The child had actually appeared predestined for a lifestyle of wealth and also mortal interests. Birthed in to the household responsible for a significant exploration corporation in Mongolia, he may possess been actually selected to sooner or later lead the firm coming from its own steel-and-glass base of operations in the nation’s funding.
Instead, the 8-year-old is actually today at the soul of a problem in between the Dalai Lama and also the Mandarin Communist Event.
He was actually simply a little one when every thing modified. On a see to an extensive abbey in the capital urban area of Ulaanbaatar, understood for an imposing Buddha statuary opulent in gold, his papa carried him and also his paired bro in to a space where they and also 7 various other children were actually provided a top secret exam.
The youngsters were actually revealed a dining table sprinkled along with theological things. Several of all of them declined to leave their moms and dads’ edges. Others were actually attracted to the vivid sweet that had actually been actually put as interruptions. This child, A. Altannar, was actually various. He picked a collection of request grains and also place it around his back. He called an alarm made use of for reflection. He tramped to a priest in the area and also happily got on his lower legs.
“These were actually really unique indicators,” pointed out Bataa Mishigish, a spiritual historian that noted the child along with 2 elderly priests. “Our experts simply checked out one another and also didn’t state a phrase.”
They had actually discovered the 10th reincarnation of the Bogd, some of the 3 essential have a place in Tibetan Buddhism and also, for numerous, the spiritual teacher of Mongolia, where almost half the populace is actually Buddhist.
For the upcoming 7 years, the priests always kept the identification of the Bogd, understood officially as the Jebtsundamba Khutughtu, a top secret.
Then in March, the Dalai Lama launched the child at a service in India before packs of adorers, his very small structure swallowed up through a maroon deel, the conventional Mongolian outfit, along with his doe eyes and also sharp staff hairstyle looking out over a white colored operative cover-up.
The updates that the 10th Bogd had actually been actually decided on was actually reason for occasion in Mongolia.
The Bogd is actually a symbolic representation of Mongolia’s identification, a posture going back almost 400 years to offspring of the Mongol empress Kublai Khan, that welcomed Tibetan Buddhism and also assisted it spread out throughout China and also various other controlled properties. In the very early 20th century, a Tibetan-born Bogd (obvious bogged) was actually the theocratic leader of Mongolia, worshiped as a god-king number. Today, the label embellishes banking companies, cashmere shops and also car car dealerships. When a person sneezes, Mongolians state “Bogd honor you.”
But that reaches be actually the Bogd is actually a delicate concern along with ramifications for Mongolia, China and also Tibet. The Mandarin Communist Event has actually found to insist its own authorization over Tibetan Buddhism also outside China’s borderlines, component of a lengthy initiative to secure its own management over Tibet.
China pertains to the 88-year-old Dalai Lama — that ran away Tibet as a boy in 1959 and also has actually been actually residing in expatriation in India since — as an adversary found out to totally free Tibet coming from Chinese guideline. Though formally agnostic, the gathering has actually insisted that simply it can easily call his reincarnation, and also those of various other higher lamas.
After the final Bogd perished in 2012, there was actually problem that China would certainly attempt to select or even affect the option of the upcoming one. In 1995, China abducted a young boy the Dalai Lama had actually called as the Panchen Lama, the second-most-recognizable have a place in Tibetan Buddhism.
So when the Dalai Lama accompanied A. Altannar in social this year, it was actually a bold affirmation of his effect over the religion and also an obstacle to Beijing’s cases over sequence. As well as it placed Mongolia right away, sifting its own fragile partnership along with China, its own a lot larger and also wealthier next-door neighbor.
Then there is actually the concern of whether the practice of consecrating youngsters as lama reincarnates makes good sense and also still figures in contemporary Mongolia. Some have actually additionally whined that best family members like the child’s take pleasure in excessive opportunities.
Meanwhile, his American-educated moms and dads are actually involving grasps along with surrendering their chances and also goals, for their child to provide a spiritual calling they performed pass by.
The child, a third-grader along with a desire for TikTok and also computer games, currently encounters many years of doctrinal instruction, a life-time of celibacy, and also the major duty of needing to shield Mongolian Buddhism versus Mandarin tension. As well as, somehow, thus performs his paired bro.
To rare A. Altannar’s identification and also guard him coming from excitable adorers or even even worse, the identical twins, Achildai Altannar and also Agudai Altannar, that equal, are actually hardly found in community without one another. In reality, not either the Dalai Lama neither the moms and dads have actually openly pointed out which child was actually launched at the service.
