In 2009, at the World Buddhist Forum, the 19-year-old Panchen Lama delivered a speech in English.
He had a calm demeanor and clear thinking. His understanding of various phenomena in the world at that time was far deeper than that of his peers. His fluent English and profound knowledge impressed everyone present.
The Panchen Lama has extraordinary significance in Tibet and even the Tibetan Buddhist community. His outstanding performance has made many Tibetans sincerely admire him and believe that although he is young, he is a real Panchen Lama.
Some people say that the excellence of the 11th Panchen Lama comes from his talent and intelligence. However, if we understand his growth process and his previous study and life every day, we will find that talent and intelligence are only one aspect of him.
01 Born in an ordinary family, he was gifted with intelligence since childhood
In 1989, the 10th Panchen Lama passed away, and the task of finding the reincarnated soul boy (successor) began.
The state allocated nearly 6 million as funding. In accordance with the Tibetan tradition, a special search team was sent. After more than 5 years of search and identification, 46 candidate children, including the 5-year-old Gyaltsen Norbu, were finally found.
Gyaltsen Norbu's parents are ordinary Tibetans. Both of them only went to elementary school. Compared with children of the same age, Gyaltsen Norbu's conversation and behavior are smarter than his age.
Because of this, he successfully passed the second round of screening and became one of the three remaining children. Afterwards, relevant personnel used the method of drawing lots from the golden urn to finally designate Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen.
The golden urn drawing involves writing the names of the three candidate children on the name tags. Under specific supervision, a specialized person will shake the golden urn and draw the name tags. is similar to our common lottery.
If it is said that becoming a candidate requires wisdom that is different from that of peers, the drawing of lots requires luck or a kind of fate.
In short, the 5-year-old Panchen Lama became the person everyone expected. After he was enthroned and succeeded to the throne, he also had responsibilities different from those of his peers.
In 1995, after the 11th Panchen Lama succeeded to the throne, as usual he needed to go to Beijing to meet with the central leadership. This was the first time for the 5-year-old to travel far away and see so many new things.
When the 11th Panchen Lama attended the meeting, the service staff brought a hot towel, and his entourage immediately became nervous.
The 11th Panchen Lama had never used a hot towel in this way, and they forgot to tell him how to use it before they came. They were afraid that the young Panchen Lama would do something "incompatible with his status".
However, what is surprising is that after seeing the hot towel, the 11th Panchen Lama, who did not know how to use it, did not act rashly, but sat there and observed.
When he saw the people around him shaking the hot towels, wiping their hands and then putting them down, he also imitated their example, shook them, and wiped their hands again. Behind the slowness and unhurriedness was the wisdom of being good at observation.
When the 11th Panchen Lama grows up, in addition to learning Tibetan, he will also learn Chinese, Sanskrit, English and other languages.
When he was learning Chinese characters, the teacher taught him the word "open". After thinking for a while, the 11th Panchen Lama wrote down the word "close" and asked the teacher: "Is this the pass that closes the door?"
The teacher was surprised and asked him why he knew it. The 11th Panchen Lama smiled shyly and said: "I often see these two words on the elevator. If one of them is open, then the one parallel to it is closed."
Because he is good at observation and thinking, the 11th Panchen Lama has performed exceptionally since he was a child. However, what gave him more knowledge came from his serious study day after day.
02 One day when I was fifteen (1)
After the 11th Panchen Lama was enthroned and succeeded to the throne, the relevant teachers responsible for teaching him knowledge made a study plan for him from the shallower to the deeper.
Occasionally, he would participate in some social activities, but most of the time, the 11th Panchen Lama grew up quietly, and little about his study and life was made public.
In 2005, a reporter visited the 15-year-old 11th Panchen Lama out of curiosity and recorded his 24 hours a day.The 11th Panchen Lama, who is 15 years old, has a lot of academic work compared with other teenagers of the same age. Get up at 7 o'clock every day and go to bed at 22:30 at night. There are many lessons to learn in a day.
But the education the Eleventh Panchen Lama received during this period was not just various knowledge points.
At 7 o'clock in the morning when the reporter went to interview, it was just dawn in Shigatse, and the Panchen Palace was already brightly lit. After half an hour of washing time, he would start his daily morning recitation.
Most of the scriptures he has to recite are obscure scriptures. For him who is only 15 years old, he may not really understand the meaning of some of the contents.
But one of the important responsibilities on the shoulders of the 11th Panchen Lama is inheritance, and studying scriptures is one of his important studies. He needs to skillfully memorize those obscure scriptures, hoping to understand the mysteries through day-by-day efforts.
