Overview

• A three-day Buddhist conference will be held July 2–4 in Dharamshala ahead of the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday, where he is expected to outline his succession process.
• Exiled Tibetan leaders, including speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, have publicly confirmed they will accept only a successor identified through the Dalai Lama’s chosen Tibetan channels.
• The 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorjee issued a letter praising the Dalai Lama as “the Second Buddha” and denouncing China’s attempts to control the reincarnation tradition.
• In his March memoir Voice for the Voiceless, the Dalai Lama affirmed his successor will be born outside China, likely in a free country such as India.
• Officers of the Gaden Phodrang Foundation, established by the Dalai Lama in 2015, will spearhead the search and recognition of his next incarnation under the traditional system.