Shambala, reincarnation and prophecies as geopolitical means

Chinggis Khan riding a white horse, (19-20th century), Badγar Coyiling süme
(Wudang zhao 五當召) , Inner Mongolia, Isabelle Charleux

Whatever the conception of rebirth[1] in Buddhism was/is, Tibetan Buddhism, for practical reasons, developed its own version, better called re-incarnation, referring to a new emanation of the same enlightened entity[2] or a new incarnation of a great being (mahātma) from the past. Only clerics with sufficient recognized spiritual authority can decide whether an individual is a reincarnation and whose reincarnation it would be. In theory that is, in practice, the recognition of a reincarnated lama and the bestowing of their title and patrimony is mostly a religious-political act. Like that of a king granting a title of nobility to a member of a family that served him well, or could serve him well in future.

In post-imperial Tibet, the elites were often abbots of important monasteries under the patronage of khans. The abbots would give allegiance to khans and princes, who in exchange would give land and subjects to the monasteries. Thus, Kublai Khan bestowed three Tibetan regions to ‘Phags pa (1235-1280)[3], chief of the three feudal lords of Tibet at that time[4]. In 1642, Güshi Khan handed over the sovereign power over Tibet to the 5th Dalai Lama. Alliances through marriage being impossible for religious abbots, alliances through reincarnation were another means to obtain similar ends.

The “father” of the Mongolian people, Chinggis Khan, and his descendants were worshipped until the fourteenth or fifteenth century in memorial temples. The cult of Chinggis Khan was used by Kublai Khan to strengthen his own authority.

“They adopted an ancestor cult modeled along Confucian lines, conferring on Chinggis the title of Taizu 太祖, the ‘supreme ancestor,’ and built an Ancestors’ Temple (Taimiao 太廟) in the capital in which to keep the tablets of the deceased emperors and empresses. The ceremonies in the Taimiao were performed every year by male and female shamans who invited the ancestor’s soul to take part in the sacrifice.” (Chinggis Khan Ancestor, Buddha or Shaman, Isabelle Charleux, 2009)

After the Ganden Phodrang had become interested in an alliance with Mongolian khans to protect their own interests in Tibet (16th-17th centuries), Chinggis Khan was Buddhicized and integrated as a protector of the Dharma (dharmapāla), and an emanation of the dharmapāla Vajrapāni, the warlord of the gods. “The First lCang skya qutuγtu and the Seventh Panchen Lama wrote prayers to him. The Seventh Panchen Lama also drew and consecrated portraits of Chinggis Khan (Charleux).” Many khans were considered emanations of Vajrapāni. For those with sacred outlook (tib. dag snang), or for reasons of propaganda, all warlords on their side are emanations of Vajrapāni, Māhakāla, Kālī, etc.

Altan Khan (1507–1582) was recognised as the reincarnation of Kublai Khan by Sonam Gyatso, and in exchange conferred to the latter the title of “Dalai Lama” (the 3rd). Altan Khan’s own great-grandson was recognised as Sonam Gyatso’s reincarnation and became the 4th Dalai Lama Yonten Gyatso (1589–1617). That’s how alliances through reincarnation and “recomposed clans” work. Alliances through reincarnation are geopolitical “marriages” between secular and religious power.

“On the 5th day of the 4th month in 1642, the [5th] Dalai Lama was led in state to the palace of Shigatse and seated on the throne of the deposed king. With this act he replaced the rival dominant school of the Karmapas. Güshi Khan then declared that he bestowed the supreme authority of Tibet on Dalai Lama, from Tachienlu in the east to the Ladakh border in the west.[19] The 5th Dalai Lama in his turn confirmed the position of Güshi Khan as the Dharma king (or chogyal) of Tibet.” (Güshi Khan)

Resistance by Karma-Kagyu and Nyingma monks in Tibet was met with violence. “Many Karma Kagyü monasteries in the country were forcibly converted to Gelugpa, while Nyingma monks who had performed Mongol-repelling exorcism were imprisoned.” Güshi Khan was celebrated as the reincarnation of Padmasambhava.

Isabelle Charleux[5] writes:

“The process of Buddhicization of indigenous gods generally has two consequences: first the original deities were generally ambivalent, benevolent and dangerous at the same time, and needed special rituals to be propitiated. Once Buddhicized and tamed, although they keep their wrathful appearance, they become protectors of the Dharma (but they need to renew periodically their oath). In theory one should not give blood offerings anymore to them. Second, they are given a generic Buddhist name or their original name is hidden behind honorific Buddhist titles. They are assimilated to deities of the pantheon or emanation of deities, and are depicted like other heroic protectors: they therefore loose some of their specific personality, and their influence is weakened as they are diluted into the all-encompassing Tibeto-Mongolian pantheon.”

The situation became more complex during the “Great Game”, “between the 19th-century British and Russian Empires over influence in Asia, primarily in Afghanistan, Persia, and later Tibet”. During the 18th century the Kālacakra Tantra and its associated legends about Shambala became popular. Was this Kālacakra boost due to the political situation? The 6th Panchen Lama, Lobsang Palden Yeshe, the author of the Sham ba la'i lam yig[6] ("Der Weg nach Shambhala"), built Thukor (Kālacakra) Monastery in 1762 and the 7th Dalai Lama (Namgyal Monastery) started giving Kālacakra initiations to large communities of ordained and lay practitioners in Tibet.

It is less clear to me how the Kālacakra/Shambala project evolved during the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, but by the end of the 19th century it seemed to have become more widespread, as had the idea of a “Pan-Mongolian State” (the Buryat Neisse-Gegeen/Neichi Gegeen as head of state) or an “Asiatic State” (Ungern-Sternberg) and diplomatic relations between Tibet and Tsarist Russia, in which the Russian-born Tibetan diplomat Agvan Dorjiev (1853-1938) played a key role.

From Red Shambala, Andrei Znemanski

In the winter of 1873 Dorjiev was a member of the Mongolian religious embassy that was to bring the Mongolian 8th Khalkha Jetsundampa (1869-1924), born and raised in Tibet, to Urga where he was enthroned as a monarch (Treasury of lives 2016, Ryosuke Kobayashi). Dorjiev studied in Urga in Mongolia, at Wutai Shan in China, and entered Gomang College in Tibet, where he obtained (1888) his Geshe Lharampa degree. He was appointed as one of the 13th Dalai Lama's assistant tutors (tib. mtshan zhabs) and established a close relationship with the young Dalai Lama (Treasury of lives).

