By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, October 27: The Chinese government handpicked Panchen Lama in a rare public comment on Sunday called for tighter control over ‘roaming monks’ to ensure they follow Buddha’s teachings and guidelines at the Fourth World Buddhist Forum in Wuxi, near Shanghai.
Gyaltsen Norbu, the China appointed 11th Panchen Lama said, “Roaming monks not based at any one temple are particularly prone to breaking precepts.”
“It would also be difficult for any other authority or the police to seize them if they do not break the law,” he said.
The 25-year-old commonly referred to as the ‘Fake’ Panchen by Tibetans was handpicked by the Chinese government over Gendun Choekyi Nyima, a six-year old boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1995.
Norbu currently serves as the Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body.
However, the Chinese government last month admitted for the first time in 20 years that Gendun Choekyi Nyima was alive and leading “a normal life”.
Norbu Dunzhub, a member of the Tibet Autonomous Region’s United Front Work Department then said, “The reincarnated child Panchen Lama you mentioned is being educated, living a normal life, growing up healthily and does not wish to be disturbed.”
The Dalai Lama, who chose Gendun Choekyi Nyima as the ‘true’ reincarnation, called for the need for more research into Panchen Lama’s disappearance and the current status of the Panchen Lama.
