11th Panchen Lama controversy: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Sign about Panchen Lama, Manali.jpg|thumb|419x419px|Sign referring to the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama chosen and recognized by the [[14th Dalai Lama]] of Tibet, [[Gedhun Choekyi Nyima]] in [[Manali, Himachal Pradesh]], India]] |
[[File:Sign about Panchen Lama, Manali.jpg|thumb|419x419px|Sign referring to the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama chosen and recognized by the [[14th Dalai Lama]] of Tibet, [[Gedhun Choekyi Nyima]] in [[Manali, Himachal Pradesh]], India]] |
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==Recognition of the Panchen Lama== |
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| ⚫ | By 1994, five years after the death of the [[10th Panchen Lama]], ordinarily, the 11th Panchen Lama would have already been identified.<ref name="Hilton6">Hilton 2000, pg. 6</ref> The [[Nechung Oracle]] in [[Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh|Dharamsala]] had been consulted on the matter.<ref name="Hilton9">Hilton 2000, pg. 9</ref> |
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Before his death, the 10th Panchen Lama, [[Choekyi Gyaltsen]], had been held for 15 years as a political prisoner of China, and after his release wrote the 7,000 Character Petition to Mao Zedong on 18 May 1962, which assesed China's occupation of Tibet, explained the greivances of Tibetans, and exposed China's ''"use of routine propaganda regarding revolution, liberation, democratic reform and the so-called 'socialist paradise' as "pure deception"."''<ref name=CTA/> |
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| ⚫ | The Chinese state-run CCTV network states that three days after the death of the 10th Panchen Lama on 28 January 1989,<ref name="Sohu-20050412">{{cite news |title=第十世班禅大师的圆寂和遗言-搜狐新闻中心 |trans-title=The death and last words of the 10th Panchen Lama |url=http://news.sohu.com/20050412/n225154033.shtml |accessdate=16 September 2020 |work=[[CCTV International Network]] |via=[[Sohu.com]] |date=12 April 2005}}</ref> the Premier of the State Council published its decision on how the 11th Panchen Lama would be selected based on the feedback gathered from the committee of [[Tashi Lhunpo Monastery]] and monks on 30 January 1989.<ref name="Goldstein101">Goldstein 1997, p. 101</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/%E5%9B%BD%E5%8A%A1%E9%99%A2%E5%85%B3%E4%BA%8E%E7%AC%AC%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%96%E7%8F%AD%E7%A6%85%E5%A4%A7%E5%B8%88%E6%B2%BB%E4%B8%A7%E5%92%8C%E8%BD%AC%E4%B8%96%E9%97%AE%E9%A2%98%E7%9A%84%E5%86%B3%E5%AE%9A |title=国务院关于第十世班禅大师治丧和转世问题的决定 }}</ref><ref name="Sohu-20050412" />{{Clarify|date=September 2020|reason=Timeline is confusing/ambiguous (30 or 31)? Jumping 5 years ahead on the next sentence, too. Also, CCTV report dated 2005-for a 1989 statement?}} |
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Tibetans would not consider |
Tibetans would not consider the 11th Panchen Lama incarnation legitimate unless he were identified according to Tibetan traditional means, including a search by the 10th Panchen Lama's closest Khenpos based on [[dream]]s and [[omen]]s, and a formal recognition by the Dalai Lama.<ref name="Goldstein1001">Goldstein 1997, pp. 100–1</ref> Often, the [[Nechung Oracle]] was also consulted. |
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The leaders of the Chinese government wanted a process under their authority. Beijing planned to use a group of monks to identify a group of candidates, not only one, and then to use the [[Golden Urn]] to randomly select one of them, and to exclude the Dalai Lama from the process altogether.<ref name="Goldstein1001">Goldstein 1997, pp. 100–1</ref> |
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However, Beijing later allowed Tashi Lhunpo Monastery's [[Chadrel Rinpoche]], the head of the search team, to communicate with the Dalai Lama, currently exiled and an opponent of the regime, in hopes that a mutually acceptable process and candidate could be accomplished. At the end of 1994, twenty-five candidates had been identified, and Chadrel sent the Dalai Lama detailed information on all of them; but Chadrel also wrote that all signs pointed to [[Gedhun Choekyi Nyima]] as the true reincarnation. In February 1995, the Dalai Lama replied to Chadrel that his own divinations confirmed Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. Chadrel intended to publicly mimic the process that occurred in identifying the [[Choekyi Gyaltsen|tenth Panchen Lama]] in 1949: the urn would not be used; China would be first to publicly name the choice; and then the Dalai Lama would confirm it. However, in March 1995, Chinese officials insisted on drawing a name from three to five slips in the urn. On 14 May 1995, the Dalai Lama preempted the drawing by publicly announcing that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was the eleventh Panchen Lama.<ref name="Goldstein1026">Goldstein 1997, pp. 102–6</ref> |