“Between 1898 and 1901, Dorjiev was dispatched to Russia three times under the instruction of the Dalai Lama for negotiations with the Russian imperial court in order to gain political and military support for Tibet.”

This diplomatic approach caused serious concern to the Qing and the British.

Coronation of Nicholas II and empress Alexandra Fedorovna (picture)

Due to the propaganda of various Buddhist missionaries, The “White Tsar” Nicolas II was said to be an emanation of “White Tara”, and the Romanovs were said to directly descend from Sucandra, a legendary king of Shambhala. In order for an alliance to be possible the intended ally needed to have the required letters of credit. Just like Shambala, Russia was situated in Tibet’s North (tib. byang).

“Before the British army marched into Lhasa in July 1904, the Dalai Lama fled to Urga with Dorjiev to gain Russian assistance. The Dalai Lama ultimately wanted the Russian Government to provide refuge to him.”

But historical events put an end to that project. The Chinese Qing Empire had fallen in 1912. Mongolia declared its independence in 1913, the 8th Jetsundampa Khutuktu was enthroned as the Bogd Khan of Mongolia and Dorjiev continued to support the Russian Empire's war efforts and pursued his Buddhist activities in Buryatia together with Dashi Dorzho Itigelov (1852-1927), the Pandito Khambo Lama (or Bandido-Khambo Lama), “the supreme ecclesiastical Buryat leader”. This project to enthrone high lamas was interrupted by the demise of the Romanov Dynasty and the Russian revolution. Others like Ungern-Sternberg in the 1920s kept fighting to restore/establish monarchies and theocracies with the help of an “order of military Buddhists", whatever may have been his own inclinations, strengthened herein by the Panchen Lama’s Kālacakra prophecies, that he was said to always carry around with him. Shambala is a shapeshifting utopian Buddhist utopia that can materialize wherever (“de-ci, de-là”) required.

"People praying in a Buddhist temple in St. Petersburg" in 1915 (Wikimedia)

I recommend Dany Savelli’s article (in French), Shambhala de-ci, de-là : syncrétisme ou appropriation de la religion de l’Autre ? (Autour de l’expédition Roerich en Asie centrale) for those who want to read more about the diplomatic efforts of the polymath Nicolas Roerich (1874-1947), who seem to have had theocratic ambitions for himself[7]. Roerich explained that he first heard about the Shambala legend from "an extremely learned Buryat lama[8] " he met in 1909 during the construction of the Buddhist temple in St Petersburg. Roerich was a theosophist and probably already knew about Shambala through Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine (1888). Roerich was active in the spreading of the idea that Jesus went to India and Tibet, and that Tibet was the source of many religions. When Roerich actually discovers Tibet, he finds that it doesn’t agree at all with what was taught in theosophist circles in St Petersburg and starts publishing articles in US newspapers about “a corrupt theocracy in a state of serious degeneration”[9].

“Unlike the rich and the lamas, the poor have absolutely nothing to eat and have to eat carrion and the carcasses of yaks, benguins [sic] or Tibetan sheep. They eat raw flesh that they tear into pieces.[10]”

“The Tibetans are the world's great fundamentalists. [...] They are fanatics, followers of a perverted Buddhism” (“The Forbidden Country”, Evening Tribune, 26 mai 1928).

“At a time when Buddhism is becoming a fashionable cult among some of our 'bigoted' Americans, Professor Nicolas Roerich, who has just returned from Tibet, tells the world the sad story of the cruel superstition, dishonesty, ignorance and misery that are ravaging Tibet, the most deeply Buddhist country in the world. The Buddhism that delicately perfumed missionaries preach in cultural circles and the Buddhism that has had a sad influence on unfortunate Tibet for centuries are two very different things.[11]”

Dany Savelli shows that Roerich’s great deception with the “Tibetan mystification” didn’t put an end to his theosophical dreams about Shambala, that became a religion in itself.

“America is the land of Shambhala," say the lamas. America is the country of the future, and as all Shambhala tends towards teaching the future, they see us as much as an experience as a source of instruction [...].[12]”

Roerich declares Hoover is a god with his own temple in Northern Tibet… and that Tibetans want to learn everything about the industrial Ford…[13] He encourages US capitalist entrepreneurs to build factories and roads in Tibet. From archives, only revealed in 1965, it became evident that before trying it on in the United States, Roerich actually did the same in the Soviet Union between June the 13nd and July the 22nd in 1926. These were the days before Stalin. He invited the USSR to help create a new country called “Shambala”, “because of the compatibility[14] between Communist ideas and the Buddha’s teaching” and because of the past links between Russia and Tibet.

Jawaharlal Nehru and Nicolas Roerich,
India, unknown author 1942?

After this project failed and before turning to the USA, Roerich went on a mission to Tibet in 1927 to propose the Unification of Eastern and Western Buddhists under the Dalai Lama’s patronage, but due to climatic circumstances had to give up (Andreyev, 2003). Roerich published a book on his Shambala ideas in 1933.

Dany Savelli

What gave Roerich (at least in his own eyes) the authority to negotiate as the ambassador of Western Buddhists? Apparently, Tibetan monks in Darjeeling had recognized him as the reincarnation of the great Fifth Dalai Lama and Roerich believed himself to be one, on the (theosophist) authority of Mahatma El Morya[15]…

Burning of Darkness 1924, painting by Roerich
I imagine a Tibetan valley with mahatmas...

“Sometime by 1923, the Roeriches concluded the moment was right for them to plug into and use Shambhala and similar prophecies to build in Asia a powerful spiritual state based on reformed Buddhism: “For those who imagine Shambhala as a legendary invention, this indication is superstitious myth. But there are also others, fortified by more practical knowledge.” The Roeriches assumed that, if properly channeled, these prophecies might develop according to the scenario prescribed by the Great White Brotherhood. “ (Andrei Znamenski, Red Shambala, p.165)

Dany Savelli ends her article on the note of the action of Roerich and others regarding Tibetan Buddhism (and in particular its Kālacakra/Shambala content) as “dispossessing the Other of his or her religion”, “as an example of cultural colonialism”, but were Roerich and Ungern-Sternberg really in control of the Shambala myth, or didn’t it rather possess them? Who is controlling whom when reincarnation claims and titles are thrown out and the destinaries bite? Tsar Nicholas II didn’t need a title or a mythical utopian kingdom. For Roerich, Ungern-Sternberg and others it was a different situation. Did they ever manage to “culturally colonize” Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetans? Did they even come close? The destructive Chinese cultural revolution could be seen as proper cultural colonialism, but not the pathetic attempts of self appointed Western or Russian missionaries who could project all the Orientalism they were capable of, or simply using Tibetan myths for their own benefit or pipe dreams, without the slightest chance of succeeding. They lacked the authority to do so. The same goes for all the present-day “attempts” of “cultural colonialism”. If one really wants to see them as "colonialism", it’s giving them far too much credit.

