This issue starts with the Fifth Dalai Lama, but to explain it, the nature of the Dalai Lama must be explained. Tenzing Gyatsu currently hold the title: His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, Fourteenth Reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. To make a long story short, Avalokiteshvara is considered the most powerful Bodhisattva in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. He is more significant than the Shakyamuni Buddha (born Siddhartha Gautama), the modern Buddha of our time. He is considered to be more enlightened than the Buddha we know, but not a Buddha himself because he continues to reincarnate himself in order to aid mankind (a Buddha is one who breaks the cycle of birth and death- or ends Samsara to achieve Nirvana). The Dalai Lama is believed to be one of his reincarnations. And I don't just mean the current one. All of the Dalai Lamas are believed to be the same reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara.

So why is this important? Well the Fifth Dalai Lama ruled over a very prosperous and technologically advanced empire. Historically, it had been an empire that was feared for its ruthless warriors and had many conflicts with the Chinese. But it had made an alliance with the Mongols a few Dalai Lamas before, and the Chinese were understandably apprehensive about that. I should note that the title 'Dalai Lama' was bestowed by a Mongol king and is Mongol for "master of the ocean." During the Fifth Dalai Lam's rule, China agreed to provide military protection to Tibet in exchange for scientific and philosophical knowledge. China also agreed that the Dalai Lama would be the foremost authority in Chinese Buddhism, which is somewhat strange given that the Chinese were Buddhists 700 years before Buddhism, through Padmasambadva, reached Tibet. Strange as it may be, Chinese Buddhists have a deep respect for the Dalai Lama to this day. And therein lies the problem.

The Chinese are wise enough to understand that ideas can pose very real threats. They aren't the first, of course. The powerful Catholic Church saw a threat in some relatively unknown priest named Martin Luther. And for good reason. Despite having no real power, he sparked a movement that would tear the church apart and result in severe bloodshed for centuries throughout Europe. Ultimately, ideas can be more powerful than any army. And that's why China fears the Dalai Lama so much. He has a bigger following in China than the Communist Party. For that reason, his ideas pose a very serious threat to those in power. They take it seriously enough to outlaw the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and all other Tibetan Lamas. The law is silly of course, but it says a lot about how much the Chinese really fear the Dalai Lama's ideas. We should understand that the Dalai Lama really does hold a lot of sway in China, and China's concerns are hardly unwarranted. It may all seem silly to Westerners, but it's really no joke in either China or Tibet.

In the end, China has violated any agreement they ever had with Tibet by attempting to control the institution of the Dalai Lama (they want the Communist Party to select the next Dalai Lama and have kidnapped the Panchen Lama- at 7 years old- to push the issue). They are certainly in the wrong here. But they aren't just being overly paranoid in persecuting the Tibetan monastic orders. Those monks really do represent a threat to the leaders of China. Even if they are pacifists.