Dalai Lama names Mongolian boy as 3rd highest Buddhist leader: Report

Dalai Lama has designated a Mongolian child who was born in the United States as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the third highest position in Tibetan Buddhism, according to various media reports. The Buddhist spiritual leader was spotted with the eight-year-old youngster attending a ceremony on March 8 in Dharmshala, according to the Times.

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

The eight-year-old American-born boy is the son of a university professor and the grandson of a former member of the Mongolian parliament. He is also said to have a twin sibling.

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China, which has been emphatic that it will only acknowledge Buddhist leaders picked by its own government, is expected to take offence at the decision to elevate the eight-year-old to the position of third highest lama in Tibetan Buddhism. The news of the ceremony, according to the the piece, was received with both delight and trepidation because there is still a chance that China may object to the decision.

In 1995, when the Dalai Lama named the 11th Panchem Lama, Chinese authorities swiftly kidnapped him and his family, and he was never seen or heard of again. The Panchem Lama, the second-most significant spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism, was later replaced by a Chinese contender.

The Dalai Lama institution in Dhamashala remains tight-lipped over the real identity of the new Mongolian Tibetan leader as they feel he would be targeted by the Chinese regime.

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• Buddhist leader
• Dalai Lama
• Mongolia
• Buddhism
• Tibet
• India
• China