-- [ From: Jon Iuzzini * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --
In addition to the article Al mentioned, Martin Scorcese's "Kundun" is said
to be a pretty authentic portrayal of the Dalai Lama's life as well as of
the specific ritual Jeff mentioned. Having seen it, I can tell you it is
extremely engrossing, a far better film than "Seven Years in Tibet." I
advise the Students for A Free Tibet group here, and they use it to kick off
their meetings each semester as a way of educating new members.
The Dalai Lama also has a few recently published books, "The Art of
Happiness" is a particularly good read.
Best regards,
Jon I.
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Subject: Oh, so that's where I left that spoon!
A student came by this morning and asked me about the Dalai Lama. As I
understand it, each new Dalai Lama is believed to be the reincarnation of
the previous one. She told me that one proof of this is that objects
belonging to the old Dalai Lama are placed before the candidate. Since he IS
the same person, he should be able to pick those particular objects from
among a group of others that did not belong to him in his former life. The
fact that he is successful at this, the believers argue, shows that the
child is the reincarnated Dalai Lama.
Does anyone know about this ritual? And, being a skeptic, what evidence
might exist that other factors are at work here (my student suggested the
Clever-Hans effect)?
Jeff
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Jonathan L. Iuzzini Department of Psychology Texas A&M University College
Station, TX 77843-4235
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Internet: http://people.tamu.edu/~jli0603
Office Phone: (409) 845-2589
Office Fax: (409) 845-4727
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