“Cultural colonialism” seems to be especially problematic when it comes to religions. Things are much easier with music, literature, cuisine, ideas and ideologies where borrowing and adapting is no problem, at least until the invention of copyrights... It’s something else for religions that are far more political and have genuine power, because they’re part of the core identity of a people, or are perceived as such. One could say that early Christianity projected its Orientalism onto Judaism, “dispossessing the Other of his or her religion”, yet who would nowadays accuse Christianity of “cultural colonialism”, and did they succeed in their endeavor? The same goes for basically all cults on earth, that always evolved from other cults, or borrowed from them, “dispossessing” them. Nothing new under the sun.

Shambala as a Promised Land, but in the 19th-20-th century no longer the old Judeo-Christian Promised Land or the Christian “Jerusalem” of the British empire, but a Eurasian Buddhist version, that wishes to restore spiritual order after the wreckage caused by modern values. After India, Buddhism, the Tibetan valleys with its mahatmas, as the cradle of all religions, were thought to be able to help find back the lost meaning and to re-enchant the world.

We had Shambala as a Promised Land in Russia (Dorjiev), Europe and Eurasia (Ungern-Sternberg), the USA in the 1920s (Roerich), the USA in the 1970s (Trungpa), no doubt there will be others in the future.

***

[1] “Rebirth in Buddhism refers to the teaching that the actions of a sentient being lead to a new existence after death, in an endless cycle called saṃsāra. This cycle is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful. The cycle stops only if mokṣa (liberation) is achieved by insight and the extinguishing of craving.” Rebirth (Buddhism)

[2] Not strictly a nirmāṇakāya (sprul sku), as the part of the triple Buddha Body (trikāya) that can manifest as anything needed to bring sentient beings to awakening.

[3] “Sonam Gyatso publicly announced that he was a reincarnation of the Tibetan Sakya monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280) who converted Kublai Khan, while Altan Khan was a reincarnation of Kublai Khan (1215–1294), the famous ruler of the Mongol Empire and Emperor of China, and that they had come together again to cooperate in propagating the Buddhist religion.” Wikipedia, Laird, Thomas (2006). The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama, p. 146. Grove Press, N.Y. ISBN 978-0-8021-1827-1.

[4] The merging of Religious and Secular Rule in Tibet, Professor Dungdkar blo-bzang phrin-las of the Central Institute for Nationalities in Beijing and Tibet University in Lhasa, p. 40-46

[5] In Chinggis Khan: Ancestor, Buddha or Shaman?

[6] Or byang sham ba la'i lam yig. According to The Blue Annals (Book 10 - The Kālacakra), this text was based on Manglungpa the Great’s (born in 1239) Man lungs pa'í lam yig.

[7] Nicholas Roerich: The Artist Who Would Be King, John McCannon

[8] Probably the Pandito Khambo Lama or Neichi Gegeen?

[9] “Perverted Buddhism is spreading in Central Asia, Roerich finds; Tibetan worships demons and fire”, Commercial Tribune (Cincinnati), August, 22nd 1928.

[10] Automatic translation from the French “U. S. Expedition to Tibet. Roerich’s story… “, The Statesman, 12 juin 1928.

[11] Automatic translation from the French Queen’s World [?] (Saint Louis), nov. 1928

[12] Automatic translation from the French “3 or 4 mates for each wife rule in Tibet”, The Washington Herald, June 23rd 1929.

[13] “Natives in remote Asia regard Hoover as legendary giant who feed all peoples" , The New York Times, 9 mai 1929 ; "Hoover a god in Tibet returning artist avers", The New York Evening Post, June 6th 1929 ; "Hoover is a god to Thibetans", The World Magazine, June 7th 1929“

[14] “To the Narkom Roerich further disclosed his (or rather the Mahatmas') scheme for the great unification of the Buddhist nations in Asia. This consisted of 9 points:

1) The Buddha's Doctrine presents a revolutionary movement; 2) Maitreya is the symbol of communism; 3) Millions of Asian Buddhists can be drawn in the world movement in support of the ideals of Community; 4) The basic law, or Gautama's simple teachings, will easily penetrate into the popular masses; 5) Europe will be shattered by the union of Buddhism and Communism; 6) The Mongols, Tibetans and Kalmyks agree about the dates when the Maitryea prophesies will be fulfilled and are prepared to apply these to the present evolution; 7) The Tashi Lama's departure from Tibet provides an unprecedented occasion for a [revolutionary] action in the East; 8) Buddhism explains the negation of God as a natural phenomenon; 9) Action should be urgently taken, jointly with the Soviet Government, taking fully into account the local conditions and the Asian prophecies.” Nicholas Roerich and his "Western Buddhist Embassy", Alexandre Andreyev, Brill, (2003)

[15] Meyer and Brysac, Tournament of Shadows..., pp. 469–470. In the same book:
“In the final count it is clear that Roerich was right. Tibet discouraged both the Russians (by refusing to have any direct relations with the USSR), the Americans (by mishandling the Roerich Expedition that claimed, even if incorrectly, to represent the United States), and even its closest neighbors the Indians (by raising territorial claims against India already in its independence year 1947). The Tibetan Government blindly believed the likes of Colonel Bailey, which left it completely alone on its Roof of the World. When China invaded, Britain turned its back on her former ally, India was too weak to do anything (having just been partitioned and burdened with two Pakistans at its borders), and both the US and the USSR were not interested in helping the country that refused to have any direct dealings with them. Great Britain and the US have blocked Tibet’s last-minute desperate attempt at joining the United Nations Organization. Roerich’s words came true, with a vengeance.”

The global fight against materialism goes on

Communism, or rather some applications and perceptions thereof, has sometimes made for strange bedfellows and allies of all sorts fighting it. What seem to have reunited these brothers of war was in fact their abhorrence of the principle of equality[1], in that it would undermine traditional inequalities, carefully built up through geopolitics, religious identities and doctrines, monarchies, theocracies and autocracies, with their spiritual and physical genealogies and hierarchies, feudal links, meritocratic ideologies, etc., thereby threatening to cause the collapse of cultures and civilisations. To them, to promote equality is equivalent to harboring a destructive ideology that seeks to undo - destroy - whatever has the most (symbolic) value to them and that they consider to be their innermost identity, even though it is a construct. Whatever holds up this identity is considered “spiritual”, and whatever undermines it, merely focussing on its aggregates (skandha), is called “materialist” and seen as a cause of depravity. 

