The Dalai Lama, according to Tibetan Buddhist belief, can influence or choose his next rebirth.
It is believed he can consciously choose the circumstances, location, or timing of his rebirth in order to continue helping sentient beings.
The core belief in Tibetan Buddhism is that enlightened beings have control over their rebirth.
Christianity, on the other hand, does not have the concept of reincarnation.
The core objective of Christians is to achieve salvation, that is, eternal life in Heaven with God.
It is the one big idea on salvation that caused the violent Reformation in 16th-century Europe.
Prior to the Reformation, Europe had cultural and religious unity—in the Pope in Rome and in one language, Latin, for worship and scholarship.
To achieve salvation, believers paid for masses for the good of their souls and the deceased whom they loved. They were told they could buy indulgences for a smooth path to salvation.
Martin Luther changed all that by preaching that one big idea, that salvation was entirely in God’s hands and there was nothing humans could do to alter God’s decision.
Two excellent books on the Reformation are Reformation: Europe’s House Divided 1490-1700 (2004) and All Things Made New (2016), both by Diarmaid MacCulloch.
The second book is a compilation of articles written over the past 25 years by Diarmaid MacCulloch and now revised by him for this anthology.