Dharamshala: The Dalai Lama has proclaimed a Mongolian boy born in US as the reincarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism.
The eight-year-old boy was pictured with the Dalai Lama at a ceremony that took place in Dharamshala in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
“We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché of Mongolia with us today,” Dalai Lama told his followers present at the ceremony.
This was the first time the boy surfaced and was pictured alongside the Dalai Lama.
Owing to the longstanding Chinese animosity towards the Dalai Lama, which has previously emphasised that the country will only recognise Buddhist leaders that the government has chosen, the reincarnation of a Mongolian boy is expected to anger the country.
A case in point is when the Dalai Lama named a new second most important Buddhist leader, Panchen Lama, in 1995.
Members of the Buddhist community anticipate that something similar might happen after the current Dalai Lama passes away. »