Dalai Lama hints at living till 110 years or beyond, cites dream indications

After stating in a new book that his successor will be born in the “free world,” Tibetan spiritual leader the 14th Dalai Lama, who will turn 90 on July 6, revealed that his dreams have indicated he may live to be 110 years old or more.

The spiritual leader, during his teachings at the Tsuglagkhang Temple in Mcleodganj, said that in his remaining years he is determined to continue to serve the Dharma and beings as best he can. “In exile I have served the Buddhadharma and beings to the best of my ability and there have been indications in my dreams that I may live to be 110 years old or more,” the DalaI Lama said.

In his recently released book “’Voice for the Voiceless”, he has urged his followers to reject any successor chosen by China, saying he would be reincarnated in the “free world” (outside China).

In Tibetan tradition, it is believed that when a senior Buddhist monk passes away, his soul is reincarnated in the body of a child. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was recognised as the reincarnation of his predecessor at the age of two.

The Dalai Lama said, “We have lost our country and come to live in exile here in India and elsewhere. Here and in other parts of the world we have encountered growing interest in the teaching of the Buddha. I have discussed what the Buddha taught with scientists and when I talk with them, I feel I am also a scientist. But when I talk with monks, I am aware that I am also a monk.”

At the age of 23, the Dalai Lama fled to India with thousands of other Tibetans in 1959 after a failed uprising against the rule of Mao Zedong’s Communists, which gained control of Tibet in 1950. Since then, the Dalai Lama has been living in exile in Dharamshala in the Himalayan state of Himachal in northern India.