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Beijing later allowed Tashi Lhunpo Monastery's [[Chadrel Rinpoche]], the head of the search team, to communicate with the Dalai Lama in hopes that a mutually acceptable process and candidate could be accomplished. At the end of 1994, twenty-five candidates had been identified, and Chadrel Rinpoche sent the Dalai Lama detailed information on all of them; but Chadrel Rinpoche also wrote that all signs pointed to [[Gedhun Choekyi Nyima]] as the true reincarnation. |
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In February 1995, the Dalai Lama replied to Chadrel Rinpoche that his own divinations confirmed Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. According to Robert Goldstein, Chadrel Rinpoche intended to use the process that occurred in identifying the [[Choekyi Gyaltsen|10th Panchen Lama]] in 1949: The urn would not be used; China would be first to publicly name the choice; and then the Dalai Lama would confirm it. |
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In May 1997, Chadrel was sentenced to six years in prison for [[splittism]] and betraying state secrets.<ref name="Goldstein107">Goldstein 1997, pg. 107</ref> |
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In March 1995, Chinese officials insisted on drawing a name from three to five slips in the urn. On 14 May 1995, the Dalai Lama preempted the Chinese's drawing of names by publicly recognizing Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the eleventh Panchen Lama.<ref name="Goldstein1026">Goldstein 1997, pp. 102–6</ref> |
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| ⚫ | On 17 May, the Chinese government abducted the recognized 11th Panchen Lama. Then in November 1995 they selected a different boy, [[Gyaincain Norbu]], using their Golden Urn lottery system. This decision was immediately denounced by the Dalai Lama. China continues to detain Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family in a place whose location has not been divulged to the public.<ref name="Goldstein109">Goldstein, 1997, pp. ?</ref> |
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[[Chadrel Rinpoche]], the Panchen Lama's senior Khenpo, was also arrested on 18 May 1995, the day after Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was abducted. Two years later in May 1997, Chadrel Rinpoche was sentenced to six years in prison for [[splittism]] and betraying state secrets.<ref name="Goldstein107">Goldstein 1997, pg. 107</ref> He was then incarcerated in China, re-incarcerated under house arrest in a Chinese military camp near [[Lhasa]], and the Central Tibetan Administration reports he died of poisoning in 2011.<ref>Central Tibetan Administration, "Tibet: Suspicious Death of Panchen Lama Search Leader", 25 November 2011, https://unpo.org/article/13525</ref> |
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In April 2019, U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern said the Panchen Lama “will mark his 30th birthday as one of the world’s longest-held prisoners of conscience", and referred to his enforced disappearance as a violation of the religious freedom of Tibetan Buddhists while also stating that the alternative Panchen Lama has been victimized by China as "a consequence of its policies to undermine and control the Tibetan people."<ref name=Asia/> |
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As of 2020, the Panchen Lama has been held as a political prisoner for 25 years. Five [[United Nations]] committees have opened cases,<ref name=CTA/> while numerous governments, including the European Parliament, Canada, U.K., and U.S.<ref>The Statesman, "25 years on, Tibetans still await release of 11th Panchen Lama", 07 May 2020, https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/shimla/25-years-tibetans-still-await-release-11th-panchen-lama-1502889865.html</ref> have repeatedly called to China for the Panchen Lama's release. A 2020 joint petition prepared by 159 organizations spanning 18 countries requests the United Nations to pressure China for the Panchen Lama's release, as well as the release of his family.<ref>David Thomas, Tibet Post International,"159 Organizations Call on UN to Pressure China to Free 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet", 07 May 2020, |
