Which Half of Buddha?

Doctrinally, Tibet should be ruled by two lamas: the Panchen Lama, whom esoteric Tibetans believe to be Buddha's spiritual reincarnation, and the Dalai Lama, Buddha's temporal reincarnation. Actually, the Dalai Lama and his priests have been running Tibet since 1924, when they expelled the Panchen Lama.

Last week the Panchen Lama & Co. were trying to make a comeback, with spiritual support and a little temporal help from the Chinese Communists.

To Peking came delegations from both Lama factions, seeking the Red nod. First to arrive were gum-chewing, felt-hatted retainers of the Dalai Lama, who in December had fled his capital of Lhassa before the oncoming Chinese Red army (TIME, Jan. 8). Sitting in exile on India's border, the 16-year-old Lama had decided that it was better to rule under the Chinese Reds than not to rule at all.

Toward the Dalai troupe the Reds were cordial but noncommittal. Premier Chou En-lai gave a dinner in their honor, at which the guests presented Chou with samples of Tibet's golden sand and a pair of newly sprouted horns of a young deer. Said a Dalai delegate: "We will do our best to achieve a peaceful liberation for Tibet." Then Chou showed a film glorifying the power of China's Red army.

The Panchen Lama, who came to Peking in person from Tsinghai Province, was met enthusiastically at the station by 90 high Red officials, including Premier Chou, three Vice Presidents, 500 civil bigwigs, Peking's Tibetan colony, and a brass band. That night, after a banquet, Chou declared benignly that Mao Tse-tung had "long ago decided to liberate Tibet and help the Tibetan people return to the big family of China." Replied the 14-year-old Panchen Lama: "We firmly support the policy of Chairman Mao."

It looked as though the Reds had chosen Buddha in his Panchen reincarnation to be their puppet boss in Tibet.

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