The 83-year-old Dalai Lama says his condition is stable and he’s feeling better.

Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama was admitted to the hospital in New Delhi on April 9 with a chest infection. An aide assured well-wishers and the media that the Buddhist monk, now 83-years-old, is stable. He previously went back to his Dharamsala home, a town located in the Indian Himalayas, when he went through “some discomfort.” Doctors subsequently diagnosed a chest infection, and he is currently being treated for that complication. Physicians have ranked his condition as stable and he will remain in the hospital for about three days.

The month of March marked the 60th anniversary of the Dalai Lama fleeing Tibet for a subsequent life of exile in India. The spiritual leader of Buddhism was forced to leave after Tibetans mounted an unsuccessful revolt post-Chinese invasion of their land. Thousands fled to India by crossing the Indo-Chinese border. India from that point onwards became the Dalai Lama’s home. New Delhi has reciprocated in kind, terming the revered Buddhist monk as a "most esteemed and honored guest." The Dalai Lama then went all over the world championing the Tibetan cause and became a global icon. He is now both a religious and cultural figure. Of late, however, the Dalai Lama has cut slack in his previous busy schedule, citing exhaustion and the effects of advanced age.

The majority of the 100,000 Tibetans resident in India are worried the fight for an autonomous homeland may bring to a close with the death of the Dalai Lama. The latter told a prominent media house in March that it was entirely possible that the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama could be located in India. He warned that any Chinese approved successor to the spiritual movement would not be worthy of respect. Many Tibetans fear precisely this outcome. They are afraid Beijing will usurp the tradition of a soul of senior Buddhist monks reincarnated in a child’s body after death and make moves to influence their community.

The Dalai Lama himself anticipates such a step by the Chinese Government. He is sure Beijing will employ strongarm tactics to force a successor on the Tibetan Buddhists. The Dalai Lama warned that the future might witness the existence of two Dalai Lamas – one from a free country like India and the other selected by the Chinese. He then said no one would trust the Chinese one and there could be additional problems as well for the Chinese.

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