“Our experts prefer our child to grow in an usual atmosphere, certainly not struggling, certainly not under examination of massive trainings,” pointed out Munkhnasan Narmandakh, 41, the child’s mommy. “If he wishes to participate in computer game, he should.”
Hope of a Religion’s Revival
When Mr. Bataa, the theological historian, and also the innovators of Gandan Abbey in Ulaanbaatar put out on the look for the upcoming Bogd, they were actually flummoxed. The procedure of discovering a reincarnation had actually nearly been actually dropped to opportunity. They needed to drop outdated theological content coming from the National Archives and also seek advice from professionals in the Dalai Lama’s workplace in Dharamsala, India.
The group took 80,000 titles coming from the checklist of children birthed in Ulaanbaatar in 2014 and also 2015, the years after the final Bogd perished. They adhered to a historical personalized of analyzing magical sights and also astrology to fan the option to 11 to take the hidden exam — though the family members of simply 9 children answered.
That mid-day, the things that A. Altannar grabbed — the pendant and also the alarm — had actually concerned the Ninth Bogd. The abbot he got on was actually the Ninth Bogd’s aide.
In numerous methods, the difficulties along with the hunt highlighted the stressed condition of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia.
It had actually been actually almost 300 years due to the fact that the label of Bogd came from a Mongolian. After the Mongols underwent the Mandarin Qing Realm in the overdue 17th century, the empress controlled that all potential reincarnations of the Bogd were actually to become discovered in Tibet, to stop a Mongol uprising.
Mongolians possessed lengthy notion that the Bogd collection had actually finished along with the Eighth, a Tibetan-born lama that was actually worshiped for proclaiming freedom coming from the Qing in 1911 and also that perished in 1924. When the Stalin period started not long after, Communist leaders in Mongolia announced an edge to the Bogd family tree. By means of 70 years of communist guideline, representatives reduced the religious beliefs, eliminated elderly lamas and also priests, and also tore down holy places.
After Mongolia’s autonomous change in 1990, numerous in Mongolia were actually stunned when the Dalai Lama uncovered that in 1936, a 4-year-old child in Tibet had actually been actually covertly called the Ninth Bogd. He and also the Dalai Lama had actually been actually buddies, each ran away China in 1959, and also he had actually been actually residing in India in ambiguity.
Over the years, along with the Dalai Lama’s reassurance, Buddhism reborned on its own in Mongolia. Outdated abbeys were actually recovered, and also experts emerged coming from the shades. As Well As the Ninth Bogd moved there in 2011.
When he perished one year eventually at 79, his will definitely require his reincarnation to become Mongolian, instead of Tibetan. The demand would certainly tie the lama deeper to individuals he was actually suggested to lead.
The Darkness of Elitism
Before A. Altannar was actually pinpointed as Mongolia’s spiritual teacher, he was actually birthed in to Mongolian company nobility.
His grandma, Garamjav Tseden, is actually the creator of some of the nation’s very most productive personal firms, Monpolymet, which began in gold exploration and also has actually due to the fact that extended in to creating concrete. His mommy, the firm’s president, as soon as acted as a court on Mongolia’s variation of “Shark Container,” the business-oriented truth television program.
But the family’s success and Ms. Garamjav’s former role as a member of Parliament and a patron of the previous Bogd have raised questions about privilege and elitism seeping into the process of finding a Bogd. Some, including Khulan Tsoodolyn, a prominent poet, criticized A. Altannar’s selection as an example of the elite’s monopoly on power and prestige. (She was arrested in January on unspecified espionage charges and sentenced in July to nine years in prison.)
Shortly after A. Altannar was introduced by the Dalai Lama, Unurtsetseg Naran, an independent journalist, wrote on Facebook: “Why was a rich child selected?”
The boy’s parents say Ms. Naran’s posts have fueled threats online against their family. And they reject any suggestion that they bought their son’s position.
Wealth is a sensitive topic in Mongolia, where the chasm between rich and poor remains wide. Nowhere is that more stark than in Ulaanbaatar, where a quarter of the city’s residents live in poverty — often in ramshackle districts of nomadic tents on the city’s outskirts, far from the luxury malls and hotels that stand as monuments to the nation’s mining booms.
Historically, Tibetan lamas have often come from nobility. Some observers say young lamas from wealthy families benefit from being able to have a better education — and that their affluence is a potential sign of a past life that was righteous.
But there have always been complaints that the selections of lamas have been about politics and sometimes corruption.
In the late 18th century, Emperor Qianlong of China tried to address this by drawing lots from a golden urn to select lamas. The Chinese Communist Party resurrected the “Golden Urn” system in its bid to control the selection of Buddhist lamas and limit the Dalai Lama’s influence, though few outside the country consider it legitimate.
