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Religion: Buddha & the Reds

4 minute read
TIME

“I will take birth again,” said the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet. In 1933 he died, and the oracles and seers began their search for the new body of this living Buddha, an Incarnation of the Tibetan god Chen-re-zi. The first sign came while the body of the dead Dalai Lama still sat in state; its head, which had been turned traditionally toward the south, mysteriously turned east. To the seers this was an indication that the new Dalai Lama must be looked for in the east. In retrospect, they might give it a different meaning. For since then Tibet has been conquered from the east by Red China, which is currently carrying on a vigorous campaign to woo Asia’s 150 million Buddhists.

Ruler into Doll. In time, the new Dalai Lama was found. Tibet’s regent made a pilgrimage to the prophetic waters of Lake Cho Khor Gye and saw reflected in its depths a three-story monastery with golden roofs, near which stood a small peasant house with carved gables. Expeditions of monks were duly sent forth and at last one of them came upon the gold-roofed monastery and gabled peasant house. Disguising themselves as servants, the monks entered through the kitchen, and a two-year-old boy ran toward one of them crying, “Sera Lama, Sera Lama!” At this the monks’ hearts leaped, for their leader was indeed the Lama of the Sera Monastery. Other tests were made: the boy unerringly chose from a number of rosaries the one that had been used by the old Dalai Lama, and he selected the drum with which the ruler had summoned his servants.

The boy’s name was Jetsun Jampel Ngawang Lobsang Yishey Tenzing Gyatso, and when he was only four years old, he became the 14th Dalai Lama. In 1950 the Chinese Communists began their invasion of Tibet, and the 15-year-old ruler fled Lhasa. Eventually the Communists persuaded him to return. Since then the young Dalai Lama and his junior, the Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second most important Incarnation, have lived like highly prized dolls in the hands of Tibet’s Communist masters, powerless, yet indispensable because of the religious fealty they command. Last week the Dalai Lama was being feted in India, having been allowed for the first time to travel outside his Red prison. Seldom had India given such a welcome to a foreigner.

Fear v. Love. Accompanied by his mother, two officials known as the Ministers of Tea and Butter, and the Panchen Lama, the young god-king proceeded across India, usually mounted on a pony—although once he rode an elephant together with Prime Minister Nehru. He was surrounded by a whirl of waving yellow prayer flags, burning incense and flower petals. Thousands of Buddhist pilgrims prostrated themselves before him. and when they could not reach his gown, they touched the hoofs of his pony. Dignified and smiling, his crew cut and glasses making him look (as one American put it) like an exchange student at the University of Southern California, he received a bouquet of red roses from Nehru’s daughter, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. All week long he kept up a stiff schedule of spiritual talks and mass blessings, interspersed occasionally with political conferences (apart from his divine attributes, the Dalai Lama is also chairman of Tibet’s Preparatory Committee to Improve Administrative and Social Structure). At all times the Dalai Lama was conspicuously attentive to Red China’s Foreign Minister Chou Enlai. who was touring India at the same time.

The Dalai Lama’s trip was obviously designed by the Reds to promote the notion that Communism and Buddhism stand side by side in their devotion to peace and nonviolence. In India, so far. this line has been fairly successful. At a Buddhist Congress held last month in Nepal, Chinese and Russian speakers virtually enshrined Karl Marx as another reincarnation of the Lord Buddha. But Dr. Bhimrao R. Ambedkar, leader of India’s untouchables, who died last week (see MILESTONES), made a notable reply. Said he: “Marx was thought by a large number of Asians, particularly students, to be the only modern prophet. They were quick to follow the rising star of Communism rather than the slow path of religion . . . What would be Buddha’s reaction to modern problems? . . . He spoke of salvation through the conquest of Dukha [poverty], really meaning the abolition of poverty. This happy state could be achieved by the personal conquest of evil. Here lies the difference between Communism and Buddhism. While one conquers with fear, the other conquers with love.”

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