I was reading (the recommended) The Bloody White Baron recently, and this has, unsurprisingly, happened. The Bogd Khan in Mongolia (both the head of state and Mongolian Buddhism immediately before the Communist takeover) was basically a pox-ridden obese lavicious sot...
I suppose it was easier in the days before widespread international travel: yer Tibetan monks would pick out someone in the boonies, the family goes along with it, and the upbringing isn't a massive wrench. When the pool of accessible potentially reincarnated lamas extends beyond the historical area of reincarnated lama identification, things get a bit tricky.
The FPMT (the particular group that was led by the old lama) appears to have been one of those religious movements that you associate with its late 60s / early 70s flourishing.
I was reading (the recommended) The Bloody White Baron recently, and this has, unsurprisingly, happened. The Bogd Khan in Mongolia (both the head of state and Mongolian Buddhism immediately before the Communist takeover) was basically a pox-ridden obese lavicious sot...
ReplyDeleteexcept for a sanctioned screening of The Golden Child starring Eddie MurphyThat has a made-up feel to it...
ReplyDeleteI suppose it was easier in the days before widespread international travel: yer Tibetan monks would pick out someone in the boonies, the family goes along with it, and the upbringing isn't a massive wrench. When the pool of accessible potentially reincarnated lamas extends beyond the historical area of reincarnated lama identification, things get a bit tricky.
ReplyDeleteThe FPMT (the particular group that was led by the old lama) appears to have been one of those religious movements that you associate with its late 60s / early 70s flourishing.
What were all those people doing, bouncing, stuck to one another, enclosed in a box full of smoke?
ReplyDeleteAlmost worth it for this,