This “materialism” has the advantage of making an ideal common denominator, sufficiently vague (concealing the controversial notion of equality) and mobilising (“we are more than mere matter”), to inspire affinity with whatever they call and consider “spiritual”. The ancient battle between Good and Evil is quite compatible with current battles between Spiritualism and Materialism. This more recent battle very conveniently welcomes anyone with inequitable interests (justified by some form of individual meritocracy) among the Spiritualists/Traditionalists.

This small introduction sets the tone for what is to follow, and what follows is the result of a fortuitous discovery on Twitter, a posting by Er. Shailesh Bharadwaj (@/Sapratha), based on an original posting by Shresht (@/maitra_varuna) that I was unable to retrace and with quotes from Walther Heissig’s ‘A Mongolian Source to the Lamaist Suppression of Shamanism in the 17th Century’ (1953)[2].

“A mid-17thC painting revealing the persecution of Mongol Shamanism,
where the wicked Altan Qan & the 3rd Dalai Lama preside over the burning of the Shamanists”

I was unable to retrace this 17th century Mongolian thangka, and I don’t think it represents “Altan Qan & the 3rd Dalai Lama”, but it did internautically open up a whole new world that I didn’t know about so far, i.e. the Mongolian conversions to (Tibetan) Buddhism and the different ways they came about.

The “third” Dalaï-lama Sonam Gyatso (1543–1588), was in fact the first Dalai-lama. Two other former lamas were retrospectively made into the first and second Dalai-lama. The title “Dalai Lama” was given to Sonam Gyatso, leader of the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism, by Althan Khan/Qan[3]. The Mongol khans had been politically interested in (Tibetan) Buddhism since Genghis Khan (1155/1162-1227), mainly for political reasons. Althan Khan seemed particularly keen on the Tibetan reincarnation system and the possibility for kings and high clerics to “reincarnate” and inherit the spiritual (and material) heritage of a glorious spiritual or genealogical ancestor.

“Sonam Gyatso publicly announced that he was a reincarnation of the Tibetan Sakya monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280) who converted Kublai Khan, while Altan Khan was a reincarnation of Kublai Khan (1215–1294), the famous ruler of the Mongol Empire and Emperor of China, and that they had come together again to cooperate in propagating the Buddhist religion.”[4]

(Tibetan) Buddhism became Mongolia’s state religion under Altan Khan’s reign. The theocratic links were further reinforced when Altan Khan's great-grandson was recognised as Sonam Gyatso’s (died in 1588) reincarnation[5] and the fourth Dalai Lama Yonten Gyatso (1589–1617). It was Güshi Khan (1582-1655) who put the Gelug school and the 5th Dalai Lama Lobsang Gyatso 1617–1682) into power and under the protection of the Khoshut Khanate, thus ending the Phagmodrupa dynasty in Tibet. The rule of the Ganden Phodrang would last until the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959.

The 5th Dalai Lama also sent Neichi Toyin (Nejici Tojin, 1557-1653)[6] to Inner-Mongolia in order to further proselytize the Mongolian people and launch persecutions against the indigenous religions of Mongolia, whilst integrating and recycling parts of it in Tibetan Buddhism. This could very well be the subject of our thangka. Neichi Toyin was a disciple of the Panchen Lama, who told him “his destiny was to spread Buddhism in the East”[7].

“In fact, his missionary work really began at this point, and it was not like the Gelukpa practices that had already been established with the support of the political authorities. His expertise in Tantrism, such as the Yamantaka and Guhyasamaja tantras, provided him with an extremely effective means of converting people. His first major encounter was with the powerful Khobugtu Böge [shaman] who was of noble origin. Defeating the shaman and healing the princess of Ongnigud Banner, who was to have been treated by the shaman, gained Neichi Toyin great renown.” (Neichi Toyin's Way of Conducting Missionary Work, Uranchimeg Ujeed, 2011)

Detail thanka above

It is not clear how far the persecution of shamans exactly went, I have read terms like “eliminate” and “purge” in the context of the suppression of shamans and their influence, but were they actually burned on the pyres together with their idols? Were they killed in other ways? Some were forced to exile. On the 17th_century thanka, we can see a naked black man seated cross-legged his hands folded. The tweet suggests “the dark-faced victim in the flame is the notoriously powerful Shaman Songgina”. Also called “the dark old man”.

Songgina mask in the Choijin Temple, State oracle of Mongolia

“The shamans resisted conversion from the sixteenth century on, continuing their ancient practices surreptitiously and battling openly with the forces of the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy.
One such was the Dark Old Man, a powerful shaman who was eventually defeated and buried in the Songgina Mountain, one of Outer Mongolia's greatest and most sacred peaks. His spirit thereafter came to personify the spirit of the mountain.” (Asianart website)

I have read (one occurrence only on the Internet) on a more polemical website that “shamans were killed, murdered or burnt with dog droppings and subjected to many fines paid in livestock”. If there is any truth in this, why with “dog droppings”? Because perhaps, “Mongolians venerate the fire and hearth as holy and have many taboos originated from the rites and customs concerned with it”, e.g. “It is forbidden to burn dog faeces and the skins of onion and garlic” in a fire. (Mongolian Shamanism – Traditions and Ceremonies). To burn a shaman in a fire with dog faeces would be a supplementary vexation and public humiliation.

Following René Girards Mimetic theory (scapegoat mechanism), victims (scapegoats) of collective violence sometimes later become the object of a cult. This could be such a case here and before becoming the spirit of the Songgina mountain, a shaman (or more) could have been burned on a pyre.

In order to strengthen the links between the Mongolian nobility and the Ganden Phodrang, the 5th Dalai Lama recognized the son of the Tüsheet khan Gombodorj (1594-1655), a grandson of Abtai Sain Khan (1554-1588), as the reincarnation of the Buddhist scholar Tārānātha (1575–1634) of the Jonang school (persecuted by the Gelug…). He gave him the Sanskrit name Jñānavajra (Zanabazar in Mongolian) meaning "thunderbolt scepter of wisdom". Zanabazar was to be the first in line of the Jebtsundamba Khutughtu lineage of reincarnated lamas, and the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. The 8th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, was also the khan of the Bogd Khaganate (Bogd Khan or Bogdo Lama).

