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January 28, 2005
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A day in the life
A 15 year old boy wakes up in a remote Chinese province. He has breakfast with his parents then bustles off for some English lessons and scripture. He finds some time to play with his favourite toy: his laptop computer. In the afternoon he chats and argues, spends an evening in front of the TV and doing his home work before heading to bed. Pretty unremarkable stuff. Except this is a day in the life of the 11th Panchen Lama, China's officially approved re-incarnation of Buddha. Amongst the article's gems: Now Panchen Lama has a desktop computer and a portable computer, which he is so fond of and will not let them out of his hands. He does his Chinese and English homework on the computer.Let that be a lesson to all you techno-obsessed freaks. If you were the Living Buddha you'd have to control your urges with strong self-discipline. But wait, there's more: After watching CCTV news, Panchen Lama studies Tibetan, practises calligraphy, goes over Chinese and English.Good, patriotic Lama. Who said being a living god was fun? posted by Simon on 01.28.05 at 09:30 AM in the
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Comments:
Simon, isn't that the fake Panchen Lama, though? The real one being disappeared somewhere? posted by: praktike on 01.28.05 at 10:29 AM [permalink]There is a dispute over the legitimacy of the Panchen Lama. This account is of the "officially approved" by the CCP Lama. The dispute isn't over his divinity, but rather the method of his education and selection. I'm sure there are those better versed in the details of the ins and outs of Tibetan Buddhist politics, but that's my understanding. posted by: Simon on 01.28.05 at 05:04 PM [permalink]There was a boy who was identified as the Panchen Lama by the Tibetans about ten years ago. The Chinese "rejected" him after they found out the Dalai Lama was consulted about the selection. The boy and his family were secretely relocated (or something like that) and the CCP selected their own Panchen Lama. That's who this story was about. This is a pretty big deal from a Tibetan Buddhist stand point because one of the Panchen Lama's most important roles is to help identify the reincarnated Dalai Lama after Tenzin Gyatso (current DL) dies. The selection process is a very important and sacred process that relies on many "signs." In essence, there is only one true reincarnation of both the Dalai and Panchen Lamas. posted by: JamesM on 01.29.05 at 07:37 AM [permalink]This person you are referring to in your post is not the Panchen Lama at all, just someone picked out by a group of politicians. It's as ridiculous if the British government had their own religon and the Queen [also the Australian head of state, I believe] appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury. posted by: Mike on 01.29.05 at 09:32 PM [permalink]I believe it's the British PM who recommends the appointment of the Archbishop to Her Maj. Which is almost worse. posted by: Simon on 01.31.05 at 09:58 AM [permalink] |
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