This is similar to morning reading in school, and the 11th Panchen Lama took it very seriously. In his opinion, no matter how difficult it is to do something, as long as you continue to work hard, you will always find a way, just like being in lotus position.
Lotus pose is a way of meditating, which may be a little difficult at first. He has been practicing it since he was 5 years old and has become proficient in it.
The morning classes of the 11th Panchen Lama seem to be no different from those of ordinary teenagers, but it is unknown whether they have a similar state of mind when doing all this. Moreover, one of his actions during breakfast made people couldn't help but admire him.
Before the 15-year-old Panchen Lama sat down to eat, he very naturally asked his Buddhist teacher Jiangyang Gyatso to sit down first. When he saw the Buddhist teacher pouring milk tea into the bowl and grabbing tsampa, he started to eat himself.
This nearly two-minute wait should be a lesson about "respecting the teacher" during the 11th Panchen's day of study. It may have started with the teacher's request at first, but as he was already 15 years old at the time, his respect for the teacher had already been integrated into his words and deeds.
When walking, he will always pay attention. If the teacher slows down, he will immediately stop and wait. When taking a walk after dinner, he sometimes asked the teacher in a low voice, sometimes listened quietly, and always respected the teacher.
His daily classes are extremely heavy. Whenever the teacher finishes class, he will get up immediately. If the staff is not here at this time and cannot help him take the teacher out, he will rush to the teacher himself, carry their bags, pull the car door, and then respectfully watch them leave, and then rush to the next class.
After lunch, when the 11th Panchen Lama and his teacher were preparing to return to their residence, it suddenly started raining heavily. The Panchen Lama has a very high status in Tibet. The staff were afraid that he would feel unwell after being exposed to the rain. In the panic, they only found an umbrella and handed it to him to let him go first.
As for the 11th Panchen Lama, the first thing he considered was his teacher. When he saw his teacher refuse, he stuffed his umbrella into his arms and walked into the rain on his own initiative.
Study hard and be practical, respect teachers and teach. The influence of traditional culture accounts for a large part of the 11th Panchen Lama’s daily study. However, as a post-90s generation, the 11th Panchen Lama wants to keep pace with the times and needs to do more than that.
03 One day when he was fifteen (2)
Every day at 10:30 in the morning, after finishing the study of scriptures, the 11th Panchen Lama would study cultural classes.
He learned more about Chinese, besides English and Sanskrit. Regardless of the language, he, who was born in Tibet, would always encounter difficulties in learning it.
But his teacher said that this young Panchen Lama had a strong thirst for knowledge and had great interest in learning no matter what subject he dealt with.
In 2005, on the day of the reporter’s interview, the cultural class the 11th Panchen Lama studied was English. In the study plan arranged for him, there are two English classes per week. If there are some activities, they will be canceled.
Whenever he has an opportunity to study, he is highly focused and constantly responds to the teacher's questions. When he encounters pronunciation problems, he will always ask the teacher for advice.
The 11th Panchen Lama said that his purpose in learning English is to be able to communicate and see how big the world is. No matter how difficult it is, he must work hard and persevere.The clear learning goals made the 11th Panchen Lama willing to take the initiative to learn more novel things that he did not know.
Every day from 14:00 to 15:30 pm is the 11th Panchen Lama’s extracurricular time, and it is also a time for him to explore new knowledge.
During this time of his own, he will read extracurricular books, sometimes historical stories about Tibet, and sometimes some avant-garde scientific magazines.
But what he likes more is trying to play with some electronic products.
In 2005, computers had just become popular. The 11th Panchen Lama was very curious about this and often completed his homework on the computer. After a period of trying, he has learned to use documents proficiently and some daily office operations.
In addition to computers, the 11th Panchen Lama also liked cameras and video recorders. He was very curious about how these seemingly small electronic products could play such a big role. He often meditated on them and operated them repeatedly. Whenever he took good pictures, he would happily share them with others.
The 11th Panchen Lama liked these high-tech things, but the rare thing was that he never became addicted to them. For example, when playing with the computer, the 11th Panchen Lama would say to people around him: "It would be great if Tibetan software could be used as soon as possible."
Putting responsibility in his heart has become a habit of the young Panchen Lama, and this habit always guides the direction of his efforts. For him, it is his responsibility to become knowledgeable, inherit Tibetan culture, and lead Tibetans to live a good life.
The study of scriptures, which carry important aspects of Tibetan culture, accounts for a larger proportion of his studies. At 15:30 every day, the 11th Panchen Lama studied sutra debate.
