The following is excerpted and translated from the Tibetan transcription of the late Panchen Lama's taped statement at Tashilhunpo Monastery, Shigatse, on 24 January, three days before his death on 28 January 1989.

At the outset, let me thank you all, the monastery administrators, well-known lamas and tulkus (reincarnated lamas) who have travelled long distances from different parts of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan to attend the consecration ceremony of Shar Tashi Namgyal Chapel, where the tombs of the Fifth through to the Ninth Panchen Lamas are enshrined.

... Today, I would like to speak on the Communist Party's religious policy. I am sure you all will voice your opinions after I have finished speaking.

First, you all have shown a great deal of concern on the issue of recognizing reincarnated lamas. The masses have also expressed their hopes and aspirations regarding this matter.

The tradition of recognizing reincarnated lamas began in Tibet and Mongolia over seven centuries ago. ... It began with the Kagyud school of Tibetan Buddhism. Subsequently, other Buddhist schools adopted this tradition. Historically, the system of recognizing tulkus and looking after them by their respective monasteries have been very effective in preserving and promoting the Buddhist teachings, taking care of the monasteries, fulfilling the spiritual needs of the local faithfuls and preserving the culture of nationalities. As a result of this, the ordained and common masses have venerated the tulkus and placed their hope in them.

Looking back at the history, one can see that most of the lamas and tulkus were good. They were able to preserve and promote the Buddhist teachings. ... A small number of lamas and tulkus did bring bad name to Buddhism. But on the whole, positive elements far outweighed the negative ones. About forty or fifty years back, before the liberation, Tibet and Mongolia saw a decline in religious faith. Particularly, in the fifties, seventies and eighties ï after the liberation of 1959 in the case of the Tibet Autonomous Region ï the destruction of Buddhism was carried out. I am saying this to drive home the point that the quality of lamas and tulkus started declining about 15 or 20 years before the liberation. The decline did not start immediately after the liberation. But the fifties, seventies and eighties saw a complete reversal in the state of Buddhism. In those decades, the leftists hijacked the Party's religious policy and did not implement it with fairness.

... In the past, most of the monasteries in the Tibetan areas enjoyed special authorities. Particularly, the monasteries in the Tibet Autonomous Region became part of the Three Feudal Lords. The monasteries enjoyed special position as feudal serf owners. They oppressed and exploited the mass of peasantry and feudal serfs. This was against Buddhism. And the mass of peasantry and feudal serfs were justified in wiping out this system.

When the rebellions in Tibet were being quelled in 1959, I told the Central Government to cleanse the monasteries by abolishing their special power of oppression and exploitation, which had stemmed from the corrupt influence of feudal serf system. I hoped that this would benefit the common masses. I was certain that the bulk of religious personages would have accepted this. If our suggestion had been acted on, the monasteries would have been rid of the corrupt influence of feudal serfdom and would have lived up to the teaching of Buddhism, making them conducive places for religious practitioners and personages. It would have served to purify Buddhism.

Unfortunately, what happened was completely contrary to what we had requested for. Buddhism was destroyed together with feudal serfdom. For those of us, who believe in Buddhism, the images are the medium through which we receive the inspiration of wisdom. But for non-believers, they are nothing more than spiritless clay sculptures. However, it must be accepted that they are the work of art. Our scriptures teach us not only religion, they also contain a large body of knowledge in the form of history, arts, literature, astrology, meteorology, natural science, etc. All these were destroyed. Even the monastic buildings were destroyed. Certainly, the buildings can never be feudal serf system. Similarly, the scriptures cannot be feudal serf system.

Most of the monasteries in Tibet were destroyed. Only a small number of them were protected. But the monk population in these monasteries had greatly dwindled. Yes, although the monks were present, religion itself suffered destruction. I reported all these to the Central Government when I visited Beijing in the winter of 1959. There may have been monks that year in the remaining monasteries, but there were not enough practitioners. There were not enough prayer meetings, either. Therefore, I told the Central Government that it would not do to let this situation continue. I said, │A section of practitioners must be looked after and their living expenses paid for by the State. The rest of the monks must be made to work and pay for their own expenses. If all the monks were made to work, no one would have the time to study religion.▓ Mao listened to my suggestion and approved it. In that year, there was a considerable number of monks in Tibet.

Before the democratic reforms, there were about 100,000 monks in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Some put the figure at 150,000 while others put it at 200,000. However, after the democratic reforms the monk population was estimated at 20,000. The Central Government approved a plan to provide state grants to 5,000 monks, while the remaining 15,000 monks must join the work force and fend for themselves.