“Although recognized as the reincarnation of the Bogd Khan in 1936, [the Bogd Khan’s] identity [of the 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu] was kept a secret by the Dalai Lama until 1990, due to the persecution of the Buddhist religion by the Communist Mongolian People's Republic, and he did not reside in Mongolia until the final year of his life”. (wikipedia 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu).

It seems that “the 14th Dalai Lama also appointed the 9th Jebtsundamba to develop the Jonang tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.” The 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu died in 2012 and the 10th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu/Bogd Khan was recognised by the Dalai-lama recently on April 1st 2023.

“According to media reports, the eight-year-old has dual [American and Mogolian] nationality and is said to have a twin.
He is reportedly the son of a university professor and the grandson of a former Mongolian member of parliament.”

The Jebtsundamba is the 3rd highest (potentially theocratic) office in the Gelug tradition/Tibetan Buddhism, after the Dalai lama and the Panchen lama. As long as lineages of theocrats and autocrats last, theocracies can always make a comeback…

Some have suggested[8] that “the decadence of the Mongol race is more directly attributable to the introduction of this pernicious religion [Tibetan Buddhism] than to any other cause.” (Roy Chapman Andrews alias “Indiana Jones”)

“The only thing that has altered radically in the Mongol race is the spirit of the people and their religion. A Mongol of Genghis Khan's time would find them no longer a race of warriors. He would find that two thirds, at least, of the male population had donned the yellow and red robes of lamas ; that they had become dissolute human parasites. It would be difficult for him to adjust his mental perspective to such a state. It is totally incongruous to a people who live upon the plains and deserts combating the forces of nature for their very existence.” (The new conquest of central Asia, p. 134)

Andrews' contemporary, “the Mad Baron” or "the Bloody Baron", as Roman von Ungern-Sternberg was nicknamed, thought differently about Tibetan Buddhism, because of his great “project”.

“Ungern-Sternberg had extreme pride in his ancient, aristocratic family and later wrote that his family had over the centuries "never taken orders from the working classes" and it was outrageous that "dirty workers who've never had any servants of their own, but still think they can command" should have any say in the ruling of the vast Russian Empire. Ungern-Sternberg, although proud of his German origin, identified himself very strongly with the Russian Empire. When asked whether his "family had distinguished itself in Russian service", Ungern proudly answered: "Seventy-two killed in wartime!" Ungern-Sternberg believed that return to monarchies in Europe was possible with the aid of "cavalry people" – meaning Russian Cossacks, Buryats, Tatars, Mongols, Kyrgyz, Kalmyks, etc.”

Ungern in the album Corto Maltese in Siberia

The “Mad Baron” is a fascinating character and Hugo Pratt also thought so. I will limit myself to what seems to matter regarding the theme at hand: the unholy league against equality (“Communism”). Monarchs, aristocrats and theocrats working together to restore the old order, hierarchies and privileges.

In 1919 when China sent troops to join Outer Mongolia to China, Ungern established contacts with monarchist circles in China and Manchuria, and married himself a Manchurian princess, Ji, in an Orthodox ceremony in Harbin[9]. After the Chinese troops left Outer Mongolia, the Bogd Khan/Jebtsundamba was brought back to Urga and enthroned in 1921. Mongolia was proclaimed an independent monarchy. Ungern was granted “the high hereditary title darkhan khoshoi chin wang in the degree of khan, and other privileges”. The 13th Dalai Lama (1876–1933) described Ungern-Sternberg "as an emanation of Mahakala" (the wrathful deity of Tibetan Buddhism)[10]. To learn more about the mad ideas of the “Mad Baron”, one interesting source is Ferdynand Ossendowski’s Beasts, Men and Gods (wikisource) (1922) New York.

"In the Buddhistic and ancient Christian books we read stern predictions about the time when the war between the good and evil spirits must begin. Then there must come the unknown 'Curse' which will conquer the world, blot out culture, kill morality and destroy all the people. Its weapon is revolution. During every revolution the previously experienced intellect-creator will be replaced by the new rough force of the destroyer. He will place and hold in the first rank the lower instincts and desires. Man will be farther removed from the divine and the spiritual. The Great War proved that humanity must progress upward toward higher ideals; but then appeared that Curse which was seen and felt by Christ, the Apostle John, Buddha, the first Christian martyrs, Dante, Leonardo da Vinci, Goethe and Dostoyevsky. It appeared, turned back the wheel of progress and blocked our road to the Divinity. Revolution is an infectious disease and Europe making the treaty with Moscow deceived itself and the other parts of the world. The Great Spirit put at the threshold of our lives Karma, who knows neither anger nor pardon. He will reckon the account, whose total will be famine, destruction, the death of culture, of glory, of honor and of spirit, the death of states and the death of peoples. I see already this horror, this dark, mad destruction of humanity." (Beasts, Men and Gods)

Ungern wanted to establish an “order of military Buddhists for an uncompromising fight against the depravity of revolution” in order to establish one Asiatic State.

"During the War we saw the gradual corruption of the Russian army and foresaw the treachery of Russia to the Allies as well as the approaching danger of revolution. To counteract this latter a plan was formed to join together all the Mongolian peoples which had not forgotten their ancient faiths and customs into one Asiatic State, consisting of autonomous tribal units, under the moral and legislative leadership of China, the country of loftiest and most ancient culture. Into this State must come the Chinese, Mongols, Tibetans, Afghans, the Mongol tribes of Turkestan, Tartars, Buriats, Kirghiz and Kalmucks. This State must be strong, physically and morally, and must erect a barrier against revolution and carefully preserve its own spirit, philosophy and individual policy. If humanity, mad and corrupted, continues to threaten the Divine Spirit in mankind, to spread blood and to obstruct moral development, the Asiatic State must terminate this movement decisively and establish a permanent, firm peace. This propaganda even during the War made splendid progress among the Turkomans, Kirghiz, Buriats and Mongols.” (Beasts, Men and Gods)

But Ungern was captured by a Soviet detachment and executed by firing squad in Novonikolaevsk in 1921. “When the news on the Baron's execution reached the Living Buddha the Bogd Khan, he ordered services to be held in temples throughout Mongolia”[11].

Ungern-Sternberg and his project is a reference for many Traditionalists, including René Guénon who writes about him in Le Théosophisme, histoire d'une pseudo-religion (1921).

