QUEEREST CHILD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 30 July 1929, Page 5

QUEEREST CHILD

GUARDED BY MONKS BABY PULES MILLIONS Guarded by monks, given death's head rattles to play with, "treated" to devil dances by worshippers dressed as skeletons and monsters, and lulled to sleep by trumpets and gongs, the most remarkable" child in the world has just been given his first public presentation as a god. He is the two-year-old Mongolian boy who -has been created the "Great- Immortal White Lama," the spiritual head of millions of Asiatics, and in whom part of the soul of the god Buddha is supposed to reside. An amazing story lies behind his elevation to the position of "living Buddha." When the former holy Lama of Tibet died the priests believed, according to custom, that the spirit of the god living within him had been reincarnated in the soul of a baby born I he- same day. Search was at once commenced throughout. Mongolia and Tibet for a child born with the marks upon its body which the priests held to be proof that it had been chosen by Buddha. For months the quest went- on until the present infant Lama was discovered. From now till the. day of his death he will be treated exactly as a god would be. Nothing will be denied him except liberty, for it is decreed that th e holy Lama shall always remain a virtual prisoner. No woman is allowed to attend him. Everything concerning him is directed and organised by the Grand Abbot, who act.? as regent during his infancy, and by lesser priesls. All day a watch over him is kepi by priests, who behove that at any moment the living Buddha may manifest through his lips. Every item of baby prattle is carefully taken down by scribes and analysed by the priests in the hope, that it will reveal some hidden message from the god. His rattles are ornamented with skulls and bones in order to scare away evil, spirits. Another top is a huge'drum made from human skulls. "The Great Immortal White Lama" of Mongolia is comparable to the Dalai Lama, the most important living Buddha on earth. In him, it is claimed, there has entered a larger portion of the Buddha than any other. Guarded by 10.000 monks, the Dalai Lama lives in utter seclusion in a monastery towering to the sky. Upon his death the priests cut a hole in the top of his head so that the divine spirit can escape into another body.