Religion: 14th Reincarnation

Tibet is a windswept highland where the chief drink is buttered tea, the chief fuel is yak dung, and a stuck-out tongue is a friendly greeting. Faith of the 3,000,000 Tibetans—and of other millions throughout the fastnesses of Central Asia—is Lamaism, a theocratic form of Buddhism. Lamaists believe in numerous divine incarnations, chief of them the Dalai Lama, "Buddha of Mercy," who is not only temporal ruler of Tibet but a god. Since the death of Ngawang Lopsang Toupden Gyatso in 1933, Tibet has been ruled by a council of lamas. Last month, a new Dalai Lama was discovered* in a remote village of Kokonor. Last week his caravan was winding through snow-swept mountain passes toward his sacred city of Lhasa.

Until his satisfactory identification through omens, portents, visions & oracles, this 14th reincarnation of Buddha was a 5-year-old peasant boy named Tanchu, "quiet mannered with bright penetrating eyes." Now Tanchu will live in a gold-domed penthouse atop the Potala, his massive fortress-palace at Lhasa, spend the next 13 years under the lama regency learning about his previous incarnations and the intricate Lamaist ritual. If he reaches the age of 18 he will be consecrated, rule for the rest of his days.

A familiar Tibetan figure is the sinister Tzuren or poison-doctor, who practices his art to keep the ins in and the outs out. In modern times, only Dalai Lama who did not die mysteriously before reaching his majority has been Ngawang Lopsang Toupden Gyatso. In 1893, shortly before he took office, he thoughtfully ordered his regent and other advisers thrown into dungeons. As "Buddha of Mercy" he then had a long and prosperous life. If the 14th Reincarnation learns this much about the 13th, he may think it wise to do the same.