EVIDENCE FOR REINCARNATION OF 13TH DALAI LAMA AS THE 14TH
(Source: Memoirs of his mother Diki Tsering in Dalai Lama: My Son
based on notes taken by her daughter in 1970's—1980's and edited by her son in 1990's.
Published by Compass Books, New York, 2000.)
From age 1 to 2: Lhamo Dhondup was a somber child, liked to stay indoors alone. When away from home, would only drink from his mother's cup. He would not let others touch his blanket and always kept it near his mother. He was preoccupied with packing his clothes and things. While he could hardly talk, when questioned, he replied he was "packing to go to Lhasa and would take all of us with him." [p. 89]
When he met a quarrelsome person, he would pick up a stick and try to beat him. If someone smoked, "he would flare into a rage." Friends reported they were afraid of him. One day, he told the family "he had come from heaven."
Just 2 years old: Party of officials from Lhasa charged with identifying the 14th Dalai Lama visited the family home three times. Over a three-year period of search, they identified sixteen possible candidates, reduced them to three finalists, and finally settled on Lhamo Dhondup in 1935.
On the first visit, Khetsang Rinpoche of the party had two staffs and Dhondup "went to the staffs, laid one aside, and picked up the other. He struck Rinpoche lightly on the back with it, said the staff was his and why had Rinpoche taken it." (His mother said the members of the party exchanged "meaningful looks.")
On a later visit of the party, he stuck his hand underneath Rinpoche's robe and withdrew a rosary and insisted it was his. (Mother later learned that the 13th Dalai Lama had given that rosary to Rinpoche.)
On the third visit, the party placed a bowl of candy before Dhondup along with two rosaries and two ritual drums. He took one piece of candy and gave it to his mother. He then selected the rosary and the drum that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama. Later they told Mother that during a 3-hour private session they had spoken to him in the Lhasa dialect (that he had never heard before) and that he had replied without difficulty. [p. 93] When they departed, he cried to go with them.
Meeting in Lhasa: When all sixteen candidates were later taken to Lhasa to meet Ma Pu-fang the governor, he alone did not cry and cling to their parents. Dhondup went to the only vacant seat and sat down. While the other children gobbled down the candy placed before them, he took one piece for his great-uncle. He correctly identified Pu-fang although he had never met him before.
At his point Pu-fang chose him as the 14th Dalai Lama, saying he was dignified beyond his years, different with his big eyes, and intelligent in his conversation and actions. The other children and their families were sent back home.
Mother's Premonition: She reported in her memoirs that a month before his birth one of her dreams was of two green snow lions flying around a brilliant blue dragon. All three beings smiled at her and greeted her in traditional Tibetan style. She thought her son might become a high Lama. Later, she was told the dragon was Dhondup and the others were showing him the way to his rebirth. [p. 90]
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