Editor’s note: Aspen Daily News sports editor Jonathan Bastian spent several days recently in Madison, Wis., where he met the Dalai Lama.

For a leader who has spent his life preaching a message of peace and compassion, the Dalai Lama’s recent tour through the U.S. has been characterized by moments of unrest and controversy, drawing greater attention to his arrival in Aspen today.

The most pressing issues on the tour, however, extend beyond the facts that the Beijing Olympic Games are only two weeks away and the situation in Tibet is increasingly unstable. Instead, they relate to the question of the Dalai Lama’s successor and an outbreak of a Tibetan religious subgroup that claims to be suppressed by the Dalai Lama. 

As both the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people and their government in exile, the Dalai Lama has emerged as a worldwide superstar, lecturing around the globe on Tibetan Buddhism, fostering inter-religious dialogue and speaking on behalf of the Tibetan people. His consistent message of compassion has earned him both a Nobel Peace Prize and the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Yet not all have interpreted the Dalai Lama’s life as peaceful and innocuous.

After escaping from Tibet as young boy during the Chinese takeover of Tibet led by Mao Zedong in the 1950s, the Dalai Lama experienced strained relations with the Chinese. He has pleaded that the Chinese grant Tibetans cultural and religious freedom, which he claims were repressed under the Communist regime. The Chinese, in turn, have accused the Dalai Lama of being a separatist trying to divide the country.

The tension generated by this toxic relationship boiled over in April, when the Dalai Lama toured the West Coast and was met by protesting groups of Chinese in Seattle. The protests were understood as retaliation against the uprising of Tibetans  within Tibet and during the international Chinese Olympic torch run. Now, as the date of the Olympics opening ceremony approaches, many eyes are on the Dalai Lama, as his worldwide audience wonders how he is going to respond to another wave of anticipated Tibetan demonstrations.

The situation became even more complicated earlier this week when the Dalai Lama was in Madison for four days of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. Outside a lecture hall, a group of approximately 250 Tibetans, Americans and Europeans, representing  an esoteric split within the Tibetan Buddhist community, protested against the Dalai Lama. The protesting group has no official name, but its elements are united by their worship of a deity called Shukden who exists within Tibetan Buddhism.

Shukden, who has been around for centuries, is primarily worshipped within the Geluk sect of Tibetan Buddhism (the sect of the Dalai Lama). But the Dalai Lama has stated that Shukden is a dangerous spirit to worship, leading to dangerous consequences, such as the apparent murder of a high Buddhist priest who was close to the Dalai Lama. Two previous Dalai Lamas have also banned the worship of Shukden.

In Madison, the Shukden protesters vociferously chanted, “Dalai Lama, give us religious freedom!”

Their presence was so overwhelming that they were surrounded by Wisconsin law enforcement officials, and were kept as far away from the Dalai Lama as possible. Madison is home to one of the largest contingencies of Tibetan refugees, hundreds of whom attended the Dalai Lama’s lectures.

Many Tibetans speculate that Shukden followers are secretly funded by the Chinese government as a means of vilifying the Dalai Lama and creating fissures within the Tibetan community.

But the reverence Tibetans have for the Dalai Lama is grounded more in religious belief and practice than in politics. He is regarded as a god — a manifestation of Avalokitshvara, the Buddhist god of compassion. And this deification of the Dalai Lama, who is 73 years old, raises the question of his successor.

Tibetan Buddhists believe the institution of the Dalai Lama exists in a cycle of reincarnation. When the Dalai Lama dies, they  believe, his soul is transplanted into a young boy who is discovered by Tibetan priests through acts of divination and is the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama. He then becomes the new leader of Tibet.

But the equation has changed because the Dalai Lama has not lived in Tibet since his exile. His reincarnation could be born in a Tibetan refugee camp in India or Nepal. Further, the only person who can officially discover and enthrone the Dalai Lama is the Panchen Lama — his second in command — who Tibetans believe was abducted by the Chinese and secretly smuggled out of Tibet as a child. The Chinese then claimed to have discovered a different Panchen Lama and enthroned him. By controlling the Panchen Lama, the Chinese created a situation in which they could essentially hand select the next Dalai Lama.

So, the critical question is: Who will be the next Dalai Lama?

The sitting Dalai Lama thus far has not given a definitive answer. In Madison, he said that the institution of the Dalai Lama might simply cease because it is no longer relevant. Or that his reincarnation will be born outside Tibet.

All of these looming questions put greater emphasis on his arrival today in Aspen, where he is slated to speak today and Saturday in conjunction with the Aspen Institute’s program on Tibetan culture.

(For a list of the Dalai Lama’s speaking engagements in Aspen, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.)

bastian@aspendailynews.com.