When I returned to Tibet, we planned to distribute the grants to practitioners from all schools of Buddhism in an attempt to allow them to specialize in their respective disciplines. That was in 1960.

In 1962 I went to down (to China) and submitted a long petition. It contained 70,000 characters and detailed my findings in Tibet, especially in the Qinghai region. This petition came to be called the 70,000-Character Document of Reactionaries. In that document, I wrote in great length about the state of Buddhism in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Kham and Amdo. When I first submitted this petition, the Central Government held numerous meetings and promised changes in Tibet. Then came the Eighth Party's Fifth Meeting in August 1962. During this meeting, Mao launched his great slogan, │Never Forget the Class Struggle▓. This campaign slammed the label │revivalist of the feudal system▓ on my head. Thus I came to suffer the first bout of cold. Although my ailment was not noticeable in the beginning, I was sneezing silently.

In 1964 the Seventh Enlarged Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region was held. During the meeting, I was criticized, struggled and educated. I was confined in darkness. This is my personal story. Other spiritual figures suffered the same fate or even worse. My big name ensured me a slightly better treatment. The sincere practitioners of religion in monasteries and those with allegiance to religion were branded with different labels and jailed. Some of them were sent to education-through-labour camps and told to reform their thoughts. Of course, there is nothing wrong if we were told to reform our past feudal thoughts and our old social thoughts. There is nothing wrong if we were told to respect the leadership of the Communist Party and follow the socialist path. There is nothing wrong if we were told to develop solidarity with the proletariat and work for the unity of the motherland and nationalities. This is a good socialist attitude and I support it.

But such were not asked of religious practitioners. Instead, the practitioners were asked to oppose religion and criticize their spiritual masters. Those who burned scriptures and destroyed religious images were hailed as brave. What is the good of religious practitioners who indulge in these actions? What we are saying is that we cherish Buddhism more than our lives. We cannot give in to the exhortation that we destroy religion. I feel that although we should reform our thoughts, it should be done discriminatingly. But the fact that we were exhorted to destroy religion is extremely ridiculous. It is evil and unachievable. Resistance to this exhortation led to long imprisonment of spiritual figures, lamas, tulkus and geshes (doctors of divinity). Poor food and living conditions in prison claimed the lives of many of them. Those who survived the prison ordeal were found to be suffering from mental trauma when they were finally released from prison. I need not tell this in great length as you all are well aware of it. Many lamas perished during those years. Since their tulkus have to be found, we are now having to recognize tulkus en masse.

One point is that the democratic reforms started in Kham and Amdo in 1957-1958 and in the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1959. The lamas and tulkus who were in the age group of 10 to 20 in that period were then barely able to read the Tibetan alphabet and could understand only the rudiments of Buddhism. They were, of course, not imprisoned. But they had to bear the political stigma of belonging to the feudal and capitalist classes. This stigma condemned them to suffer a great deal of oppression and humiliation. Now in their forties and fifties, they have become a class of uneducated lamas. On the other hand, the lamas who had managed to study before the democratic reforms are very old now.

Thereafter, the Party smashed the Gang of Four and the 11th Communist Party Congress held its Third General Body Meeting. Before that, the Party had acted illegally for three decades. Some good things were definitely done in those decades. But serious mistakes were also made. We should reflect on those decades and rectify the mistakes while continuing to improve on the good deeds. The good deeds refer to the Four Basic Principles of the Communist Party of China. It was right to implement these basic principles and we should continue with this. The mistake was the leftist extremism, for which we should continue to make amends. Not only should we refuse to accept the Cultural Revolution, we should in fact criticize it. There were other campaigns which may have been considered right in the past. But they are now found to have both right and wrong elements. This discrimination between right and wrong became possible as a result of the Party's new and sincere practices. The new practices led to the revival of the new religious, nationality and United Front policies. I use the word │revival▓, because these policies were put in abeyance during the Cultural Revolution.

... During the Cultural Revolution, the Fifth National People's Congress met in 1974. But it said nothing about the State Nationalities Affairs Commission. We heard only of the State Council and not of the State Nationalities Affairs Commission. Therefore, how could there have been a nationality policy then? Even the Political Consultative Committee meeting was not held. The Political Consultative Committee is a very important body where all the entities outside the Communist Party ï i.e., the democratic party factions, nationalities, religious groups and non-Communist Party personages ï hold discussions and support the Communist Party with a united front. Even this body was put on the backburner in 1974. This is how the United Front and religious policies were abandoned. It is for this reason that I say that the nationality, religious and United Front policies were revived after the Third Meeting of the 11th Communist Party Congress.

