Living Buddha in politics

Reincarnation of religious regent the youngest in political advisory

FROM the acne scars on his cheeks to the soft moustache on his upper lip, youth manifests itself on the face of the Living Buddha in saffron robes.

He is the reincarnation of Reting Rinpoche, once a religious regent in Tibet.

The 16-year-old 7th Reting Living Buddha, whose secular name is Suonam Phuntso, now has yet another role – he is the youngest member of the political advisory of the Tibet Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

“My favourite exercise is sit-ups,” he said in an exclusive interview on Thursday. “Because I am fat.”

The shy Living Buddha is tall, standing at about 1.7m. He inputs the reporter’s number into his iPhone. “You are welcome to visit the monastery,” he said.

The Rinpoche likes surfing the Web and is active in the Tencent microblog.

“I have more than 5,000 fans. I talk about Buddhism with people online quite often.”

He has so far posted 116 micro blogs. His latest reads: “Don’t care about who is the leader, but care about who treats the people well.”

In one entry he uploaded a picture of two flowers, one in bloom, the other a bud pointing to the blue sky.

He wrote: “Faith is the lighthouse of life. Without faith, we’ll get lost on our way forward, and life will become meaningless.”

In another entry, he re-posted a micro blog about scientists at Nasa designing a sky crane manoeuvre for the safe landing of the Mars rover, Curiosity. “I like technology,” he said. The Rinpoche said he seldom listens to music. The book he is reading is Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic, an Australian born without arms or legs who overcame his disabilities to live a rich, fulfilling life. — China Daily / Asia News Network