Tne New York Times

January 18, 2000

China Anoints a 'Living Buddha,' but the Dalai Lama Dissents

By ERIK ECKHOLM

BEIJING, Jan. 17 -- The Chinese authorities have presided over the enthronement of a 2-year-old boy as an important "living Buddha" in the Tibetan religion, the official New China News Agency reported today.

But whether most Tibetan people and monks will accept the boy's authenticity is in question. Today in India, the government-in-exile of the Dalai Lama, the revered spiritual leader of Tibet, said it would not approve the choice.

In a ceremony on Sunday at the Johkang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet, the boy, Soinam Puncog, was designated the seventh Reting Lama, the reincarnation of the sixth lama in a politically important line, who died in 1997. The boy was chosen by monks from the Reting Monastery after they examined 670 boys and used methods of divination, according to official accounts.

The selection process and the ceremony were carefully managed by the Chinese Government, which has sought -- with little evidence of success -- to nurture a new generation of Tibetan Buddhist leaders loyal to the Communist state and not to the Dalai Lama. Chinese officials consider the Dalai Lama to be a separatist enemy.

Presiding over the ceremony, the press agency reported, was the mayor of Lhasa, Losang Gyalcan. The vice chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region provided the regional government's certificate of approval, and an official of the national Religious Affairs Bureau also attended.

China's Tibet strategy appeared to have suffered a severe setback earlier this month when the reincarnation of another important lama unexpectedly appeared in Dharmsala, India, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The Karmapa Lama, who is 14, arrived there on Jan. 5 after an icy eight-day trek through the Himalayas.

The boy, the 17th Karmapa Lama, was ordained in 1992 with the approval of the Beijing authorities and the Dalai Lama. The Chinese held him up as an example of a "patriotic" lama and reportedly hoped that he would play a major leadership role.

Since his flight, the boy has not spoken out about his intentions. China has left the door open to his return, asserting that he left to collect ritual instruments, but exile leaders said he was fleeing religious restrictions.

Since his departure, at least two monks from his monastery near Lhasa have been detained for questioning, the Tibet Information Network in London reported.

In 1995 the search for the reincarnation of Tibet's second most important religious leader, the Panchen Lama, became mired in dispute.

From afar the Dalai Lama announced his own choice, a boy who was on the government's list of candidates. Angered at being pre-empted, Government officials put that boy under house arrest and chose another, but his legitimacy has not been widely accepted.

The Reting Lamas have in the past played roles in searching for reincarnations of the Dalai Lama and have served as regents in his absence. The fifth Reting was a key figure in the search for the current Dalai Lama in the 1930's, but died in prison in 1947 after a power struggle over the regency.

"The Raiqen living Buddha is one of the highest ranking positions in Tibetan Buddhism," the New China News Agency said, using the Chinese name for Reting. "The tradition of patriotism and the spirit to preserve the unity of the Chinese nation have long been advocated by Raiqen living Buddhas."