A group of monks gathered in a main hall. Some of them asked questions and some answered them. Both the questioner and the respondent need to have a certain academic level.
At this time, the 11th Panchen Lama’s past practical study and good thinking will be well confirmed. When facing questions, he is calm and calm. When answering questions, he can go from simple to deep and is rich in philosophy.
After the tense sutra debate, the 11th Panchen Lama took a short rest and began to eat. He would spend the time after dinner taking a walk. The 11th Panchen Lama liked walking after meals. He considered it a form of exercise and hoped that walking after meals would make him healthier.
In fact, the 11th Panchen Lama’s favorite sport is to play basketball. Watching other teenagers jumping in front of the basket, he is often eager to try it in his heart. But as the Panchen Lama, he is subject to some rules and cannot participate in many sports activities.
This is undoubtedly a pity for the 11th Panchen Lama. He often uses the knowledge he has learned to enlighten himself and does not obsess about what he cannot obtain.
The news broadcasts he must watch every day, as well as domestic and foreign news, often remind him invisibly that the world is huge, and the small grievances in his heart will disappear with the wind.
After completing today’s homework and previewing for tomorrow, the 11th Panchen Lama will practice calligraphy and hone his temperament with each stroke. His handwriting is very regular, just like he takes life and study seriously.
After finishing writing, the 11th Panchen Lama’s daily study is coming to an end. At this time, it is often already 21:15, and he will chant sutras again with the monks in accordance with the conventions of Buddhist practitioners.
22:30 is the unshakable lights-out time, and this young Panchen Lama never delays it. Some people say that a day is a year, and the years of life come from the accumulation of each node in the day.
From the age of 5 to 19, every day of the life of the 11th Panchen Lama was the same as when he was 15 years old. He followed the rules seriously and always abided by the rules that he should abide by. The knowledge and virtues acquired through persistence also shaped him.
04 A life and a day
After practicing self-discipline day after day, the 11th Panchen Lama reaped the rewards.
The appearance of the 19-year-old 11th Panchen Lama in 2009 was dazzling, but it was not the highlight of his life.
In order to truly assume responsibility and practice true knowledge, the 11th Panchen Lama often went around to inspect people's sentiments.People who met him often felt his sincerity and friendship from the heart, and praised him for reading the essence of the scriptures.
He often feels something from what he sees and hears. Seeing that the people in Shezangzhou County are living a different life than before, his love for the country is growing day by day, and he feels deeply responsible.
In 2015, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the enthronement of the 11th Panchen Lama, when talking about his gains in the past 20 years, he said: "I have not wasted time and learned a lot of cultural knowledge, but the next step for me is to internalize the knowledge in my heart."
He believes that internalizing the knowledge means taking the good things you have learned into your own use and using it to help people in need.
Today, the 11th Panchen Lama has more responsibilities. In order to work, he lives in his office in Beijing most of the time and returns to Tibet for about three months every year. The first thing he did was visit people everywhere and solve their practical difficulties.
The 11th Panchen Lama once said in an interview, the older I grow, the more I realize that a Panchen Lama is respected not only for his knowledge, but for what he has done for the people and the country.
At a conference in 2022, he said to believers: "If a child comes to ask us how to get good grades, we will tell him that by studying hard every day and living seriously, you can get what you want. This is the meaning of our existence."
At the same time, he is very disgusted with the behavior of some foreign forces trying to split the motherland.
He said, the knowledge I have learned and the actual situation I have seen tell me that in our country, Tibetan compatriots live a happy and dignified life together with the people of the whole country, and our culture has developed very well. Those who try to use Tibetan Buddhism to cause division have bad intentions.
As a young man, he has become the well-deserved Panchen Lama in the hearts of Tibetans.
Bearing responsibilities in mind, being pragmatic and practical, and being able to distinguish right from wrong, these past days have become the basis of the 11th Panchen Lama’s lifelong cognition. If how people can become successful is a question worth exploring, the growth of the 11th Panchen Lama may bring us enlightenment.
Reference:
CCTV: Documentary of the 11th Panchen Lama’s Fifteenth Year Old
China News Network: Exclusive interview with the 11th Panchen Lama on the harvest after 20 years of enthronement
Documentary: "General History of China" Tibetan Panchen
Baidu.com: The 11th Panchen Lama
Tencent.com: Revealing the secret, this is how the post-90s Panchen Lama practiced
China Buddhist Culture Network: Deciphering the life and dreams of the 11th Panchen Lama, etc.
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