Dalai Lama names Mongolian boy as new Buddhist spiritual leader

Dharamshala: The Dalai Lama has proclaimed a Mongolian boy born in US as the reincarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism.

The eight-year-old boy was pictured with the Dalai Lama at a ceremony that took place in Dharamshala in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Dharamshala is also the place where the Dalai Lama — Tenzin Gyatso –, 87, currently lives in exile and is recognised as the 10^th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche.

“We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché of Mongolia with us today,” Dalai Lama told his followers present at the ceremony.

He added, “’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.”

Who is the Mongolian boy?

As per Mongolian news reports, the child in question is one of a pair of twin boys named Aguidai and Achiltai Altannar. They are the sons of Altannar Chinchuluun and Monkhnasan Narmandakh, a university mathematics professor and a national resources conglomerate executive, respectively.

Meanwhile, the eight-year-old’s grandmother named Garamjav Tseden is a former member of the Mongolian Parliament.

This was the first time the boy surfaced and was pictured alongside the Dalai Lama.

Celebrations erupted in Mongolia when the news of the boy being named the reincarnation came in. According to The Times, the ceremony resulted in intense excitement among Buddhists. On the other hand, it also brought “contempt among secular nationalists and alarm among those who feat that it will provoke the rage of the country’s neighbour, China.”

Will this anger China?

Owing to the longstanding Chinese animosity towards the Dalai Lama, which has previously emphasised that the country will only recognise Buddhist leaders that the government has chosen, the reincarnation of a Mongolian boy is expected to anger the country.

A case in point is when the Dalai Lama named a new second most important Buddhist leader, Panchen Lama, in 1995. The child was soon arrested by Chinese authorities and replaced with a candidate of their own.

Members of the Buddhist community anticipate that something similar might happen after the current Dalai Lama passes away.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese authorities.

He said, “China considers Dalai Lama’s reincarnation as something very important. They have more concern about the next Dalai Lama than me.”

“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 is an additional problem for the Chinese! It’s possible, it can happen,” the Dalai Lama added.

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