As I wrote Monday, today the third World Buddhist Forum, hosted by China, began in Hong Kong. It is also the 23rd birthday of His Holiness Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, who is either a political prisoner of China or dead.
Predictably, news of the forum has focused on China's puppet Panchen Lama, whose name appears in press releases as Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu rather than the more common Gyaltsen Norbu. I don't know why the name changes from here to there, but it's clearly the same guy in the photographs as the one named Gyaltsen Norbu.
An official in the Press Section of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi told Phayul that the real 11th Panchen Lama "...is currently in mainland China along with his family and he doesn't want to be disturbed." And why doesn't he want to be disturbed? Because the Dalai Lama is "fabricating the truth." Right.
We were told a couple of years ago that His Holiness and his family were living a "very good life in Tibet," which of course Beijing considers to be part of China. It's hard to believe the family could be anywhere in Tibet without somebody noticing, though.
Meanwhile, Whozits the Pretender today attended a relic-worshiping ceremony (China says the relic is the historical Buddha's parietal bone). I believe he is scheduled to address the assembled Forum today.
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