In the news recently is word of unrest in Tibet. The Chinese government accuses the Dalai Lama of encouraging this unrest, but his holiness denies involvement. Whenever I think of the Dalai Lama I think of the town in which I attended university, Bloomington, IN. What does Bloomington, IN have to do with Tibet? Well, the Dalai Lama's big brother lives there. That's right, you thought you lived under the shadow of your siblings? This guy owns a couple of restaurants in a small mid-western town (The Norbu Cafe and The Snow Lion--not sure if they are both still there) where he is also a professor. Frequently, Bloomington would host the Dalai Lama along with chanting Tibetan Monks. Bloomington is home to Indiana University, so although it is situated in the heart of a pretty red-neck part of Indiana, very close to where the KKK got its start, its actually a pretty liberal and interesting town. Nevertheless I do have to wonder why it was chosen as home for the brother of his holiness.
As far as I can tell, when a current Dalai Lama passes away, the new Dalai Lama is chosen based on similar characteristics. I picture it like Cinderella. A bunch of monks show up at the door with a picture of the departed Dalai Lama and hold it up to all the males in the house. I don't mean any offense by this but--what's that all about? Bald head--check, looks good in a saffron robe--check, brown eyes--check--I mean the kid was 2 years old! This Dalai Lama's real name is Tenzin Gyatso (Gyatso is just the Tibetan word for Dalai or Ocean) and his birth name is Llhamo Döndrub. He was two years old when he was chosen. His older brother was picked as the reincarnation of another pretty important Lama--but not THE DALAI LAMA. Poor guy. I don't know how much older he is--I think its significant like 15 years. Truth be told, he was probably extremely happy and honored that his brother was chosen--it seems like its always that way in other countries. I can't help but wonder though if he ever looks in the mirror and says, "that little punk, what does he have that I don't have?"
I used to hate it when I was a kid (I'm the youngest of 5) and my teachers would remember all of my siblings and where they sat in class. I would constantly get compared to them. Can you imagine Norbu's issue when he'd be having a discussion with some other lamas at the age of 25 or something and he would make some statement or suggestion, and the rest of them would say, "Yeah, that's a good point; but what do you think your brother would say?" You know, the 10 year old that's leading our country?
I know I shouldn't make fun--and really I'm not. I respect their religion--I just don't understand it--but I do wonder about sibling rivalry.
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