China tells Buddhist Monks to obtain permission before they reincarnate
Both Times and Newsweek carry the same news on China banning Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission.
“The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,” according to the order from State Administration for Religious Affairs, which comes into effect on September 1, 2007.
Read more at:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2194682.ece
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227400/site/newsweek/
From a historical perspective, religion and politics should very much remain separate.
A combination of both normally smells trouble, with either a political religion (Fall of the Romans) or a religious political environment (Muslim countries included).
It is not that religion deals with the "next" world and politics deal with "this" world. Buddhism deals with this world and if everyone practice compassion, wisdom and loving-kindness, world peace will never be an agenda, since peace comes from everyone directly.
If you have the time, you should see the anger and hate expressed by the readers comments.
To be frank, I don't think it matters much from the Buddhist point of view.
Let me quote a teaching which I have learned recently.
A child went to the movie with his mother.
On the screen, he saw a man hurting a puppy. He was angry and ran up to the screen and try to hit the man, only to realise that he is hitting a blank screen.
Allow me to share The serenity prayer that came to my mind:
Grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference
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Well said robin. May God
Well said robin. May God grant all of us the wisdom to know what we can change and what we cannot. I really liked that. People are running in their own minds and creating this world. As the saints have always said that this world exists in our mind, let us have the vision to understand this deep down that we are our minds. And dropping this mind can lead us to freedom.