Buddhism: Will Chinese Panchen Lama Visit Labrang Monastery?

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Will Chinese Panchen Lama Visit Labrang Monastery? Aug 7th 2011, 07:40 The New York Times has a feature story by Andrew Jacobs on the Chinese Panchen Lama's planned visit to Labrang Monastery. The ethnic Tibetans of Xiahe, Gansu Province, are bracing for the arrival of the puppet lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, some time in the near future. The plan, which possibly has been scaled back, is said to call for Gyaltsen Norbu to study in Labrang for several months. Jacobs writes that Beijing is struggling to legitimize the lama in the eyes of Tibetans -- "Chinese authorities are facing a quandary over how to burnish his bona fides: his standing will continue to suffer if he remains apart from Tibetan monks and the faithful, but officials risk inflaming passions by foisting him on a community that remains deeply suspicious." The story, in brief -- In 1995 Beijing appointed Gyaltsen Norbu to replace Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the tulku recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, the 2nd highest lama in Tibetan Buddhism. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family were taken into custody by Chinese officials 16 years ago and have not been seen since. Gyaltsen Norbu eventually will play a central role in "recognizing" Beijing's choice of the 15th Dalai Lama. Although an ethnic Tibetan, I understand that Gyaltsen Norbu has spent most of his life in Beijing, studying with Tibetan tutors. This has not always gone well, either. In 1998 Beijing tried to bring Gyaltsen Norbu under the tutelage of Arjia Rinpoche, the abbot of the revered Kumbum Monastery, and the Rinpoche fled China to avoid the appointment. The Rinpoche now lives in Indiana. Beijing promotes its chosen lama as the public face of Tibetan Buddhism. He was made vice president of the state-run Buddhist Association of China and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. These are appointments that do not exactly endear him to Tibetans., however, who still consider him to be illegitimate. And there were reports that when he showed up at the 2006 World Buddhist Conference to deliver a speech, he was snubbed by the other delegates. Labrang Monastery seems a strange choice, considering that it has been the site of several anti-Chinese demonstrations in recent years. There is� no historical precedent for a Panchen Lama to be installed in Labrang, Jacobs says. Some of the monks there now have let it be known they do not want the Chinese Panchen Lama among them, if only because they believe it will bring even more heavy-handed surveillance and control than they are under already. That could be Beijing's plan, of course.

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