Sitting-in-the-bed of the 11th Panchen Erdeni

By:Xinhua
update:October 04,2009

ed soul boys of Living Buddhas. He said, "First, we will pick up three candidates for soul boys and then investigate their background respectively. I think the best way to determine the reincarnated soul boy is to perform lots-drawing from the gold urn in front of the Sakyamuni statue, since Sakyamuni is universally acknoledged."

Soon after the 10th Panchen Lama passed away, the then Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme said at a forum in memory of the 10th Panchen Lama, "Each Tibetan-inhabited area holds its own opinion on the location of the reincarnated Living Buddha, but it doesn't matter, since the soul boy is confirmed in front of the Sakyamuni statue and no one will question the result." The Kaya Living Buddha, Buddhism sutra-chanter of the 10th Panchen Lama and the chief presider of the team searching for soul boys, left his last words, saying, "The lots-drawing from a gold urn procedure should be adopted and performed on the basis of religious rituals, historical customs, the last wish of the Panchen Lama, and advice of upper-class patriotic personages and eminent monks. If there are several candidates for the reincarnated soul boy, the central government shall decide to determine the soul boy through the lots-drawing process."

V. Grand Living Buddha Bumi drew lots to determine the 11th Panchen Lama

At 5:20 a.m., when the lamas stopped chanting sutras, a young Tibetan in a brown costume took the ivory lots from the gold urn and put it into a tray on his hands and brought to Gyaltsen Norbu, chairman of Tibet Autonomous Regional Government. The young man named Gesang was one of my schoolmates in Tibet Institute of Nationalities. Since his graduation, Gesang had been working at the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of Ethnic and Religious Affairs. His father was a member of the first generation of Tibetan photographers, who filmed many documentaries from the peaceful liberation of Tibet to the launch of the reform and opening up drive.

Gyaltsen Norbu stood up and pasted three pieces of paper bearing the names of Gyaltsen Norbu, Kunsang Wangdi, and Ngawang Rnamgrol written in Han and Tibetan languages onto each side of the lots, and then put them in the tray held by Gesang.

Gesang showed the tray to State Councilor Luo Gan, Living Buddha Shengqin Losang Gyeltshen, Living Buddha Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai, Living Buddha Bumi Qambalozhub, 17th Karmapa Living Buddha, Lama Tsring, and the parents of the three candidates for examination one by one. After the name slips were confirmed to be error-free, they were passed to political and Party leaders of Tibetan Autonomous Region for examination.

Ye Xiaowen, special commissioner of the State Council and director of the Bureau of Religious Affairs of the State Council, was the last one t

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