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http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/impact/politics/6763-159-organisations-call-on-un-to-pressure-china-to-free-11th-panchen-lama-of-tibet</ref> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 23:01, 29 September 2020
The 11th Panchen Lama controversy is a dispute about the recognition of the incarnate 11th Kunsik Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is considered the second most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism[1][2][3] after the Dalai Lama. Following the mysterious death[1][3] of the 10th Panchen Lama, the 14th Dalai Lama recognized Gedhun Choekyi Nyima in 1995. Three days later, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) abducted the Panchen Lama and his family. Months later, the PRC chose Gyaincain Norbu as its proxy[4] Panchen Lama. During the traditional search process, Chatral Rinpoche indicated to the Dalai Lama that all signs pointed to Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, while the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas recognize each other's incarnations. The PRC had established its own search committee, which included Chatral Rinpoche and other monks, and used a lottery system referred to as the Golden Urn. Neither Gedhun Choekyi Nyima nor his family have been seen since the abduction. Chadral Rinpoche was arrested by Chinese authorities the day after the abduction.
Recognition of the Panchen Lama
By 1994, five years after the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, ordinarily, the 11th Panchen Lama would have already been identified.[5] The Nechung Oracle in Dharamsala had been consulted on the matter.[6]
Before his death, the 10th Panchen Lama, Choekyi Gyaltsen, had been held for 15 years as a political prisoner of China, and after his release wrote the 7,000 Character Petition to Mao Zedong on 18 May 1962, which assesed China's occupation of Tibet, explained the greivances of Tibetans, and exposed China's "use of routine propaganda regarding revolution, liberation, democratic reform and the so-called 'socialist paradise' as "pure deception"."[3]
The Chinese state-run CCTV network states that three days after the death of the 10th Panchen Lama on 28 January 1989,[7] the Premier of the State Council published its decision on how the 11th Panchen Lama would be selected based on the feedback gathered from the committee of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and monks on 30 January 1989.[8][9][7][clarification needed]
Tibetans would not consider the 11th Panchen Lama incarnation legitimate unless he were identified according to Tibetan traditional means, including a search by the 10th Panchen Lama's closest Khenpos based on dreams and omens, and a formal recognition by the Dalai Lama.[10] Often, the Nechung Oracle was also consulted.
The leaders of the Chinese government wanted a process under their authority. Beijing planned to use a group of monks to identify a group of candidates, not only one, and then to use the Golden Urn to randomly select one of them, and to exclude the Dalai Lama from the process altogether.[10]
Beijing later allowed Tashi Lhunpo Monastery's Chadrel Rinpoche, the head of the search team, to communicate with the Dalai Lama in hopes that a mutually acceptable process and candidate could be accomplished. At the end of 1994, twenty-five candidates had been identified, and Chadrel Rinpoche sent the Dalai Lama detailed information on all of them; but Chadrel Rinpoche also wrote that all signs pointed to Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the true reincarnation.
In February 1995, the Dalai Lama replied to Chadrel Rinpoche that his own divinations confirmed Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. According to Robert Goldstein, Chadrel Rinpoche intended to use the process that occurred in identifying the 10th Panchen Lama in 1949: The urn would not be used; China would be first to publicly name the choice; and then the Dalai Lama would confirm it.
