(ANSA) - NEW DELHI, MARCH 28 - The Dala Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, during three days of teachings addressed to the community of Tibetans of Mongolian origin in Dharamsala, the Indian city where he lives as a refugee, recognized an eight-year-old boy, as a reincarnation of the last great Tibetan master from Mongolia.
The Hindustan Times newspaper writes that the child had already been "consecrated" in the Tibetan monastery of Gandan, in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, before being presented to the Dalai Lama who accepted him as the tenth reincarnation of Rinpoche, (venerable master) Mongolian Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa.
The child, whose identity is not revealed, was born in the United States and is the son of a wealthy Mongolian businessman.
The recognition, however, does not translate into a designation for the possible succession of the Dalai Lama who, having now reached the threshold of 88 years, has repeatedly stated that he has not yet decided whether or not to indicate who to leave the spiritual guide.
And if he were to do so, in the international community of Tibetan Buddhism there are at least a thousand lamas, or teachers, recognized as reincarnations of previous spiritual leaders.
Recognition that occurs thanks to signals that they themselves give or through the indications of oracles or people close to them.
However, the recognition of the child has political importance, because it aims to revitalize the presence of Tibetan Buddhism in the Asian country "squeezed" between Russia and China where, in the sixteenth century, King Altan Khan, who converted to Buddhism, conferred the title of Dalai Lama ( Ocean of Wisdom) to master Gelugpa Sonam Gyatso, the third exponent of the Mongolian lineage.
Relevant Mongolian lamas had not been recognized for some time and the lineage risked being interrupted: the identification of the little one represents yet another provocation in an anti-Chinese key by the elderly Tibetan spiritual leader who has not stopped fighting, since his exile in India, for his country occupied since 1950 by Beijing.
(HANDLE).
