IN-DEPTH: As Beijing-blessed Panchen Lama Talks the Party Line, Whereabouts of Actual Leader Remain a Mystery

On Dec. 6, Gyaincain Norbu concluded a six-month tour of western Tibet, visiting monasteries and ordaining 28 Tibetan monks. The Beijing-backed spiritual leader was handpicked by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1995 as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s second-highest spiritual figure. The ordinations took place between Oct. 6 and Nov. 7 at Tibet’s 700-year-old  Tashi Lhunpo monastery, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama. Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Dec. 7 that the tour and ordinations signified improvement in the CCP-approved leader’s  “Buddhist attainments and religious status.” For centuries, the monastery, located in mountainous Xigazê, or what’s known to Tibetans as Shigatse, was the seat of successive Panchen Lamas. Traditionally, the title was given to any of the line of reincarnated lamas, second only to the Dalai Lama in spiritual authority. The reincarnated Panchen Lama is traditionally identified by means including dreams, omens, and a formal recognition by the Dalai Lama....