11th Panchen Lama calls on Buddhists to back national unity
5/12/2008 16:18
One of China's most respectable Tibetan living Buddhas, the 11th Panchen
Lama Erdeni Gyaincain Norbu, told Buddhist believers to make due contributions
to the unity of the country and harmony among different ethnic groups.
The
remark was made by the 11th Panchen Lama to followers while doing prayers at two
local temples during an inspection tour to central China's Hunan Province from
Nov.26 to Dec.4.
On the first day of his stay in Hunan, the Panchen Lama
toured a memorial for late Chairman Mao Zedong and Mao's former residence in
Shaoshan, a village-turned city to the southwest of Changsha, the provincial
capital.
He wrote a piece of calligraphy in Tibetan language saying "Long
Live Chairman Mao's Spirit" on the very desk Mao used to work at.
The 11th
Panchen Lama also presided over prayers at Fuyan Temple in Hengyang, a key city
in southern Hunan, on Nov.27 and Lushan Temple in Changsha on
Dec.1.
"Buddhist believers should blend holy Buddhist doctrine with socialist
construction, work for harmony with the society, and make due contributions for
national unity, social stability and reunification of China," said the eminent
living Buddha.
Gyaincain Norbu, born on February 13, 1990 in Lhari county of
Nagqu prefecture in northern Tibet, was approved by the central government in
November 1995 as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989,
after a lot drawing ceremony among three candidates in the Jokhang Temple in
Lhasa. He was enthroned as the 11th Panchen Lama on Dec. 8, 1995.
Drawing
lots from a gold urn to decide on the final choice of the reincarnation of a
high lama is a tradition in Tibetan Buddhism. Gaining the approval from the
central government on the choice began in the Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911).
Xinhua
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