The systematic implementation of the United Front policies, which followed the Third Meeting of the 11th Communist Party Congress, was very important to us. The red clothes we are now wearing is due to the development since then. We now have the right to read scriptures resoundingly. The monasteries are now allowed to have images. Although the images may not be like those in the past, we can at least have bronze ones. All these we owe to the basic change in policy since the Third Meeting of the 11th Communist Party Congress.

Mr. Zhang Qingzu, deputy head of the United Front, addressed the gathering at this ceremony in Chinese. Most of you understand Chinese. He said, │The Communist Party of China rectified its past mistakes and built all these tombs. It is a measure of the Communist Party's greatness that it is able to admit its mistakes and make amends.▓ This is indeed very good. This strikes a deep chord in the human mind. No one is infallible.

... We do not need too many tulkus. The quality of tulkus, however, should be good. According to our past spiritual tradition, I, Panchen, have been given the authority to recognize tulkus. In matters of recognizing tulkus, the higher political authorities will accept decisions made only by me and no one else. This is the third point.

The fourth point is that I have also been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that the tulkus are brought up to love the nation and religion. I have to look after the spiritual training of existing tulkus. Besides, I have to look after the spiritual training as well as the literary and political education of the future generation of tulkus so that they grow up to love the nation and religion. This is a big responsibility, a heavy hat on my head.

... There are lots of complications in recognizing tulkus. Why this is so? In the past a child born one or two years after the passing away of a lama is recognized as his tulku. Now if the tulkus of the lamas who passed away in 1957 through to 1959 and in the sixties are recognized today, can they be brought up as educated lovers of the nation and religion? Wouldn't it be like the saying: │Teaching gait to an old horse▓. It would not do unless we have the old tradition and customs changed. Every one asks for an authentic tulku. In the past, most of the tulkus were recognized by the Dalai Lamas and the Panchen Lamas. Most of the people ask for authentic tulkus. This means he should be the authentic incarnation of the consciousness of the previous body.

When my previous body was asked by Atruk (not audible here) to recognize an authentic reincarnation of the Kubum Monastery lama, he said, │Would not it be better to have a tulku who can serve Buddhism and monastery than one who is merely an authentic reincarnation?▓ But that man insisted on an authentic tulku, saying he would not mind the tulku's ability to serve Buddhism and the monastery. And he was shown a paralytic child.

To clarify this matter 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 full 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. In Buddhism, it is possible for tulkus to be born before the death of the previous body or a very long time after the death of the previous body. It is not impossible. There is a practice of waiting for nine months and twenty-plus days for the birth of a reincarnation. As I see it, this is not necessary. It only makes things so complicated. How can one make a tulku out of a nomad in his twenties or forties! This is my first opinion.

My second opinion is that the tulkus should be recognized when they are about 10 years old. The reincarnation could be younger if the lama has passed away recently. If the lama had passed away a long time back, we should recognize a reincarnation who is about ten years old. This is the age when it is possible to gauge the child's character, intelligence and religious propensity. If the recognition of tulkus is aimed at preserving and promoting Buddhism and administering the monasteries, it is not necessary to look for someone who is merely an authentic reincarnation. Everyone should keep this in mind. I think that someone with the knowledge of Buddhism, gentle character and ability to serve the cause of Buddhism is better than a mere authentic reincarnation. This is what I feel personally.

Before recognizing any reincarnation, I will examine the background and birthplaces of all the candidates. But finally we have to shortlist three top candidates and examine them thoroughly from every point. Even after doing this, it is improper for me to make unilateral decisions. In the past the Dalai Lamas and the Panchen Lamas approved the tulkus of Geluk lamas. There was no problem in this. However, the other schools of Tibetan Buddhism have different ways of doing this.

Now that the Central Government has asked me to finalize all the tulkus, I will invite Jowo Sakyamuni himself and seek his help. Jowo Sakyamuni is revered by the followers of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. I will select the reincarnation from the top three candidates by rolling dough balls in front of the statue of Jowo Sakyamuni. If there is still a mistake, then I will invite the Buddha himself. This is my opinion. ... Today, you have the opportunity to air your views on the issue of selecting tulkus.

Published by
Department of Information and International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration
Gangchen Kyishong
Dharamsala
INDIA

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