The Panchen Lama on the recognition of reincarnations


(The following is an excerpt from the late Panchen Lama's Address at Tashilhunpo Monastery, Shigatse, three to four days before his death on 28 January 1989. The statement was made either on 23 or 24 January 1989. This is from the Tibetan transcription of the taped address)


The number of tulkus (reincarnate lamas) need not be too large. The quality should be good. In-keeping with the age-old tradition, I have been given the full authority to confirm tulkus. The authorities have to accept the decision made by me in this matter. It is stated in the third point that the decision made by no one else will be accepted.

The fourth point is that I have been given the responsibility of bringing up the tulkus as patriotic and religion-loving beings. I have the heavy responsibility of imparting religious techings to the present tulkus as well as giving spiritual, literary and political education to the future generation of tulkus in order to groom them as patriotic and religion-loving people, and the corner-stone of Tibetan Buddhism. This is a heavy hat placed on my head. Just imagine what complications one has to face!

It is good that you have become tulkus. In my case, I find this job extremely difficult. Therefore, I have something to say about this. This complication has been instituted by the Central Government. There are many controversies surrounding the recognition of tulkus. According to the old tradition, a child born one or two years after the death of a lama is recognized as the latter's reincarnation. By this token, the lamas who passed away in 1957, 1958, 1959 and the 1960's, should have been reincarnated one or two years following their deaths. They would now be in their twenties or thirties. They would have wives and children, but no education. If they were now recognized as tulkus, would it be possible to make them educated patriots and lovers of religion? Trying to do so would be like teaching a new gait to an old horse.

Now historical precedents must change. Everybody asks for an authentic reincarnation. In the past most of the reincarnates were confirmed by Father and Son Aryas. Many of the people requesting the recognition of tulkus insist on authentic reincarnations. They mean to say that the reincarnate should be the one in whom the consciousness of the previous body has entered. In the past ..... (name inaudible) asked the previous Panchen Lama at Kumbum to recognize an authentic reincarnation. The Panchen Lama, in reply, wondered if it wasn't more desirable to have someone who could better serve the dharma and monastery than to have an authentic reincarnation. But this man insisted on an authentic reincarnation, irrespective of whether he was of any help or not. Now the person identified as the real reincarnation turned out to be suffering from epilepsy. The previous body had asked them to look for somebody resourceful and able to serve the cause of dharma. But this man wanted an authentic reincarnation.

To elaborate this point further, the Seventh Dalai Lama was born before the death of the Sixth. From the point of view of our spiritual tradition, there is no need for a year to pass before the reincarnation is born. A realized being can manifest himself in many forms at the same time. He need not rely on the passage of his previous body's consciousness. Premature and belated birth of reincarnations is possible in Buddhism. It is not impossible. There is a practice of counting nine months and twenty-plus days for the birth of the reincarnation. As I see it, this is not necessary. It only makes things very difficult. How can one make a tulku out of a twenty- to forty-year-old nomad! This is my first opinion.

Secondly, by and large it is appropriate to recognize a child, who is about ten years old. If the lama has passed away recently, the child could be younger. However, if the lama had passed away quite some time back, the reincarnation should be about ten years old. Only then will we be able to understand the child's character, faculties and spiritual propensity. We will able to gauge how good or bad the child's character is. If the idea behind the recognition of tulkus is to protect, nurture and promote the dharma, as well as to manage the monasteries well, then merely putting someone on top as the authentic reincarnation would not do. I request everyone to keep this in mind.

When we recognize a tulku our chief objective is to have someone who can serve the dharma, and possesses a spiritual education and sound character. How would you like it if someone is pronounced as authentic and merely placed on the throne? I feel we should not do this. I can investigate the dates and directions. But finally, there should be three candidates who must be investigated. Every factor needs to be investigated thoroughly. It is not good for me to make a unilateral decision even after investigating everything.

In the past, Gelugpa tulkus were recognized by the Arya Father and Son. There are no problems in this. But there are other factors involved when it comes to other schools of Buddhism. Now that the Central Government has asked me to confirm all the tulkus, I have to seek the help of Jowo Sakyamuni himself. Jowo Sakyamuni is accepted by all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Even if it means a delay of one or two days, I draw a lot from among the names of the three candidates in front of Jowo Sakyamuni and decide accordingly. If a mistake occurs even after this, I will have to invoke Jowo Sakyamuni himself. This is my opinion.

Tempa Tsering
Secretary
Department of Information & International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration
Gangchen Kyishong
Dharamsala 176 215
INDIA
15 June 1995 [ Homepage ] [Panchen Lama ]



This site is maintained and updated by The Office of Tibet, the official agency of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in London. This Web page may be linked to any other Web sites. Contents may not be altered.
Last updated: 24-June-96