Looking at Tibet's 'simple monk'

The former residence of the 14th Dalai Lama is seen in good preservation in Hong'ai Village, Qinghai Province.

Photo by Xinhua

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THE 14th Dalai Lama turns 76 on July 6, and reporters Li Na and Yu Zheng take a look at the birth, history and celebrity of the controversial "simple monk."

Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the Dalai Lama, has been a guardian for at least three decades of the birthplace of the Tibetan spiritual leader at Hong'ai Village on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

"I prepare this room for the Dalai Lama in hopes of his return," says the stocky, 65-year-old Tibetan who showed reporters a dark, 12-square-meter chamber containing a throne that has been elegantly prepared for its supposed master.

The chamber is on the top floor of a two-storey wooden house. Outside the chamber hangs a giant photo of the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso. There are also six Buddha statues and a yellow monk's robe that Tenzin Gyatso used to wear.

Gonpo meticulously dusts furniture and rituals every morning at dawn.

"I believe that his soul has already been here, though his human body hasn't yet," Gonpo says.

Gonpo's hopes remind people of late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong's call for the return of the self-exiled Dalai Lama. But hope gets ever fainter as since the Dalai Lama was denounced by the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government as a "politician in monk's robes" who is trying to split the country.

Gonpo built a bright yellow prayer hall on the original spot where the Dalai Lama was born. The modest, tidy courtyard contains the two-story wooden house, as well as the prayer hall. It faces 4,000-meter-high snowy Tsongkha Gyiri, considered a sacred mountain that brought good feng shui to the family of the boy who was later believed to be the incarnation of the previous Dalai Lama.

"On sunny days, Tsongkha Gyiri looks like a sleeping Buddha on a lotus," Gonpo says. "Our village sits on the flower petals, which indicates good feng shui." Feng shui, or geomancy, is a system of arranging locations, structures and rooms to benefit from positive energy in the universe.

Standing in front of his house, Gonpo points at a nearby white pagoda, saying it is a famous site in Tibetan Buddhism. He explained that the 13th Dalai Lama rode a mule from Lhasa to the Kumbum Monastery, and then went on to Labrang.

"He stopped over, just in front of us, to take a long break," says Gonpo. "It's said that he made his determination (about the next Dalai Lama) at the sight of this holy mountain. He hoped that his reincarnation would be found nearby."

The myths

One reason the 13th Dalai Lama chose to stop over was his sound relationship with Taktser Rinpoche, a senior lama in the Tibetan Lamaist hierarchy who was the eldest brother of Lhamo Thondup (the secular name of Tenzin Gyatso) who was born on July 6, 1935. He was later recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama.

Lhamo's poor farming family was remarkably rich in high lamas. Altogether, three out of seven siblings became top lamas, with the Dalai Lama atop the pyramid of all Tibetan lamas.

The boy ascended as a spiritual leader who mesmerized the faithful and gained political celebrity in exile. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He called himself "a simple Buddhist monk" but was accused by his homeland government of being an ill-intentioned politician and the chief rebel in monk's robes who promoted separatist movements.

For Westerners he was fodder for sound bites, photo opportunities and front-page headlines.

Myths have fueled the mysticism and celebrity of the Dalai Lama. One myth is that Lhamo Thondup was the only candidate for the incarnation - it was said he correctly identified the belongings of the 13t Dalai Lama. But in line with Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a handful of candidates, not just one, should have been selected for the final pick.

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