How do the Buddhists find out about the new Dalai Lama?

Question

How do the Buddhist monks find out as to where the new reincarnation of the holy Buddha has taken place?

Answer 1

There is a really great movie called "Kundun" that deals with this topic - specifically, how the current Dalai Lama was discovered.

They go through a series of tests, for example, presenting a child with a group of very similar objects, and the child must pick the one that belonged to him in a past life. They use things like his staff (walking cane), prayer beads, mirror, challice (cup), etc. It is really fascinating how the child seems to remember and can identify which objects were 'his', and they make it so that it is unlikely that the child can just guess. For example, the correct prayer beads may not be any of the choices on the table - they may be actually around the neck of the person overseeing the test. I recommend the movie if you are interested.

Also, in the movie, they suggest that the living monks closest to the past Dalai Lama receive "visions" or dreams with hints to the location.

Answer 2

The Panchen Lama (also a 'Rinpoche', or reincarnate being, like the Dalai Lama) is the second highest ranking Lama, and bears the responsibility of locating the next Dalai Lama. In fact, the two Lamas are considered to have a special connection and are involved in recognizing, naming, and educating the monastic vows of their counterpart.

There is some controversy to this, however; as the last Panchen Lama (the 11th, named 'Gedhun Choekyi Nyima') was quickly 'disappeared' by the Chinese government (People's Republic of China) in 1995 as soon as he was discovered, destroying the cycle. They named 'Gyancain Norbu' as the new Panchen Lama, but he is not recognized as such, and is seen as a figurehead of the government.

Answer 3

The simple answer is that they look for small children that were born around the time of the previous Dalai Lama's death. After all, if the Dalai Lama is immediately reincarnated, he would be born just after the time of his death. After that, the search committee, guided by the Panchen Lama, performs tests to see if a child can recognize personal objects owned by the previous Dalai Lama.

Answer 4

I'm not too clear on the details, but I know that once they locate several possible reincarnations of him, they seek them out and give a ritual test. One part consists of laying out what look like personal items and having the candidate choose which item he posessed from his previous life. Hope this answered at least part of your question!