The 9th visit of his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to Mongolia ended today (23rd of November). Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the world's most famous exile, the Dalai Lama has been stayed in Ulaanbaatar for five days. Central to Buddhism is the concept of reincarnation. When a holy person is born in a new reincarnation, there is a special process for finding and identifying them. In Mongolia, the most important Buddhist lineage is that of the Jebtsundamba Khutughtu – a line which commences with Zanabazar (1635-1723), who ruled Mongolia and left amazing works of art including the national symbol – the 'soyombo'. During his visit, the Dalai Lama spoke about the reincarnation of the 10th Khutughtu. Speaking at a press conference at the ‘Ikh Tenger’ resort, the Dalai Lama said, ‘The 10th Khutughtu has already been born somewhere in Mongolia but is still too young to be crowned. We need to wait for 2-3 years until he will be 4-5 years old’.
The 9th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu was 'found' in India. He was brought back to Mongolia but lived there for a short while until his death in 2012. Born in 1932 in Tibet, he fled with the Dalai Lama to India in 1959.
