Boston schoolboy named Buddhist high priest To his old classmates
in Boston, Jigme Wangchuk is a normal 11-year-old schoolboy - but in
India he is worshipped by thousands of Buddhists who consider him the
reincarnation of one the faith's holiest figures.
By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
[Jigme Wangchuk: Boston schoolboy named Buddhist high priest ]
Jigme Wangchuk: His parents have also given up their restaurant business
to be near his Drukpa Sangag Choeling Monastery. Photo:
EUROPICS[CEN]
He has traded his American life for a monastery in the Himalayan
hill town Darjeeling to fulfil his "destiny" as a spiritual leader
and live among his followers throughout Bhutan, Nepal and India's
Himalayan states.
His parents have also given up their restaurant business to be near his
Drukpa Sangag Choeling Monastery.
They say they discovered their son was not like other children two years
ago when he started talking about his "past life". At first, they
dismissed it as a childish fantasy, but began taking it seriously during
a trip to a monastery in Mysore, southern India.
"He used to always talk of his past life but we did not take it
seriously, dubbing it as a child's fantasies," said his mother Dechen.
At one point she claims he stopped playing and went into a trance in
which he recounted the story of his former life as "His Holiness the
Second Galwa Lorepa" lama who died in 1250 in Tibet.
While in a trance he described a celebrated Buddhist monastery with a
35ft dragon on the roof. After hearing his description of the temple
he had not visited, the monks proclaimed he was the reincarnation of
the 'Rinpoche' or high priest Galwa Lorepa, the founder of one of the
four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Now he will spent the next ten years in virtual seclusion and only be
able to communicate with his former school friends by email.
"It has been a very difficult period for us over the past two years. I
have been crying for the past five months, but have, at last, come to
terms with it," said his mother Dechen.
"When we were in New Delhi on our way to Darjeeling, I asked him whether
he would like to go back to Boston. He said he has to fulfil his
responsibilities to his people."
But for 'His Holiness' Jigme, there's no regrets. "I will miss my school
days but I am happy in my new role. I like it here," he said.
http://snipurl.com/t5o6t [www_telegraph_co_uk]
