Dalai Lama: I Will Choose My Successor, Thanks.

The Tibetan spiritual leader said if he is to be reincarnated, he wants to have a say in it.

The Dalai Lama announced today in a 4,200-word document that if he is to be reincarnated, he will leave written directions as to how it will happen. The 76-year-old spiritual leader of Tibet (and, since May, no longer the political one) says that when he is 90, he will consult with the high lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the Tibetan public to determine whether the institution of Dalai Lama should even continue. If he does have a successor and is reincarnated, he says his successor will be born in exile and not chosen by China. This marks a huge break with tradition, where previously successors have been young boys selected by monks for resemblance to a late leader. Guess it's time to brace ourselves for the possibility of a Chinese and Tibetan Dalai Lama showdown.