China to Tibetan Buddhist monks: no reincarnating without our ok

Snip from Newsweek article:

In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."

Link. (Thanks, Joel M)

Photo: a young monk in Amdo province. Ganked from the eternally fascinating archives of photographer Raul Gutierrez, whose RSS feed is a daily source of joy.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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Anonymous

all i can say is…
you have got to be kidding me
Daemon

Apparently everybody else can still reincarnate freely…

Though basicly they’re just putting a legal pretext in place to arrest anyone who claims to be a reincarnated monk.
everything

i’d like to see that registration form.
Anonymous

All in an attempt to stop the production of Dalai Lamas.
Anonymous

It’s one of the few smart things China ever did. Since reincarnation doesn’t really happen (i.e., can’t be scientifically proved), it’s not unreasonable to ban such stupid practices. It’s not any worse than banning polygamy, and yet no one ever complains about that ban except some Mormons.
Anonymous

What happens if you do it anyway?
Anonymous

>>#5

Wait, I’m confused. Are you saying that polygamy can’t be scientifically proven?
Anonymous

The Chinese government seems to be making spiritual advancement. By forbidding unregulated reincarnation they are officially admitting that reincarnation (re-birth in a new body) is possible. Good so far. – What they don’t seem to understand is that reincarnation follows its own laws on which other human beings, especially those working for the Chinese government have no influence whatsoever. Just like no one was asking permission to be born as the child of certain parents. All our good and bad actions in this life determine the status of our next birth ( law of karma), so the Chinese government officials better make sure they care for the only thing they CAN influence in this regard: a better status for their own next birth by avoiding extremely bad karma activities like persecution of religious minded people which guarantees re-birth in hell. Lets pray for their souls. Feel love and compassion as taught by Lord Buddha. Om Mani Padme Hum.