The Dalai Lama with the previous Panchen Lama.
First a recap: the Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima disappeared (detained by the Chinese authorities) in May 1995, when he was a six year old child, a few days after the Dalai Lama recognized him as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. Subsequently, violating the Tibetan spiritual process, the Chinese authorities selected another boy (through illegal means, as we learn from an eyewitness, Arjia Rinpoche, a senior Tibetan Buddhist Master who was closely involved with the process before he fled to freedom a few years later). Since then, despite repeated attempts to gain access to him, no international agencies or human rights organizations – including the United Nations — has been allowed to visit the Panchen Lama or his family, and their condition remains uncertain. The Chinese authorities have even refused to provide any information on his health status or on the pertinent issue of his spiritual education and upbringing.
In an open letter to the Panchen Lama on his birthday U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee (who was a monk for some years) says, “By the age of 28, I had received both a Tibetan and modern education, as well as advanced Buddhist studies in the Tibetan diaspora in India. I would like to know more about you, especially about your well-being and the education you have received. I fear that the Chinese government has taken away your religious identity.”
Meanwhile, the de facto Panchen Lama (I am using the term “de facto” in the legal sense of “existing in fact whether with lawful authority or not”) is having occasional exposure in the Chinese media and being projected as assuming his spiritual responsibility.
Six years ago, I wrote a piece titled, “Why Doesn’t the China-appointed Panchen Lama Speak Out?” The issue is still valid. Granted that since then the individual appointed by China has been seen conducting public events and talking about issues along Party lines. This does not amount to speaking out in the way the 10th Panchen Lama did. As I mentioned in my blog, a Tibetan Buddhist leader chooses to be reborn to work for his spiritual community and to further the work of the previous incarnation. Tibetans, both inside Tibet and outside, know on how the Chinese appointed individual has fared so far.
China’s political agenda behind their selection of the de facto Panchen Lama became clear in 2010 when he was formally appointed to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Since the selection, the Chinese authorities have used all means to grant him legitimacy. But as of now, he does not enjoy the confidence nor the reverence of the Tibetan people (the Chinese government knows this and so is constantly trying to find ways to impress the Tibetan people, the latest being having him bestow the sacred Kalachakra initiation).
If Gyaltsen Norbu is truly a Tibetan Buddhist leader and has been provided with the necessary spiritual upbringing, it will be seen from his action. In 1995, after the Chinese authorities installed him, I wrote, “Ultimately, as per Tibetan belief, a lama himself will reveal, as he grows up, whether he is a genuine reincarnation or note, and behave accordingly. The late Panchen Lama was a classic example of this. Even though he was in Chinese hands, a look at his life story reveals the scorn he had for Chinese rule in Tibet.”
Without any recognition from the Dalai Lama, the Chinese authorities can never be able to put the stamp of legitimacy to their selection of any religious leader, whether it is the Panchen Lama or a future Dalai Lama.
Unfortunately, Chinese authorities have not been able to understand Tibetan mentality. To Tibetans, China’s interference in their religious life affects them equally, if not more, to its occupation of Tibet. The tenth Panchen Lama put the case in a more subtle way when he, in October 1988, three months before his demise, called for an end to “traditional interference of religious activities with administrative measures over the years.” He said this was harming “the harmony of nationalities, as religions have close relations with minorities.”
In other words, China might want to have its own version of Rule by Incarnation, but it is the will of the believers that will really matter. The earlier the Chinese authorities realize this, the better it is for them.
Gracias por informarnos de la triste realidad de los Tibetanos no me imaginaba las atrocidades que aún ocurren mis respetos a todos los Tibetanos y al recordado Lama Panchen
Desde Chile por un Tíbet libre
What are the Administrative and Spiritual duties/job description of the Panchen Lama? Feel free to reply at: mikellyrn@sbcglobal.net. Yes, I am a member of ICT. Michael Kelly< RN-Bc
Are we even certain the real Panchen Lama is still alive, and hasn’t been murdered by the Chinese government?
I pray the world comes to respect all the people and however the light of love reaches their window their allowed to keep their windows open and may peace come to all
Mr. Tsering, I commend you for your unwavering diligence with regard to the truth and hopeful whereabouts of The Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. I am hoping one day to see and meet him with a clear understanding of how his life has been for the last 28 years and to experience his Tathata “as it is” knowledge I’m sure he has. Thank you for your persistent important work on this very important journey.
Thank you for your writing on the Pachen Lama, another sad chapter in the Chinese occupation of Tibet. I was fortunate to travel to Tibet in May and June of this year. I visited Shigatse and the Tashi Lhundpo Monastery – the home of the Pachen Lama. Sad to say, many of my fellow travelers did not know the story behind the Chinese detention of the true Panchen Lama. My Tibetan guide tried his best to explain, but with camera’s and “questionable’ monks around us, I told him best to hold that conversation in the privacy of our van.
The Tibetan people are amazing. Through all the years of occupation and oppression , they continue to keep their faith and hold onto their culture. I fear that the young generation will have much more difficult time in maintaining that faith and cultural identity. China has a long view on its’ Tibet policy, one that I’m sure includes a “Chinese” chosen Dalai Lama. Time will tell. It is up to us in the west, those who can continue to light candles against the oppression, to do so with a load and passionate voice.