Dharamsala, 15 June 1995 - Today is a special occasion to announce the confirmation of the All-seeing Panchen Lama's reincarnation. I would like to tell you all that the time has come for the new incarnation to start his work while the situation is critical. It is due to the fruit of spiritual commitment -- speaking from the broader perspective, over many aeons, or, from a narrower perspective a long time -- that the Panchen Lama has come to serve the cause of the Buddha Dharma, or more pratically, the spiritual heritage of the snowland of Tibet and its people. Secondly, from the story of Father and Son Aryas, it becomes clear that Father Arya and the Son have had special relations ever since the time of Choegyal Kunchok Bhang.

In order that such commitment (of the Panchen Lama) comes to fruition without any obstruction from outside, we are praying here today.

Speaking from another angle, the Dalai Lama is gradually becoming old. Generally speaking, from the point of view of age, the new incarnation of the Panchen Lama becomes somebody who has to continue my works. Since the Panchen Lama has a special concern to continue my responsiblities, he is important from every point of view. Therefore, I request everyone to pray for his long life and success. ... In the document there is a brief explanation of how the reincarnation has been confirmed. As well as making spiritual offerings, we made efforts to send a religious delegation from here when the Panchen Lama passed away. We confirmed the names of the delegation members and contacted the Chinese Government. The delegation was to be headed by Choeje of Jangtse College at Gaden Monastery as this matters relates to him. However, the delegation could not go. At that time, I hoped they would be able to conduct all the religious rites, including making offerings at the tomb of the Panchen Lama, and then make a detour to Lhamo Lhatso (the sacred vision lake near Lhasa) for investigation purposes.

Subsequently, when it was time to search for the reincarnation, I made efforts to send a small committee to Tibet. I contacted the Chinese Government for this purpose, but to no avail. I did this as the present incarnation has a very crucial role to play. There are several political reasons which make him crucial. Also, one cannot rule out the possibility of an unauthentic reincarnation. That is why I hoped to identify the reincarnation, first by investigating all the prospective candidates in exile and every part of Tibet, then by shortlisting the names of the more hopeful candidates. Then we would have rotated the dough balls (the names of the candidates are rolled into the dough balls) at a gathering attended by important persons from exile and Tibet, and from Tashilhunpo monastery. However, since this depended on the external cooperation, we could not conduct the search in this manner.

What, then, was the alternative? There were quite a number of hopeful candidate in the central and border areas of Tibet. Outside Tibet, also, there were candidates in Ladakh, Dharamsala, etc. But it was difficult to make decisions without receiving full information about all the candidates. Moreover, we had to make sure that no candidate with auspicious signs was left out. Therefore, it took a long time. Also, when we checked whether it was the right time to confirm the reincarnation, we had signs indicating that the confirmation should wait until the dawn of the following year.

We collected the names received from various sources at different points in time. We had the names and details of about twenty boys. We have the details of all these boys. Of some we also have photos. We have rough descriptions of auspicious signs concerning these boys. It then became apparent that no additional names were going to come. There were signs that the time had come to confirm the reincarnation. Therefore, I made this decision.

Coming to the process of making the final decision, I did a mo (divination) to find out if the reincarnation was among the candidates whose names had been submitted. The divination was affirmative. After selecting the more likely candidates, I threw the divination dice while pronouncing the young child's name. I did it three times, as is my usual practice. The divinations showed extremely good indications.

My initial hope of all of us meeting together did not materialize as this had to be kept extremely secret. However, I did not rely solely on dice divination. I also rolled the dough balls while uttering the child's name. The dough (with the reincarnation's name hidden in it) emerged as if jumping out on its own. Not relying on the first draw, I marked this particular dough ball and made another rotation. The same ball came out. I was now convinced that this was the authentic reincarnation. So I made the decision.

This being a very difficult time, my concentration wavers. However, historically and in my personal case, when the Panchen Thupten Choe-ki Nyima recognized the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, he took a special interest in me, a child born in Amdo, the land of Tsongkhapa (Founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism). This was told to me by the late Lord Chamberlain. Therefore, there is a special personal relationship between me and the Panchen Lama.

Whatever the case may be, the people of Tibet have placed their hope in me to take the final decision regarding the Panchen Lama's reincarnation. This is the case not only with Tashilhunpo, but also with people from different parts of Tibet.

The late Panchen Lama had a very difficult life. He was born in Amdo. Later in his life, he visited Amdo several times. He also visited Kham. Therefore, there were numerous relationships resulting from his travels and deeds in those areas. There were great concerns in some areas regarding the Panchen Lama's reincarnation. People told me that I should make the decision regarding the reincarnation. It is for these reasons that I made the final selection. As stated earlier, efforts must be made to ensure that the young incarnation has a long and successful life.

(Translated from Tibetan by the Department of Information and International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamsala)

Tempa Tsering
Secretary
Department of Information & International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration
Gangchen Kyishong
Dharamsala 176 215
INDIA

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