Cutest. Lama. Ever.

From Buddhism-Online:

Four-year-old Goinbo Dungzhi has been enthroned as the seventh Kungtangcang living Buddha and the reincarnation of the sixth who died in 2000, said officials in a Tibetan community of northwest China's Gansu Province on Thursday.

A grand enthronement was held at the Labrang Lamasery in Xiahe county of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on Monday in line with the rituals of Tibetan Buddhism.

[...]

The sixth Kungtangcang Danbawangqu living Buddha, who died aged 75, was enthroned in 1931 when he was six years old. He was a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, and vice president of the Buddhist Association of China.

There are basically two sets of Tibetan Buddhist Lamas — one loyal to the Dalai Lama, and a parallel one loyal to China.

When the tenth Panchen Lama passed away, the Communist government of China kidnapped the child recognised by the Dalai Lama as the eleventh Panchen Lama, and enthroned its own appointee instead. This is significant because the Panchen Lama is responsible for finding the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama.

By asserting control over the process of selecting the next incarnation of Tibetan Lamas, the Communist government is gradually taking over the Tibetan Buddhist religious hierarchy. The seventh "Kungtangcang living Buddha" will undoubtedly be carefully taught by the Communists to toe the Party line.

南無阿彌陀佛

Chinese border guards fire on Tibetan refugees escaping to Nepal

From AsiaNews:

Chinese guards stationed at the border between China and Nepal killed seven – not two as initially reported – people on 30 September when they opened fire on refugees fleeing to the mountains. A Buddhist nun and a child were among the victims.

Lama Tsering, a Buddhist monk from Kushinagar monastery in northern India, confirmed this to AsiaNews. He said: "In the monastery, we observed a day of prayer and fasting yesterday after it was confirmed that seven refugees were killed, including our sister and a child. According to initial reports, two people were killed but now we are certain that the death toll has risen."

The lama said: "The genocide by the Chinese Han soldiers against Tibetans is beyond description. They persecute us and have no scruples about killing us like flies just because of our Buddhist faith and deep reverence for the Dalai Lama."

The massacre was perpetrated when a group of about 70 refugees stumbled upon Chinese soldiers near Nangpa La pass, close to Mount Everest. As soon as the guards saw them, they opened fire and only 40 refugees managed to escape. [...]

The international community needs hold China accountable for its rampant abuses of human rights.

See also: 7名藏人中尼边境被中国边防人员打死 from The Epoch Times, and reports from BBC News and The Independent.

南無阿彌陀佛

Biggest. Mantra. Ever.

Throughout history, Buddhists have loved to build really big things. Here are but a few examples:

• The Buddhas of Bamiyan
  
• The Stupa of Borobudur
  
• Tian Tan Buddha (天壇大佛)
  
• The Daibutsu (大仏 or 大佛) of Japan
  
• The Giant Buddha of Leshan (樂山大佛)
  
• India's plan to build the world's biggest Buddha statue
  
• and China's bid to outdo them

And now, we have the world's Biggest. Mantra. Ever. From Siberian News Online:

Gyudmed Tantric Monastery monks, who are on a visit in Tuva, have finished their work at the world's biggest Buddhist mantra. In the opinion of all the participants of the unique project, the mantra is to hasten the visit of His Holiness Dalai Lama to the republic. The mantra of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion, "Om mani padme hum" is made of huge stones on the side of Dogee Mountain, known as Lenin Peak. One can have a picturesque view on Kyzyl, the capital of Tuva, from the top of this mountain, IA Tuva-Online reports.


The length of the holy mantra is 120 m. It took 500 kilos of white paint to paint the stones. 'Tibetan Buddhists usually engrave holy mantras on the stones. A great many of them can be seen on the mountainous slopes and passes, as Tupten Shakia, the monk group leader, explained. However, there is hardly such a huge mantra made of big stones even in Tibet, he noted.
[...]


The mantra construction of the Buddha of Compassion, whose embodiment on the Earth is His Holiness Dalai Lama, started when the spiritual leader of the Buddhists visited Mongolia, the neighboring country. The mantra capable of accumulation and spreading of the tremendous positive energy was built with a wish of longevity to Dalai Lama and prayers for spiritual merits of Tuvan people to help to remove the obstacles preventing the meeting of Buddhist Tuva with its spiritual teacher.

This mantra hasn't shown up on Google Maps yet, but a similar previous offering may be found here:

Map loading...

南無阿彌陀佛