Published by World Tibet Network News - Friday, November 24, 1995

BEIJING (Reuter) - The Beijing-directed search for the 11th reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhism's second-holiest monk has reached fever pitch, with lamas reported lighting yak butter lamps and chanting sutras in the Himalayan region. The official search ignores the earlier choice of a six-year-old boy by the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

``The search for and identification of the soul boy reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama has entered a critical stage,'' the official People's Daily said Thursday.

Tens of thousands of yak butter lamps have been lit at Jokhang lamasery in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, and at Tashilhunpo lamasery, the seat of the Panchen Lama in Xigaze town, as well as at other lamaseries, the newspaper said. Lamas and the Tibetan people held sutra-chanting ceremonies to pray for the ``early completion of this grand occasion of Buddhism,'' it said.

The last of a series of tests involving the drawing of lots from a golden urn before a statue of Buddhism' founder Sakyamuni is scheduled to be held at the Jokhang lamasery, it added. The newspaper did not say when the last test would be held.

Chinese officials reached by telephone in Lhasa said senior lamas would decide the date and that a ``comparatively important moment'' had arrived. They declined further comment.

The boy chosen by lot still needs a final stamp of approval from China's officially atheist central government.

Tibetan Buddhists believe that the soul of a living Buddha migrates to a boy born shortly after his death. The ``soul boy'' is identified through rigorous ancient tests.

The newspaper defended China's decision to reject the boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, saying the move by Tibet's exiled god-king was against the wishes of the Panchen Lama.

Shortly before his death in January 1989, the Panchen Lama laid down conditions for the search for his reincarnation, saying there should be three candidates and that the last test should be held, the newspaper said.

But last May the Dalai Lama announced his recognition of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a six-year-old Tibetan boy, as the recipient of the spirit of the 10th Panchen Lama and decided to do without the last test.

China maintains it has final say over the appointment of senior lamas, including the Dalai and Panchen lamas, under terms of a 1792 agreement with the last imperial dynasty. By tradition, the Dalai Lama must also confirm a reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.

Beijing regularly accuses the Dalai Lama of trying to split China and of fomenting an independence movement in the region since he fled into exile after an abortive uprising in 1959.

A group of Tibetan lamas came up with three candidates during their Nov. 8-11 meeting in Beijing, Xinhua news agency has said. There had been 28 potential candidates.

However, supporters of the Dalai Lama have said in a report issued in London that some lamas at the meeting urged China to reinstate the boy recognised by the Dalai Lama as a candidate.

The Dalai Lama's supporters also accused China of forcing the lamas to come up with the three alternative candidates.

The former head of the search team, Chadrel Rinpoche, was formally removed in September as leader of the committee that runs the Tashilhunpo lamasery.

He has vanished, apparently into state custody. Tibetologists say he was detained in the southwestern city of Chengdu last May.