Do you believe that the Dalai Lama is reincarnating?

Long answer: No.

No. And I don’t think the current Dalai Lama actually believes it ether, but he plays the part that his people expect of him.

No. The idea is hogwash.

Monkey balls

No, but I like the story.

Rebirth, not reincarnation. Reincarnation implies that there is a soul that moves on.

It’s a certainty since matter cannot really be destroyed, just reconfigured.

Though I’m fairly sure that his remarks about not coming back is a political counter to Chinese attempts to further subjugate Tibetian culture by appointing the next dalai lama who bows to Han Chinese wishes.

I don’t believe in anyone who claims they’re gods, instead of human.
I think they may be smart, may be freaking smart, but that’s all.

Good thing the Dalai Lama has never claimed to be a god then.

errr, sorry.
God or buddha or something like that…?

The Buddha never claimed godhood or divinity ether.

@Darth_Algar As far as I know, Dalai Lama is the leader of Tibetan Buddhism. According to their belief, Dalai Lama is the spirit possession of Buddha, and he passes the possession to the next Dalai after he dies.

But I don’t think their’s a “possession” or “Buddha” or something like that, that’s all I wanted to say

No, the Dalai Lama is a high ranking figure of one branch (Gelug) of Tibetan Buddhism, but not the leader of that branch nor of Tibetan Buddhism. One of the reasons he’s so revered by Tibetans, and so influential among them, is because the Dalai Lama, for centuries, has been the political ruler of Tibet (it’s king, more or less).Nominally anyway. In practice this has often not been the case.

As for the Dalai Lama being the “spirit possession”, or whatever, of the Buddha….honestly, I’m not even sure what that’s suppose to mean, but it’s not a doctrine I know of.

I will say that Tibetan Buddhism has a lot of quasi-mystic elements to it that aren’t found in other branches of Buddhism. Much of this is influence from the Bon religion that dominated Tibet previous to the introduction of Buddhism there. Buddhism by its nature (for instance neither claiming nor denying the existence of god/s) lends itself rather well to syncretism. It is quite easy to meld Buddhism onto the beliefs one already has (hence, for example, myself, an atheist Buddhist). So as Buddhism spread across Asia people tended to flavor it with their own native beliefs and practices. Even today we see this as Buddhism in the west has begun to take on flavors of its own.