Tibetan Buddhist leader renews commitment to protecting the country
A key religious leader of Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region has defended his pledge to become a Living Buddha "protecting the country and benefiting the people," a remark analysts say would promote ethnic harmony.
"Certain people in foreign countries have denounced my talk of a stable society and steady development, but will the local governments in those countries allow them to stay there for long if they keep making disturbances?" the 11th Panchen Lama was quoted as saying in a book written by senior journalist Zhang Biao, the region's official website tibet.cn reported Monday.
The remarks came after the Panchen Lama expressed his patriotism on several different occasions, including in comments such as "Buddhism has no boundary, but the Living Buddha has his motherland" and "religious groups cannot survive, let alone develop, if they don't abide by the country's law," the website noted.
According to tibet.cn, the Panchen Lama explained that "protecting the country and benefitting the people" in his understanding means that safeguarding society's stability and development is a priority in protecting any country, while people should be offered both material and spiritual benefits by stability and development.
The term "protect the country and benefit the people" was first written on a banner sent to the Panchen Lama by former president Jiang Zemin in 1996, according to Lian Xiangmin, an expert with the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing.
The Panchen Lama's remarks represent Tibetan people's heartfelt wishes for a better life and a stable society, Lian told the Global Times.
"The Panchen Lama is not only a religious leader, but also an influential Chinese citizen. His patriotic remarks will profoundly affect many people," said Penpa Lhamo, deputy head of the Contemporary Studies Institute at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences.
Whereas the Dalai Lama used religion to separate the country and has divided Tibetan people's affections, the Panchen Lama will play a more important role in future efforts to deal with religious and ethnic problems in Tibet, Penpa told the Global Times.
During a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in June, the Panchen Lama promised that he would learn from the example of his predecessor to unswervingly safeguard national unity and ethnic harmony, studying diligently and working vigorously to contribute to Tibetan Buddhism and socialist construction so as to live up to the expectations of the people, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, born on February 13, 1990 in northern Tibet Autonomous Region, was enthroned as the 11th Panchen Lama on December 8, 1995 after a traditional lot-drawing ceremony at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.
The Panchen Lama is the highest-ranking lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, the most influential of the four schools. He currently serves as vice-president of the Buddhist Association of China and as a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee.
