China's Panchen Lama says to uphold "glorious tradition" of patriotism

[rug]

Although officially atheist, China selected Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995 in a drive to win the hearts and minds of Tibetans



Gyaltsen Norbu (top 4th L), the 11th Panchen Lama, arrives at a Buddhism gathering at the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, December 8, 2015. Picture taken December 8, 2015. REUTERS/China Daily/File Photo

Sat Feb 25, 2017 | 8:19am IST

Beijing: A youth named by China as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, but reviled as a fake by many Tibetans, has pledged to uphold the “glorious tradition” of patriotism that holders of his position have followed, state news agency Xinhua said.

Although officially atheist, China selected Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995 in a drive to win the hearts and minds of Tibetans.

Tibet’s current spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing brands a dangerous separatist, had announced his own choice of a six-year-old boy, but he was taken away by authorities and has since vanished from public view.

Meeting Sun Chunlan, head of the United Front Work Department which helps oversee religious groups, China’s Panchen Lama said he would work hard to maintain the country’s and ethnic unity, the official Xinhua news agency said late Friday.

http://in.reuters.com/article/china-tibet-idINKBN16402V

[Tanuki]

1. This is heartbreaking. He is Panchen Lama in name only. The real

Panchen Lama, as noted in the article, was identified in early childhood by the present Dalai Lama but was abducted shortly afterward by Chinese authorities and became the world's youngest political prisoner. He is about 20 years old now if memory serves me, and his whereabouts are still not publicly known. Even if he is released, he will have missed out on the training in Tibetan Buddhism that would be essential to fulfill his role , which would include identifying a successor to the present Dalai Lama after his death. The Chinese government -approved pretender in the article will no doubt go through with the superficial trappings of the office....after all, that will be good for tourism....but will name whomever the government chooses as the next Dalai Lama, and the position and the spiritual legacy it represents will be meaningless.