“[...] et nous ajouterons encore, à ce propos, qu’il n’était pas précisément ce qu’on pourrait appeler un « néo-bouddhiste », car, d’après des informations que nous avons eues d’une autre source, l’adhésion de sa famille au Bouddhisme remontait à la troisième génération. D’autre part, on a signalé récemment que des phénomènes de « hantise » se produisaient au château d’Ungern ; ne s’agirait-il pas de quelque manifestation de « résidus psychiques » en connexion plus ou moins directe avec toute cette histoire ?” (Le théosophisme - Histoire d'une pseudo-religion, René Guénon)[12]

Guénon’s source is no doubt Ossendowski’s Beasts, Men and Gods, where Ungern explains: 

“My grandfather brought Buddhism to us from India and my father and I accepted and professed it. In Transbaikalia I tried to form the order of Military Buddhists for an uncompromising fight against the depravity of revolution."
“Depravity of revolution! …Has anyone ever thought of it besides the French philosopher, Bergson, and the most learned Tashi Lama [Panchen Lama] in Tibet?"

We find a picture of Ungern's Asian Cavalry Division in Andrei Znamenski's book Red Shambhala, Magic, Prophecy, and Geopolitics in the Heart of Asia, Quest Books (2011).

"The grateful Bogdo-gegen granted Ungern the title of Prince, and monks declared him a manifestation of Mahakala, one of the ferocious deities that protected the Buddhist faith. The clerics also interpreted Ungern’s victory over the Chinese as the fulfillment of the Shambhala prophecy. Later, after the baron’s demise, the Bolsheviks uncovered among his personal papers a Russian translation of a Tibetan text containing the Shambhala prophecy[13]. Ungern, who was always interested in occult things, gladly embraced his role as a legendary redeemer, trying to act in an appropriate manner. He began wearing a long redand-blue silk Mongol robe over his Russian officer uniform. In this outfit, with the Order of St. George received for his daring deeds during World War I and numerous Tibetan Buddhist amulets hanging on his chest, this descendant of Teutonic knights produced quite an impression on all who ran across him." (p. 120)

According to Andrei Znamenski, the 8th Jebtsundamba/Bogdo-gegen didn't seem to bother too much with "acting in an appropriate manner": "although considered a reincarnation of the great Tibetan scholar Taranatha, he was a heavy drinker and notorious womanizer, which seemed not to match his past life" (p. 121). But apart from the hagiographic propaganda, what do we really know about the past and present lives of reincarnated lamas ?   

Kasung at 2008 Magyal Pomra encampment

The dream and the project of the Mad Baron and his “order of military Buddhists” didn’t die with him. Chögyam Trungpa (1939-1987) with the help and support from high Tibetan hierarchs revived it under the name Shambala in the United States and the Kālacakra Tantra was given all over the world for a short period by the Dalai-lama and others. The 4th Jebtsundamba (1775–1813) had introduced the Kālacakra teachings in the early 1800s in Khüree (Mongolia)[14]. The Dalai-lama asked the 9th Jebtsundamba to restore the Jonang tradition. The 10th Jebtsundamba is only 8 years old. Will he be able to stop the “depravity of revolution” and the spreading of Western thought and values?

“Sometimes I jokingly say that in times past we Tibetans were the students and you Indians were the teachers, but now, when Indian has come so much under the influence of western thought, it is we Tibetans who have kept ancient Indian knowledge and values alive.” (The Dalai Lama in the Buddhist Times). “

***

[1] On equality as an essential notion in Buddhism see L'égalité foncière et les injustices 

[2] Also this quote :

“Regents and noblemen became very faithful upon these words and, according to the urging, each of them sent his own representative envoy with each one monk of the Lama's disciples, on relay horses in every direction. When these, entering the lodgings of all noblemen, dignitaries and commoners alike, were saying, “Hand your idols to us!” some handed them over, the others too timid to remove them said (only), “Here are they!”

Dispersed all over the banner the deputed monks and envoys collected these idols and brought them together from all sides. What they had brought, they piled up as high as a tent of four gratings outside of the Lama's lodging, and they set fire to them.

The heterodox faith was thus brought to an end and the religion of Buddha became immaculate.’

The region affected by this iconoclastic purge was the Khortsin Country and its vicinity.

The size of the pyre built from the confiscated idols gives an indication how very large their number was. The average Mongolian tent is about two and a half yards high at its summit: the qana, its grated, folding wall units each extend 6-7 feet in length.” The History of Mongolia (3 Vols.) edited by David Sneath, Christopher Kaplonski, p. 590.

[3] “The title "Dalai Lama" was first bestowed by Altan Khan upon Sonam Gyatsho in 1578, after Altan Khan became Shunyi Wang (顺义王) of China in 1571. Title "Dalai Lama" was derived from the Mongolian Dalai-yin qan (or Dalaiin khan) one.” wikipedia

“Sonam Gyatsho proclaimed Altan Khan to be the reincarnation of Kublai Khan, and in return, Altan Khan gave the title Dalai Lama to Sonam Gyatsho.[5] Altan Khan posthumously awarded the title to his two predecessors,[5] making Sonam Gyatsho the 3rd Dalai Lama.” wikipedia The history of Tibet. Alex McKay. London: RoutledgeCurzon. 2003. pp. 18–19. ISBN 0-7007-1508-8. OCLC 50494840

[4] Wikipedia, Laird, Thomas (2006). The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama, p. 146. Grove Press, N.Y. ISBN 978-0-8021-1827-1.

“La reconnaissance de la réincarnation de ce dernier en la personne d’un gengiskhanide permet de sceller à nouveau et durablement l’alliance tibéto-mongole. Les écoles sakyapa, nyingmapa et karmapa restent présentes dans les steppes. Mais, profitant des divisions entre les royaumes mongols et recherchant le support militaire mongol pour affermir leur propre situation au Tibet, les Gelugpa envoient de nombreux missionnaires et l’emportent sur les écoles anciennes. Moines mongols et tibétains parcourent la steppe, prêchent la doctrine bouddhique de la Grande Muraille jusqu’au lac Baïkal, et persécutent le chamanisme qui ne resta vivant qu’en marge des khanats. Usant de persuasion et parfois de force, ils brûlent les figurines chamaniques (ongon) et offrent du bétail en échange de conversions 6. Les Mongols se convertissent massivement, fondant en pleine steppe quelque deux mille monastères dont les principaux sont à l’origine de villes modernes comme Oulan-Bator.” Isabelle Charleux. Bouddhisme mongol et croyances autochtones. La Mongolie entre deux ères 1912-1913 / Mongolia between two eras, Conseil général des Hauts-de-Seine, 2012, 978-2906599413.

