A Mongolian boy with US dual-nationality has been revealed as the incarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism and was pictured for the first time alongside the Dalai Lama.
Pictures show the US-born boy, aged around eight, in a face mask and wearping a bulky red robe at a ceremony alongside the 87-year-old Dalai Lama in Dharamshala is in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
The formal title of the child, who is said to have a twin, is the tenth Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché – the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism and the faith’s leader in Mongolia, according to The Times.
Rumours about the boy’s identity have swirled around the spiritual community for years, but his existence has only now been confirmed with his public appearance in India, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile.
The unveiling could spark fury in China, which has previously said it will only recognise Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders their special government-approved appointees have chosen.
The pictures show a boy, aged around 8, with half his face covered by a mask. He is wearing a bulky red robe with long sleeves and his hair is cut short. The young boy, who reportedly has a twin brother, was born in 2015 in the US and is said to have dual nationality
His formal title is the tenth Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché, who is the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism and the faith’s leader in Mongolia
In Mongolia, the news about the Dalai Lama and his ceremony with the young boy, resulted in intense excitement among Buddhists in the country as well as ‘contempt among secular nationalists and alarm among those who feat that it will provoke the rage of the country’s neighbour, China’, according to The Times.
Presented at the ceremony in Dharamsala on March 8 were also 600 Mongolians who came to celebrate their new spiritual leader.
During the ceremony, the Dalai Lama told the crowd: ‘We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché of Mongolia with us today.
‘His predecessors had a close association with the Krishnacharya lineage of Chakrasamvara.
‘One of them established a monastery in Mongolia dedicated to its practice. So, his being here today is quite auspicious.’
The Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1989 for his peaceful activism on behalf of his native country Tibet.
Born in 1935, he was identified as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama when he was two years old.
He fled to India in early 1959 from the Tibetan capita Lhasa after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, and has since worked to draw global support for linguistic and cultural autonomy in his remote and mountainous homeland.
China, which took control of Tibet in 1950, brands the Nobel peace laureate a dangerous separatist.
Pondering what might happen after his death, the Dalai Lama anticipated some attempt by Beijing to foist a successor on Tibetan Buddhists.
‘China considers Dalai Lama’s reincarnation as something very important. They have more concern about the next Dalai Lama than me,’ he said.
‘In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas come, one from here, in free country, one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect (the one chosen by China). So that’s an additional problem for the Chinese! It’s possible, it can happen,’ he added, laughing.
Many Tibetans – whose tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death – suspect any Chinese role as a ploy to exert influence on the community.
Many of China’s more than six million Tibetans still venerate the Dalai Lama despite government prohibitions on displays of his picture or any public display of devotion.
The Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1989 for his peaceful activism on behalf of his native country Tibet
He fled to India in early 1959 from the Tibetan capita Lhasa after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, and has since worked to draw global support for linguistic and cultural autonomy in his remote and mountainous homeland
The Dalai Lama said contact between Tibetans living in their homeland and in exile was increasing in 2019.
The Chinese government denounces every country that permits the Dalai Lama to visit and continuously tries to extinguish his authority in their territories.
While Tibetan Buddhists belief that after his death, the soul of the Dalai Lama is reincarnated in a child, which is identified after various rituals and divinations, Beijing insist that government-approved appointees have the right to chose the Dalai Lama’s successor.
Back in 1995, when the Dalai Lama named the new Panchen Lama, which after him is the most important figure in Buddhism, the Chinese arrested the boy and replaced him with their own government-approved candidate.
Announcing the Mongolian boy as the reincarnated Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché also has political implications.
In 2016, when the Dalai Lama visited Mongolia, Beijing imposed several measures on the country like delaying loans or closing the border, which caused the government to ban him from visiting Mongolia again.
However, before he departed, the Dalai Lama announced that the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché would be found in Mongolia and he was searching for him.
In the Mongolian city of Ulan Bator, the boy as the reincarnation of the spiritual leader has caused quite a stir, as the boy is the scion of one of the city’s richest business and political dynasties under father Altannar Chinchuluun and mother Monkhnasam Narmandakh.
Another implication could be an even more important reincarnation, that of the Dalai Lama himself, who previously said he would not be reborn in a Chinese-controlled territory, leaving possible Tibetan Buddhism-practising countries India, Nepal, Bhutan or Mongolia
Robbie Barnett, a Tibetan Buddhism expert at SOAS University of London, told The Times: ‘It can be taken by China as a challenge to their past claim to sole authority in choosing lamas.
‘These things can cascade into confrontation with China, which could penalise Mongolia in damaging ways.’
This is why the Mongolian government has remained tight-lipped about the recent appearnace of the Jetsun Dhampa, as they fear similar reponses from China like 2016.
Another implication could be an even more important reincarnation, that of the Dalai Lama himself, who previously said he would not be reborn in a Chinese-controlled territory, leaving possible Tibetan Buddhism-practising countries India, Nepal, Bhutan or Mongolia.
