Dalai Lama names Mongolian boy as third highest leader in Buddhism

According to reports, an eight-year-old boy reincarnated as 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the third highest rank in Tibetan Buddhism, by spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Hyderabad:A Mongolian boy, born in the United States has been titled the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the third highest rank in Tibetan Buddhism, by spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, says a report. A photograph showed the Dalai Lama with an eight-year-old boy taking part in an event held on March 8 in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala, where the Buddhist leader lives in exile.

The picture shows the child's hair close-cropped and the lower part of the face covered with a mask. His name has not been announced yet. The US-born child had a twin brother and is a son of a professor at a University and the grandson of a former Mongolian member of Parliament. The unveiling ceremony was taken place in the presence of around 600 followers. However, the real identity of the child has not been revealed yet by the Dalai Lama institution in Dharamshala.

The move to acknowledge the title is likely to irk China which has previously insisted that it will only recognize Buddhist leaders chosen by its own government. According to the report, the event was held with both apprehension and excitement with the animosity of China being considered a cause for concern.

In 1995, when the Dalai Lama named a new Panchen Lama, the second most important spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Chinese authorities allegedly kidnapped the child and his family and then replaced a candidate of their own. The child was never seen or heard from again.