learn recently that all reincarnations of living Tibetan Buddhas are subject to the approval of China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA). Any reincarnation that fails to obtain government approval is illegal and invalid. In fact, SARA has issued a set of rules that regulate reincarnation of Tibetan living Buddhas.

The regulations require that a temple which applies for reincarnation of a living Buddha must be “legally-registered venues for Tibetan Buddhism activities and are capable of fostering and offering proper means of support for the living Buddha.”

Is SARA is dedicated to doing what is best Tibetan Buddhism?

“The selection of reincarnates must preserve national unity and solidarity of all ethnic groups and the selection process cannot be influenced by any group or individual from outside the country,” SARA said.

Anyway, my first thought when reading all of this was that it is pretty funny for a communist country to have a State Administration for Religious Affairs in the first place, isn’t it?