In March 1995, Chinese officials insisted on drawing a name from three to five slips in the urn. On 14 May 1995, the Dalai Lama preempted the Chinese's drawing of names by publicly recognizing Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the eleventh Panchen Lama.[11]
On 17 May, the Chinese government abducted the recognized 11th Panchen Lama. Then in November 1995 they selected a different boy, Gyaincain Norbu, using their Golden Urn lottery system. This decision was immediately denounced by the Dalai Lama. China continues to detain Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family in a place whose location has not been divulged to the public.[12]
Chadrel Rinpoche, the Panchen Lama's senior Khenpo, was also arrested on 18 May 1995, the day after Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was abducted. Two years later in May 1997, Chadrel Rinpoche was sentenced to six years in prison for splittism and betraying state secrets.[13] He was then incarcerated in China, re-incarcerated under house arrest in a Chinese military camp near Lhasa, and the Central Tibetan Administration reports he died of poisoning in 2011.[14]
In April 2019, U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern said the Panchen Lama “will mark his 30th birthday as one of the world’s longest-held prisoners of conscience", and referred to his enforced disappearance as a violation of the religious freedom of Tibetan Buddhists while also stating that the alternative Panchen Lama has been victimized by China as "a consequence of its policies to undermine and control the Tibetan people."[1]
As of 2020, the Panchen Lama has been held as a political prisoner for 25 years. Five United Nations committees have opened cases,[3] while numerous governments, including the European Parliament, Canada, U.K., and U.S.[15] have repeatedly called to China for the Panchen Lama's release. A 2020 joint petition prepared by 159 organizations spanning 18 countries requests the United Nations to pressure China for the Panchen Lama's release, as well as the release of his family.[16]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Richard Ehrlich, Mystery surrounds kidnapped Panchen Lama, (8 May 2020), https://asiatimes.com/2019/05/missing-panchen-lama-may-now-be-30/
- ^ China urged to release Panchen Lama after 20 years, (17 May 2015), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-32771242
- ^ a b c d As Tibetans mark 30th birthday of Panchen Lama in absentia, China is urged to release the 2nd highest Tibetan spiritual leader held captive for 24 years, (25 April 2019), https://tibet.net/as-tibetans-mark-30th-birthday-of-panchen-lama-in-absentia-china-is-urged-to-release-the-2nd-highest-tibetan-spiritual-leader-held-captive-for-24-years/
- ^ Anthony Kuhn, In Tibet, A Long-Banned Buddhist Rite Takes Place, But Not Everyone’s Pleased, (24 July 2016), National Public Radio, https://wamu.org/story/16/07/24/in_tibet_a_long_banned_buddhist_rite_takes_place_but_not_everyones_pleased/
- ^ Hilton 2000, pg. 6
- ^ Hilton 2000, pg. 9
- ^ a b "第十世班禅大师的圆寂和遗言-搜狐新闻中心" [The death and last words of the 10th Panchen Lama]. CCTV International Network. 12 April 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2020 – via Sohu.com.
- ^ Goldstein 1997, p. 101
- ^ "国务院关于第十世班禅大师治丧和转世问题的决定".
- ^ a b Goldstein 1997, pp. 100–1
- ^ Goldstein 1997, pp. 102–6
- ^ Goldstein, 1997, pp. ?
- ^ Goldstein 1997, pg. 107
- ^ Central Tibetan Administration, "Tibet: Suspicious Death of Panchen Lama Search Leader", 25 November 2011, https://unpo.org/article/13525
- ^ The Statesman, "25 years on, Tibetans still await release of 11th Panchen Lama", 07 May 2020, https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/shimla/25-years-tibetans-still-await-release-11th-panchen-lama-1502889865.html
- ^ David Thomas, Tibet Post International,"159 Organizations Call on UN to Pressure China to Free 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet", 07 May 2020, http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/impact/politics/6763-159-organisations-call-on-un-to-pressure-china-to-free-11th-panchen-lama-of-tibet
Sources
- Goldstein, Melvyn C. The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama (1997) University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21951-1
- Hilton, Elizabeth. The Search for the Panchen Lama (2000) W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-04969-8
- Kuzmin S.L. Management as a tool of destruction. Reincarnation of "Living Buddhas" in modern Chinese legislation. – The Tibet Journal, vol. 42, no 1, pp. 37-48.
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