The University of Massachusetts Amherst will host an interdisciplinary panel discussion on Monday, Oct. 26 featuring His Eminence the 13^th Kundeling Tatsak Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and teacher, to explore the historical, religious and geopolitical implications of the Dalai Lama’s succession.

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The talk will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Old Chapel on the UMass Amherst campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Rinpoche’s visit comes as the 14^th Dalai Lama has reaffirmed that the institution will continue with a 15th Dalai Lama. The Chinese government has asserted authority over the recognition of Tibetan Buddhist reincarnations, raising questions about what might happen if Tibetan religious authorities and the Chinese government recognize different successors.

The discussion will also feature Ka Zeng, professor of political science at UMass Amherst, who will examine Chinese state policy, sovereignty and the broader geopolitical implications of the succession, and Elizabeth Angowski, the Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies at Smith College, who will explore Buddhist morality, political authority, legitimacy and statecraft.

Stephen Platt, professor of Chinese history at UMass Amherst, will moderate the panel. Dhardon Sharling, lecturer of communication at UMass Amherst, will interpret for Rinpoche, who will deliver his remarks in Tibetan.

Born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1983, Rinpoche completed his monastic studies at Drepung Monastery, earning the Geshe degree in 2013, and later pursued advanced tantric studies at Gyudmed Monastery. He has spoken at Harvard Divinity School, the Harvard Asia Center and the University of Rhode Island’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies.

The discussion is sponsored by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UMass Amherst.