[5] “En 1588, peu avant de mourir, le troisième dalaï-lama charge Siregetü güüsi corji de le représenter sur « le trône » (du principal monastère de Kôkeqota) — d’où le nom de Siregetü (du mongol sirege, trône) donné au pandit 14 — et de chercher « à l’est » sa réincarnation. Celle-ci est reconnue dans un arrière petit-fils d’Altan qan, qui accomplit des miracles et parle tibétain dès sa naissance. Le pandit se charge de la première éducation du quatrième dalaï-lama (1589-1617) à Kôkeqota puis, en 1602, accompagne l’enfant à Lhasa (Lha-sa).” Charleux Isabelle. Un exemple de l’architecture mongole : le Siregetü juu de Kökeqota. In: Histoire de l'art, N°46, 2000. Iconographie. pp. 91-110; doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/hista.2000.2890

[6] He had a lineage of reincarnated lamas until the 20th century.

“ The last Neichi Toyin, the Ninth, was installed in Bayan-khoshigu Monastery by the nobles of the 10 Khorchins in 1945. He died in 1980.” (Persecuted Practice).

[7] Persecuted Practice: Neichi Toyin's Way of Conducting Missionary Work, by Uranchimeg Ujeed Source: Inner Asia, Vol. 13, No. 2 (2011), pp. 265-277 Published by: Brill Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24572094

[8] The new conquest of central Asia · a narrative of the explorations of the Central Asiatic expeditions in Mongolia and China, 1921-1930 · by Andrews, Roy Chapman

[9] “The princess was given the name Elena Pavlovna. She and Ungern communicated in English, their only common language. The marriage had a political aim, as Ji was a princess and a relative of General Zhang Kuiwu, the commander of Chinese troops at the western end of the Chinese-Manchurian Railway and the governor of Hailar.” Wikipedia

[10] L. Youzefovitch, Le baron Ungern Khan des steppes, Éditions des Syrtes, 2001

[11] Alioshin, Dmitri (1941). Asian Odyssey. London: Cassell and Co., Ltd. pp. 268–269.

[12] Automatic Translation :

 
“And we would add, in this connection, that he was not precisely what one might call a "neo-Buddhist", since, according to information we have received from another source, his family's adherence to Buddhism dated back to the third generation. On the other hand, it has recently been reported that 'haunting' phenomena were occurring at Ungern Castle; could this not be some manifestation of 'psychic residue' more or less directly connected with this whole story?”

[13] Note from Red Shambala: “Predskazanie sviashchennosluzhitelia Lubsan Baldan Eshe” [Prophecy of Lobsang Yeshe], in Baron Ungern v dokumentakh i materialakh [Baron Ungern: Documents and Materials], vol. 1, ed. S. L. Kuzmin, (Moscow: KMK, 2004), 150–51.

Lobsang Yeshe is the name of the 5th Panchen Lama (1663–1737). Albert Grünwedel published a German translation of Lobsang Palden Yeshe's, the 6th Panchen Lama's Sham ba la'i lam yig under the German title"Der Weg nach Shambhala" in 1915.

[14] Visualizing the Non-Buddhist Other: A Historical Analysis of the Shambhala Myth in Mongolia at the Turn of the Twentieth Century 2019, Kollmar-Paulenz, Karénina

Tibetans and their public attitude to sexuality in the Dalai-Lama incident

Molière's Tartuffe: "Cover this breast which I cannot behold:
Such a sight can offend one's soul. And it brings forth guilty thoughts."

“As someone who grew up in one of the refugee schools run by the Dalai Lama’s sisters, I have seen him in action up close and from afar. After a lifetime of studying his work and observing his interactions, in addition to having lived in a cultural milieu where the tongue is only ever associated with food and speech, it could not be more clear that there was no sexual or malign intent in his exchange.” How to Judge the Dalai Lama Incident, Tenzin Dorjee, 08/05/2023.

I have great sympathy for the Tibetan people and their cause. At the same time I believe that the religious heritage of the Tibetan culture, that has been of great support to the Tibetan people and diaspora since the Chinese invasion, may be weighing down too much on the further evolution of the Tibetan people, and especially the Tibetan youth. It must be hard to kill a father (Freud) when he stands for everything "Tibetan". It seems to me too much a case of putting all eggs in one basket, which is very risky.  

Regarding the Tibetan reactions to the Dalaï-lama viral, there are many arguments I can hear and understand, even though I wouldn't agree they fit this particular context. I believe that arguments that invoke the Amdo eat-my-tongue tradition greatly exaggerate its relevance and importance, and I really can’t take seriously the argument that in the Tibetan culture “the tongue is only ever associated with food and speech”. That’s nonsense. Other Tibetan reactions blamed a Western influence that oversexualises or hypersexualises everything it sees. Religion still seems to have too big an influence on publicly stated Tibetan views of sexuality. Yet since 1959 Tibetans in exile in India and elsewhere have access to the same culture as Indians etc., including Bollywood and Hollywood movies. When they refer to "Tibetan culture", they surely don't think it's a culture set in time and that should be used as an ultimate reference. 

There also seems to be some confusion about the "Amdo eat-my-tongue prank" and the habit to tongue-feed young children when they receive their first solid food, chewing the food first and then feeding it in their mouths with one’s tongue, like a mother bird does.

“Pema Rigzin is president of the Tibetan Cultural Society of Vancouver, and he's met the Dalai Lama on several occasions. He was also born and raised in Tibet, before moving to India and, eventually, relocating to Canada. [...]
"It's very normal in the Tibetan culture that grandparents give kisses or even chew food for the little ones," Rigzin said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca.”

“ In our culture, when a child is born, the parents first chew the food and then feed the child with their tongue.” Free Press Journal, Goa: Tibetans in state protest controversial Dalai Lama video; cry defamation

Apparently, in Amdo (also see Jigme Ugen), when there is nothing left to tongue-feed the child and the child requires more food, an elder or parent may stick out their empty tongue, saying “eat my tongue” as a prank.

“Tibetan elders often tease their grandkids, coaxing them for kisses at each feeding. When eating tsampa (roasted barley flour), they may say “Dang po O chig tre dang” (“First, give me a kiss”) gesturing to their cheeks, their nose, and their lips, before sticking out their tongues in jest to finally say, “Da na la gas med. Nga’ che le za” (“Now, I have nothing to give you. Just eat my tongue”).” Tibetan Review, The Defamation of the Dalai Lama: An Intercultural Analysis[1]

Was this really what the Dalai-lama had in mind? A prank associated with a Tibetan custom of tongue-feeding very young children? That is quite a specific combined reference in order to exclude any notion of using a tongue for anything else than for food and speech.  

