India, March 16 -- The 14th Dalai Lama has declared in a new book that his reincarnation would be born in the free world, both to serve as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and to embody the aspirations of the Tibetan people. This is a more definitive assertion than his previous comments on the matter. In the past, he has suggested the reincarnation could occur in exile from Tibet, or that the next Dalai Lama could be a woman. He has even suggested that the institution of the Dalai Lama could end, if the Tibetan people felt no further need for it.

The Dalai Lama is 89 years old and has not been in the best of health in recent years. His efforts to reach a negotiated settlement with China's leadership have produced no tangible resu...