<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>Xinhua, September 29, 2006</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>Xigaze, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region> -- The 11th Panchen Lama concluded a month of Buddhist rites in southwest <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s Tibet Autonomous Region on Friday, pledging to serve the Tibetan people through Buddhist doctrine.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>During his stay in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Tibet</st1:country-region>, Gyaincain Norbu, the 17-year-old leader of Tibetan Buddhism, paid a two-day visit to his hometown at Lhari county, Nagqu prefecture in northern <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Tibet</st1:country-region></st1:place> in late August, where he was born on February 13, 1990.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>This is the first visit by the Panchen Lama to his hometown since his ordination in 1995.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>He was approved by the central government as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama in November 1995 after a lot drawing ceremony between three candidates in the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Jokhang</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Temple</st1:PlaceType> in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Tibet</st1:country-region>'s capital <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Lhasa</st1:City></st1:place>.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>Drawing lots from a golden urn to decide the final choice of the reincarnation of a high lama has long been a tradition in Tibetan Buddhism.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>"I feel very excited that I returned to my hometown for the first time in 11 years," he said.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>In Lhari, the Panchen Lama gave blessings to more than 4,000 local Tibetans by touching each of their heads.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>"We have been expecting the Living Buddha to come back to his hometown," 83-year-old herdsman Qi'me said. "I finally saw him and it is a good fortune."</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>In the past month, tens of thousands of Tibetans received touch-head blessings from the Panchen Lama.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>During his stay in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tibet</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the Panchen Lama performed a string of Buddhist rituals in different parts of the region. He also visited the newly-built Qinghai-Tibet Railway.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>"I saw for myself that the ethnic and religious polices of the Party have been implemented well in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Tibet</st1:country-region></st1:place> and the great masses of the people enjoy full religious freedom," he said.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>He vowed to continue to study Buddhism and learn more modern scientific, cultural knowledge in a bid to make his own contributions to the happiness of the Tibetan people.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>The young Panchen Lama studies Buddhism in <st1:City w:st="on">Beijing</st1:City> and frequently visits <st1:country-region w:st="on">Tibet</st1:country-region> and other Tibetan ethnic areas in <st1:State w:st="on">Qinghai</st1:State>, <st1:State w:st="on">Gansu</st1:State>, <st1:State w:st="on">Sichuan</st1:State>, and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Yunnan</st1:place></st1:State> provinces where he conducts religious rites.</SPAN></P>
|