This explanation doesn’t hold because it is based on a mixture of two different reactions from different cultural milieus. It plays on both the revulsion of a non-Tibetan child/young teenager when an adult sticks out their tongue suggesting they suck/eat it, and on the appetite of a very young Tibetan child claiming more tongue-fed food, and feeling no revulsion at all, on the contrary. We need to distinguish between the tongue-feeding of young children, and possibly the “tongue prank” when there’s no more food left.

From the traditional Tibetan point of view the prank would be to stick out an empty tongue, saying “since this is all that’s left to eat, eat my tongue”. Are older Tibetan children (e.g. the age of the Indian boy) still tongue-fed and is this prank still being played out on them? Is this really such a widespread and obvious thing among Tibetans? Apart from that, we should not forget that the Dalai-lama told the boy “suck my tongue”, after a progressive series of giving a hug, asking a kiss on the cheek, a kiss directly on the mouth, followed by “and suck… my tongue”. 

The reaction of any child/teenager that has never been tongue-fed as a very young child, and who is told “suck my tongue” by an adult would be to pull back immediately and to feel revulsion. That’s the point where this gesture, as a prank, would have worked and would stop or ought to stop, or it would no longer be a prank... In the case of the Indian boy, after the boy pulled back initially, the Dalai-lama continued to stick out his tongue and kept approaching his head nearer to the boy. It seems to me there is something awkward with this insistence, even from the “Tibetan Amdo prank” point of view, since the prank already worked.

Here follows a series of screencaptures from the video of the incident. I am sorry for re-using these images yet again to make my point and for the triggering effect it may have on survivors. 

The Dalai-lama pauses after the kiss on the mouth and seems to reflect or hesitate

Then he says “And suck… my tongue”

The Dalai-lama sticks out his tongue…

He approaches his head towards the boy who pulls back immediately.
The “prank” worked, yet the Dalai-lama insists.

Because of the Dalai-lama's insistence the boy approaches his head towards
the Dalaï-lama, while watching his tongue

The boy approaches further

The Dalai-lama makes a very slight movement of pulling
back and forward again. Their heads touch.

The boy starts to stick out his tongue,
the Dalai-lama withdraws his tongue immediately

The Dalai-lama then pushes the boy away and smiles at him

The Dalai-lama taps the boy on the shoulder and laughs out loud. End of the sequence.

There is a clear effort in all the Tibetan reactions and in those of some Western tibetologists and academics to exclude anything sexual from the incident. The Tibetan Chief Minister even declared the Dalai-lama (like other Tibetan hierarchs) "gone beyond sensorial pleasures". It is repeated a tongue only serves to eat and to speak and there are no sexual connotations whatsoever with the tongue in Tibetan culture. Only Westerners who (over)sexualize everything could see anything sexual in a hug, followed by a kiss on the cheek, a kiss on the mouth and “suck my tongue”.

This looks very much like religiously inspired wishful thinking, such as when Iranian president Ahmadinejad explained there were no homosexuals in Iran. The Dalai-lama knows about oral and anal sex, because he regularly declared Buddhism considers these as sexual misconduct. Any Tibetan monk who reads the Vinaya or any Tibetan person taking up temporary lay vows knows about oral and anal sex and what they are not allowed to do as long as their vows last.

For those who really believe Tibetans are exceptions in that field and require proof in writing, there are numerous textual references such as The Tibetan Arts of Love (‘dod pa’i bstan bcos) to the use of tongue and mouth for sexual purposes. Not to mention the Tibetan Tantric literature (e.g. Ragavajra Ganapti). The more daring readers can explore Tibetan erotic or pornographic websites or FB pages explaining in details what can be done with a tongue, quite often written in verse! On a Tibetan Facebook page:

རང་གི་མཇེ་ཡི་སྟེང་འོག་བར་གསུམ་ཀུན་ལ། །
ཁྱོད་ཀྱིས་ལག་པ་གཉིས་ཀྱིས་བཟུང་ན་འདོད་ཀི །
མཇེ་རྒོད་རྭ་ཅོ་བཞིན་དུ་ལངས་བའི་སྐབས་སུ། །
ལྕེ་དང་མཆུ་ཡི་བར་ནས་འཇིབ་ན་འདོད་ཀི ། 

This is not to imply the Dalai-lama is a pedophile or had a malign or sexual intent in this interaction. The Dalai-lama apologized but has not given an explanation for his words and gestures, if there could be one at all. Age and childhood memories could certainly have played a role, but this entails attributing common human features to someone considered a living Buddha. Not everybody is ready to do so. Tenzin Dorjee (How to Judge the Dalai Lama Incident) seems to be open to it

“However, the Dalai Lama is 87 years old. While he is healthier than many of his peers, there is no denying that his is an age of vulnerability where the gradual decline of one’s faculties is the norm rather than the exception. Not only is he hard of hearing, I have learned from reliable sources that his aversion to wearing a hearing aid compounds the problem. In meetings or at public events, he often mishears what a fellow panelist or an audience member is asking, and his assistants can be seen repeating the question to him.

Equally relevant is the sharp decline in his English language competence. When he is in English-speaking settings, he often seems disoriented, struggling to recall simple words that used to be at his fingertips just a few years ago.”

These arguments can be heard and understood if they are not strictly limited to problems of hearing, understanding and speaking English. The gradual decline of a human being’s faculties can go beyond that. But unlike an aging pope a Dalai-lama can’t resign.

***

[1] See also in French, La Libre Belgique, Une énième campagne médiatique de la Chine pour casser l’image du Dalaï-Lama, 09-05-2023, contribution externe.

“Le 28 février 2023, lors d’une audience publique accordée aux 120 élèves de la fondation indienne M3M dont la mère du jeune garçon est responsable, celui-ci demande de manière insistante à pouvoir faire un câlin à Sa Sainteté le Dalaï-Lama. Ce qui se passe ensuite ne peut être compris que lorsque l’on sait que dans la culture tibétaine, il est courant de voir les grands-parents âgés non seulement embrasser les petits enfants, mais aussi leur donner un petit bonbon ou un morceau de nourriture, directement de bouche à bouche. Une fois que l’aîné aura tout donné, comme il n’y a plus rien à donner, il dit “je t’ai tout donné, il ne me reste que ma langue. Est-ce que tu veux manger ma langue ?” Cette pratique est très courante dans la région de l’Amdo, dont Sa Sainteté le Dalaï-Lama est originaire.”