China Elevates Its Chosen Tibetan Spiritual Leader

This is from the NY Times today. The ‘Puppet-Panchen’ Lama of China has been promoted. This just a month after being appointed Vice-President of the Buddhist Association of China.

…Because he was appointed by Communist Party authorities rather than by Buddhist leaders, many Tibetans reject his religious authority as the ranking leader after the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile since 1959.

Born as Gyaltsen Norbu, he was anointed the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995, after the Dalai Lama identified a different child as the latest incarnation of the Panchen Lama. A few weeks later, that boy and his family vanished. The government has said that they are in “protective custody,” but their whereabouts have been an enduring mystery for 15 years.

The true Panchen Lama, Gedun Choekyi Nyima (pictured left), is known to the world only through this 15 year old photograph. Since then he has been unseen while the Communist Chinese government (avowed atheists) have ‘discovered’ their own reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, who, it should be noted, died mysteriously just after delivering a poignantly anti-Chinese speech.

A great book (not overly academic) about the Panchen Lamas and the Chinese is Isabel Hilton’s The Search for the Panchen Lama.

The history here is incredibly fascinating. The stories of political intrigue, internationally and internally, could be told for days. But sadly, the more important issue is the life of this boy – now a young man – and his family.

Some of the basics for those who don’t know Tibetan Buddhism terribly well (more informed scholars, feel free to correct any errors).

1. The Panchen Lama is the second highest nominal leader of the Gelukpa sect (or school) of Tibetan Buddhism – the Dalai Lama is the first
2. The spiritual leader of the Gelukpas is the Ganden Tripa, or the head abbot of the main Geluk monastery (Ganden, now situated in S.W. India)
3. The Panchen Lama was situated at Tashilunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Western Tibet, while the Dalai Lama lived in the Potala in Lhasa, Central Tibet
4. Typically the Panchen Lama plays a key role in identifying a Dalai Lama’s reincarnation and vice-versa; though this is not necessarily the case
5. Panchen Lamas and Dalai Lamas over the years have had disputes, one involving the Panchen Lama being exiled to China – and the Chinese have used this bit of internal rivalry to attempt to split Tibetans away from the current Dalai Lama.
6. Both institutions (D.L. and Panchen Lama) can be found to have political ‘reasons’ or explanations; and both have served to solidify and perpetuate the Gelukpa’s rule over Tibet.
7. Some other schools were persecuted under Geluk rule, though most were tolerated, or remained outside of Lhasa’s political reach. In the late 19th/early 20th centuries many non-Gelukpas came together to form a non-sectarian (Tib. Rimed, pronounced Ree-may) movement.

1. The Dalai Lama is an emanation of  the Bodhisatva Avalokiteshvara (sans diacritics).
2. The Panchen Lama is an emanation of Buddha Amitabha.
3. How emanations ‘work’ in Tibetan/Mahayana Buddhism is pretty complicated, but we can just say that these are extremely enlightened beings who, out of love for the world, incarnate themselves.
4. Both are also sprul-skus (tulkus); highly developed spiritual masters who can choose to be reincarnated (re-born, if you prefer) in this or that place to continue their teaching.
5. Tulkus and emanations aren’t limited to these two, or to the Geluk school. All schools have them and Tibetans generally revere them as saint-like figures, no matter their particular school affiliation.
6. In fact with the Rimed movement many teachers began mixing/sharing lineages and both the current and previous Dalai Lamas also took teachings from other lineages. There has been some controversy in the last ten years over a ‘protector’ named Dorje Shugden (check out Prisoners of Shangri-La by Donald Lopez for a good scholarly overview) who is not very friendly to inter-faith/school relations.

This is just scratching the surface, but know that Buddhism in Tibet is complicated (as it likely is anywhere once you look closely). It’s hard to know exactly how this fiasco with the faux-Panchen Lama will turn out. Tibetans know he is a farce, but they also know the pragmatics of ‘going along with the lie’ and the often deadly results of opposition.

Before too long the current Dalai Lama (may he remain with us forever) will pass away, leaving the future of the Tibet-in-exile movement in limbo. Some factions there have called for violence (Palestinian-style), others for capitulation. His Holiness has chosen a middle road, but for now China only constructs roadblock. Hence it is all the more up to us to continue/increase our call for a free Tibet.

Update:  This from UK’s Independent suggests a potential part of the reasoning behind the hasty rise in the Panchen Lama’s status. “China’s top expert on social unrest [..] appears to warn that hardline security policies are taking the country to the brink of “fundamental revolutionary turmoil” because the Communist Party’s was obsessed with holding on to its power monopoly.”