‘Seismic Shift’ in Power Center
The naming of a Mongolian lama reincarnate ensures Mongolia will be drawn deeper into the political chess match between China and the Dalai Lama.
Mongolia relies on China to buy its exports and invest in its infrastructure. China’s imprint is on display in Ulaanbaatar, in a snaking four-lane overpass designed to ease the city’s punishing traffic, and a sports arena embossed with a logo that reads: “China Aid For Shared Future.”
For Mongolia, a wrong move in Beijing’s eyes would be costly.
It was in 2016, on a visit to Mongolia, that the Dalai Lama first said at a news conference that the Bogd had been discovered in the country — a bombshell announcement. China’s response was swift: It closed border crossings between the two countries, imposed tariffs and canceled bilateral talks.
The Dalai Lama has not visited Mongolia again since.
He now has a means to lay down a marker in Mongolia and expand the reach of his office, said Munkhnaran Bayarlkhagva, an analyst who used to work at the National Security Council of Mongolia. The selection of a Mongolian for the role was a “seismic shift in the center of power for Tibetan Buddhism” from Dharamsala to Ulaanbaatar, he said.
There are potential ramifications for the United States government, too. A. Altannar was born in Washington, D.C., making him an American citizen. That has fueled speculation that he was chosen because his U.S. citizenship could afford him some added protection from China.
China has not commented publicly about A. Altannar’s selection, but Mongolian and foreign officials speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter say Beijing has warned Mongolia of consequences if the Bogd grows too close to the Dalai Lama.
Telo Tulku Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama’s representative in Mongolia, accused China of wanting to “control Buddhism on a global level.” He denied that A. Altannar was selected for political reasons and said the Dalai Lama’s office would have little contact with the boy.
“This is a spiritual matter,” he said.
A Child’s Life
The phone call to the boy’s family with the news of his selection came from none other than Mongolia’s then-president, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, a sign of the national significance of the position.
But Ms. Munkhnasan, A. Altannar’s mother, said her immediate response was a flat-out rejection of the idea. The parents had hoped that their boys would one day study engineering and take over the family business empire.
“We said, ‘This can’t happen,’” Ms. Munkhnasan said. “My kid was still a baby at the time, and there was no sort of pre-warning or any communication about what was about to unfold.”
Ms. Munkhnasan and her husband, Altannar Chinchuluun, wrote to the United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, appealing for help. The reincarnation process, they argued, had robbed their son of his rights.
The family rushed to Ulaanbaatar after the call with the president and demanded the monks find another boy. The monks said they would try, but the Dalai Lama said no.
Instead, he recommended giving the family time to think in the hopes they would change their minds. In the meantime, the monks promised not to reveal the boy’s name.
Still, the couple agonized over their predicament.
Mr. Altannar, 43, a mathematician at the National University of Mongolia, worried he was turning his back on his country by refusing to restore a proud Mongolian institution. Ms. Munkhnasan feared she would invite bad karma on her family if she denied Tibetan Buddhists a sacred leader.
Eventually, the two decided they would try to strike a balance. The monks could instruct the boy if he also continued with his regular education. Most important, they insisted that it would have to be up to their son when he turns 18 whether he wanted to remain the Bogd.
“It’s his decision,” Ms. Munkhnasan said.
Until then, A. Altannar must adhere to a childhood like no other.
And it is not just his own life that has changed; it’s his brother’s, too. The twins dress identically and receive the same religious training as if both were the Bogd.
Ms. Munkhnasan said she didn’t want to “sacrifice” one child for the other — having one twin live in the shadow of his brother. Yet she said the household would have to make do until they are more confident about A. Altannar’s safety.
The boy seems to be traversing his two worlds with growing ease. When he visited Dharamsala for his introduction by the Dalai Lama, he sat still for hours listening to his teachings.
On a recent weekday, he was attentive at school and also playful with his classmates, flashing a wide smile as he ran a relay race for gym class. Later, he donned his traditional Mongolian deel to receive his regular religious instruction at the Gandan monastery. In the presence of the monks, his boyish energy was replaced by an aura of calm and also maturity as he read sutras and also practiced rituals.
“Of course, as a boy, he doesn’t understand everything that’s going on, but he’s definitely not rejecting it,” Ms. Munkhnasan said. “He’s very comfortable.”
“It’s like his second nature to him.”
Khaliun Bayartsogt contributed reporting from Ulaanbaatar, and also Olivia Wang coming from Hong Kong.
